PicksInSix Review: The Lady from the Sea - Court Theatre
“Like a Thief in the Night”
PicksInSix Review® | Ed Tracy
One of the many devastating pandemic-induced hard stops in Chicago was Court Theatre’s production of Henrik Ibsen’s “The Lady from the Sea” that closed on March 11, 2020 after the first dress rehearsal. The eagerly anticipated production, directed by Shana Cooper and starring Chaon Cross as Ellida, was part of a season commemorating the 25th anniversary of Charles Newell, Court’s Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director. Compounding the situation, Court also lost several weeks of Newell’s monumental restaging of “An Illiad” starring Timothy Edward Kane at the Oriental Institute.
No mention was made of these disappointments during the pre-show welcome by Newell, Cooper and Executive Director Angel Ysaquire to the opening night audience Saturday of “The Lady from the Sea.” The ever-resilient Newell used the opportunity to point out that Court pivoted mightily during the shutdown and arranged for a new adaptation of the rarely-produced play by Tony Award-winning playwright Richard Nelson, making this production a world premiere event.
To say that this is a play for our time ignores the fact that with the world spiraling to a decisive flashpoint, the themes of individual rights of expression, choice and freedom are precisely of the moment. The stark reality is that we must live with the consequence of our actions, the emotional torment that manifests itself in them, and, rarely, do we have an opportunity to reevaluate those choices, with such passion and longing that Cross wrestles with through the course of the play. It is a mammoth performance.
Ibsen’s Ellida is simultaneously trapped in her present and a casualty of a past that was shaped by a torrid love affair and commitment to a sailor whose sudden flight and extended absence has cast a dark and formidable shadow in her heart. Finding consolation with a well-meaning widower, Dr. Wangel (Gregory Linington), who was in need of a partner and stepmother to his two daughters, Bolette (Tanya Thai McBride) and Hilda (Angela Morris), Ellida forms a union that we discover is more of convenience than true love. As a result, the free-spirited Ellida is emotionally suffocating years later and haunted by a lost-love to the point that Wangel, suspecting something untoward, invites an old friend and the girls tutor Arnholm (Samuel Taylor) to visit under false pretenses. Ellida then confides the truth to Arnholm which is the first of many disappointments for the love-struck older man. Bolette and Hilda, after setting up a celebration for their own mother with family friend and artist Ballested (Dexter Zollicoffer), are being pursued in an intriguing love triangle of sorts by Lyngstrand (Will Mobley) who also serves to provide foreshadowing of the inner struggle that looms when The Stranger (Kelli Simpkins) comes like a thief in the night to reclaim Ellida’s affections.
The characters literally—and figuratively—ebb and flow through the play like the sea itself. That imagery reveals itself in every facet of the creative teams superb work: the stylized choreography by Erika Chong Such, that serves as a prelude for the action; the undulating Paul Toben/Erin Pleake projections and Toben’s striking lighting co-design with Keith Parham; a distinct—and nearly imperceptible at times—sound design by Andre Pluess; and, Andrew Boyce’s expansive scenic seascape replete with rock, water, a beachhead of sand and a magnificent coastal lodge exterior that serves the story in multiple ways including a truly stunning visual effect early on.
Nelson’s adaptation exposes Ibsen’s pathos and humor over the 2 hour and 15 minute running time of the show. Cross alternates expertly between a woman nearly possessed by an unspeakable secret to one who is yearning for the basic human rights of freedom of expression and control of her destiny. Ellida’s journey—vividly framed in Nelson’s adaptation and exquisitely mined by Cooper and a superb cast—allows Cross, one of Chicago’s most gifted actors, to travel headlong throughout this challenging piece like a series of massive waves crashing against the shore, then receding, with no end in sight.
PHOTO|Michael Brosilow
COURT THEATRE
presents
Henrik Ibsen’s
The Lady of the Lake
through March 27, 2022
5535 S. Ellis Ave. (map)
Chicago, IL 60637
(773) 753-4472
info@courttheatre.org
WEBSITE
STREAMING OPTION AVAILABLE FROM MARCH 21 -APRIL 10
PROGRAM
CONVERSATION WITH CHARLES NEWELL
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