N ow that I’ve seen my first Michael Allen Harris play, I’m adding him to the short list of Chicago playwrights who understand the difference between drama and diorama. While so many of his contemporaries seem content to schematize Big Ideas by populating narrow, transparent stage worlds with one-dimensional characters, Harris trades in compelling, aggravating ambiguity. Like the prodigious Ike Holter, Harris takes messy human impulses and makes them poignantly messier, in the process illuminating the societal forces that can turn human shortcomings into iconic tragedies.
Harris still has work to do. His first scene dawdles. Henry’s pivotal
act-two confession is unearned. The too-easy ending is pure wish
fulfillment. But as a dramatist, he’s got the goods, as the affecting,
nuanced performances in this world premiere make abundantly clear. v
Through 4/7: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM; also Wed 3/21, 7:30 PM, Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee, 773-697-3830, brokennosetheatre.com, pay what you can.
