PicksInSix Review: In Every Generation - Victory Gardens Theater
Inherited Trauma Blooms Over Every Generation.
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Scott Gryder
Performances returned on Friday night at the historic Victory Gardens Biograph Theater with the world premiere of Ali Viterbi’s reflective “In Every Generation,” the first production on the Začek-McVay Theater stage in over two years! To make the production even more memorable, the packed house filled the theater from all angles, as the Začek-McVay Theater offered on-stage seating, creating an in-the-round effect, heightening the intimacy of our invitation to the Levi-Katz’s Passover Seder.
The tension is palpable from the moment the first lighting cue reveals the Levi-Katz family facing off at the center stage dining table as they prepare to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Passover. “In Every Generation” quickly evolves into an exploration of the inescapable familial lineage of tradition and trauma, both inherited and learned, over multiple millennia. Across every age, each generation is faced with fears of persecution for their beliefs, their dreams, and their family’s expectations.
The obvious strain between sisters Dev (Sarah Lo) and Yael (Esther Fishbein) are the kindling for the family fire. The sisters manipulate and torture with subtext and good-intentioned backhanded compliments, finally erupting with hostile truths as secrets are revealed. The girls’ distracted and emotionally unavailable mother Valeria (Eli Katz) barely holds it together, wrestling with her personal anguish while attempting to meet familial pressures to uphold Jewish tradition. And Italian matriarch Paola (Carmen Roman) holds court, while holding the hand of her ailing husband Davide (Paul Dillon). Dillon’s subtle, yet always-active portrayal of the aphasic patriarch is breathtaking.
Thanks to the abundant availability of at-home DNA testing, anyone can fully explore the genetic details of their personal history; where they come from, who they come from, and, potentially, how that helped shape them into who and where they are today. Playwright Viterbi spotlights these eternal, internal questions in all four parts of her flashback/flash-forward script. However, the plot seems to splinter with each time-jump, creating moments of fractured dialogue incorporated from previous timelines and the reveal of props from eras yet to come. As the characters evolve (and devolve) through the phases of their lives, depending on where we’ve landed in their moment in time, Director Devon de Mayo aids in delineating each leap by utilizing stylized physicalizations and vocal textures.
The immersive experience doesn’t end with the in-the-round seating. Co-scenic designers Andrew Boyce and Lauren Nichols bring the audience into the scene by pouring pools of sand strategically across the stage, even underneath the feet of the first rows of patrons. As a time-travel visual compass, Heather Sparling’s lighting design plays with warm oranges and yellows or cool whites and blues within each separate period to help transport us across generational timelines. What really added layered connection between characters was the guidance of intimacy coach Courtney Abbott. Nobody held back when it came to sharing their space onstage. For example, the actors embraced with such passion, you believed that they truly knew each other; were completely in love and committed to their relationships.
“In Every Generation” may be centered around a Jewish tradition, but the investigation of one’s intentions behind traditions and the mysteries of inherited trauma are universal. And it unites the audience, by highlighting the shared questions we have behind the human condition, no matter which generations, across every generation, reminding us that it’s only natural to question our own existence and to examine the true motives behind our behavior.
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | SCOTT GRYDER received a Non-Equity Jeff Award for his performance in the one-man show BUYER & CELLAR. www.thescottgryder.com
PHOTO|Liz Lauren
VICTORY GARDENS THEATER
presents
National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere
IN EVERY GENERATION
2433 N. Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614
DIGITAL PROGRAM
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