The Comrades Presents ROAST Review-- Meditative Dark Comedy – a Recommended Best Play Pick running until August 18…-breathing life into talks about death
Top 40 Rock and Roll music plays over the chatter of a packed house as people bustle to their seats. Neutral colored, diamond patterned covering coats the set walls. Seven black folding chairs sit in a row beside a podium. A lone photograph of a vibrant young man with a microphone hangs above a wood casket topped with flowers and thus the solemnity of a funeral home is presented with all of the lively rigor of a televised comedy show.
The Comrades Breathe Life into Talks about Death
In place of a traditional funeral - the deceased (Sam Warner) has requested a televised roast. Duty-bound, the bereaved put on a livestream event and treat it like a traditional television broadcast - including commercial breaks - with roastmaster duties falling upon a pedantic, self-important funeral director who abhors comedy.
Each roaster has a deeply personal relationship with Sam and the details of those relationships are laid bare on the dais in the form of eulogy by way of the dozens. During commercial breaks the stage is briskly transformed to a backroom in which the characters reveal various details about their relationships with one another through conflict rich talk. The result is a richly multifaceted dramatic portrait of a gifted comedian who took his own life and the fractured family he left behind -- a portrait so vivid, audiences may well begin to mourn Sam Warner as this reviewer did.
A Piece Replete with Weighty Ruminations on Human Relationships
Though it is the stance of this particular reviewer that many of the jokes lack the idiomatic rhythm and natural grit of authentic standup comedy, the mechanics of tension and release were executed with remarkable insight which - alongside the crackling chemistry between performers - contributed to a stirring and profoundly mesmerizing experience. More than thrice, the audience let out mournful murmurs and gasps in response to characters revealing unpleasant information about Sam or losing emotional composure on the dais
This is a play for those who hunger for an unflinching meditation on the many forms that selfishness can take and the fragility of the human mind with a side of comedy. Audiences looking for a jaunty, light hearted romp may wish to look elsewhere.
Recommended
Note: This is now added to the Picture this Post round up of BEST PLAYS IN CHICAGO, where it will remain until the end of the run. Click here to read – Top Picks for Theater in Chicago NOW – Chicago Plays PICTURE THIS POST Loves.
Cast ( In Alphabetical Order):
Reginald Hemphill (Keith Cross)
Kyra Jones (Alyssa Warner)
John Miraglia (Edward Warner)
Mike Newquist (Sonny”Sunny D” Dennison)
Alison Plott (Sharon Oldstone)
Roy Pugh (Albert Lassiter)
Kelli Walker (Beth Wilde)
Delaney Clark (Alyssa Warner Understudy)
Subhash Thakrar (Edward Warner Understudy)
Creatives:
Harry Wood (Playwright)
Derek Bertelsen (Director)
Melanie Kulas (Production Stage Manager)
Sydney Achler (Scenic Designer)
Becca Venable (Technical Director/Sound Designer)
Nicolas Coso (Lighting Designer Sound Designer)
Uriel Gomez (Costume Designer)
When:
Through August 18, 2019
Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm
Sundays at 3 pm
Where:
Greenhouse Theater Center
2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago
Tickets:
$15+ (Industry and Student Discounts Available)
For full-price tickets and ticket availability visit Greenhouse Theater’s Website or reach them by phone at 773.404.7336
Photos courtesy of The Comrades
Note: Picture This Post reviews are excerpted by Theatre in Chicago
About the Author:
Spence Warren is a Filmmaker, a Film Worker, A Musician, A Puppet Maker and - apparently - an occasional reviewer. He hopes to offer people - particularly those who love story in all its forms - valuable insight and perspective.
