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It seems to be the middle of the night – lights are dim, and Peg is clearly exhausted as she walks around her kitchen collecting ingredients. She slams a bowl on the counter, sifts in some flour, milk, and adds an egg one by one. Peg does not say a thing – the only sounds are her movements, the occasional grunt, and the splatter of the eggs as they hit the mixture. The entire audience was silent as we watched her shift through these motions – from slamming the fridge door, to mixing the ingredients, to getting down at eye level to make sure the oven is set to the right temperature. Everything feels so second nature as Peg moves about the space – until she goes to cut the zucchini. When Peg grabs the knife, she takes a pause, staring at the tool in her hand. Suddenly she slams the flat side of the knife on her forearm – an action done in complete in silence, but every shocked gasp in the audience could very clearly be heard. Peg then shifts the knife to the counter with sharp side up, and makes a move as if she intends to slam her head on the weapon. The silence is almost deafening as we watch Peg – unsure of what she will do or if she will succeed.
A sound is heard outside, and Peg drops the knife, returning to her zucchini bread. However, the mood no longer feels quite so peaceful, and Peg’s somewhat violent 180 is certainly not forgotten.
Goodman Theater presents Swing State
Written by Rebecca Gilman, Swing State follows Peg (Mary Beth Fisher), a recent widow living alone on her 40-acre prairie in Wisconsin. The only visitor she receives is Ryan (Bubba Weiler), a family friend whom she and her late husband took in as if he was their own son. When Peg discovers some potential thefts from her farm, her desired solitude quickly starts to slip away. Events start to unravel, and suddenly the local authorities are looking a little too closely at her and Ryan’s life on the prairie.
Swing State is intimate. The close proximity to the Owen Theatre stage offers audiences a very close window into Peg’s pain and heartbreak – not only due to her husband’s death, but also due to the trickle effects of Covid and forced isolation. Through the lens of a family in a small town, Gilman explores the ups and downs of re-entering the world following a pandemic.
Uplifting Moments
Alongside Peg’s grief, we see Ryan try to re-enter the world following his release from prison – a process certainly not aided when he becomes a leading suspect for the thefts on Peg’s prairie. . When we first meet Ryan, he enters Peg’s home following a very late night at work. She is waiting for him with soup, and he sits down to eat dinner. The two are clearly familiar with each other, and slowly we start to see a rapport come alive on stage.
As Ryan eats, Peg grabs a piece of paper and starts to approach him, then chickens out and checks her zucchini bread in the oven. Ryan continues to eat as if nothing had happened, clearly lost in his own world. This performance’s audience giggled as Peg took another look at Ryan, gathered her courage, and presented the papers to him. As the realization dawns on Ryan that this is about Peg’s will, he jumps out of his seat and immediately runs to the other side of the room yelling. The audience starts to laugh as a highly recognizable scene takes the stage – a son running away from the responsibility of hearing about his mother’sfuture death. This is one of several moments of humor and joy woven into Gilman’s script.
Swing State certainly explores some down points for Peg and Ryan. We as an audience just witnessed Peg’s actions with the knife at the top of the play, and so we know Peg may be in a darker place than she lets on. However, Gilman carefully crafts a relationship that this writer certainly wanted to see succeed, and one that Fisher and Weiler fill with a sweet chemistry and dark comedic timing.
Powerful performances and top-notch writing make Swing State a highly relatable post-Covid play – one that you might just find sticks with you for days.
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WHEN:
Running through November 13, 2022
Tuesdays at 7:30pm
Wednesdays at 7:30pm
Thursdays at 7:30pm
Fridays at 7:30pm
Saturdays at 2:00pm and 7:30pm
Sundays at 2:00pm and 7:00pm
WHERE:
Goodman Theatre
170 N Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60601
TICKETS:
For more information and tickets visit the Goodman's Owen Theatre website.
Photos: Liz Lauren
Note: Picture This Post reviews are excerpted by Theatre in Chicago.
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