“August Wilson definitely influenced my storytelling,” Eugene Lee remarks to dramaturg Reginald Edmund in the program notes for Lee’s East Texas Hot Links, running now at Writers Theatre. “He told me once that, ‘It’s alright to let them talk.’”
Parson has a long history with East Texas Hot Links. He directed the celebrated 1995 Chicago premiere—mounted by a now-lost black company, Onyx Theatre Ensemble—and then an equally well-received 1998 remount. In 2014 Sun-Times critic Hedy Weiss reported that Parson was working on reviving Onyx with still another production of the play. His intimacy with the material doesn’t seem to have sharpened his vision of it, though. To the contrary, certain key elements come through in soft focus, aestheticized, when they could use a harder edge. Namir Smallwood’s XL, in particular, doesn’t justify his reputation either for menace or weaseliness. Impressive in Philip Dawkins’s Charm last year, Smallwood may be keeping XL vague for logistical reasons; if so, I’d say the strategy does precisely what it’s meant to prevent. Similarly, both Tyla Abercrumbie’s Charlesetta and Adolph as performed by Willie B. (who played the same role for Onyx) could use some uglying up.
Through 1/22: Wed-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 3 and 7:30 PM, Sun 2 and 6 PM (except 11/13, 12/18, and 1/15, 2 PM only), Tue 7:30 PM, Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Ct., Glencoe, 847-242-6000, writerstheatre.org, $75-$80.
