PicksInSix Review: I Hate It Here
Ike Holter’s ‘I Hate It Here’
In a scene between three people midway through Ike Holter’s new progressive work “I Hate it Here”, a brilliant juxtaposition between the complex, national civil rights protest of another era is layered upon a singular collective action meant to change behavior. The outcome of this dialogue—one of many introspective chapters of concisely dramatic moments that erupt in the fascinating and ambitious Goodman Theatre live-to-stream production—is that there is no true final outcome, no sign of permanent change in cultural behavior since no one side stops. No one ever stops. And, therefore, no one can ever stop speaking out and shining light.
The expertly-paced drama is directed by Holter’s longtime collaborator Lili-Anne Brown who has emerged as one of the top interpreter’s—perhaps the best to date—of Holter’s gritty, poetic, of-the-times work with stories rolling out in successive vignettes, beautifully filmed that continuously utilize on and offstage areas of Goodman’s Owen stage and often enhanced by a carefully curated set of rear screen projections complementing the individual scenes.
This is cutting-edge Chicago-style ensemble theatre flourishing in a new and reimagined medium—a compelling non-stop, live-staged performance, in a language that will, at times, race by with such emotion that most of us need only immerse ourselves in the unfolding of it. There is open captioning for everyone else.
Brown has assembled an extraordinary ensemble—Patrick Agada, Jayson Brooks, Sydney Charles, Behzad Debu, Kirsten Fitzgerald and Gabriel Ruiz(who also composed music)—who all revel in the material. The live element makes “I Hate it Here” something to truly love.
Rippling throughout Holter’s richly-defined characters—a parent lost and destitute on an RV odyssey; a worker ruminating about a job from a rooftop in the before time; a victim confronting a bystander; or, one person’s quiet and powerful acknowledgment of personal pandemic loss—there is a steady infusion of the dark humor of our time, laced with the fear, anxiety and frustration we have all felt at one time or another. It is clear that hopefulness exists and that there is so much more work to be done.
The innovative production team—Arnel Sancianco(set design), Jason Lynch(lighting design), Mieka van der Ploeg (costume design), Mikhail Fiksel(sound design)and Paul Deziel (projections)—have stretched boundaries to perfectly place the action where it belongs: in the unencumbered hands of the actors.
PHOTO|Flint Chaney
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
I Hate It Here
Goodman Theatre
Limited Run through July 18, 2021
WEBSITE
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