God’s Ear
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
Chicago based theater company Dog and Pony have opened a new play titled “God’s Ear”, at the Viaduct Theater on 3111 Western Ave. This play written by Jenny Schwartz is a unique combination of traditional storytelling, avant-guard language with a musical twist. The piece centers around a family who has lost their young son to an unfortunate accident. Information does not flow freely from this production, the fragmented and circular conversations had me at a loss initially. However, once I got comfortable and realized that this is how the characters speak in their world, I began to unravel this dark yet comical tale. The family’s remaining child a young girl has some of the best lines in the play while the mother is simultaneously a rock and a mess and the father is absent at best. This is a exceptionally sad topic, the lost of a young child must be heart wrenching and yet the play does not over reach to express these poignant details while at the same time it is full of hardy laughs, which seem to fall out of the characters so unexpectedly. The set is a minimal white rectangle where the audience sits on either side of this block, the actors must turn to their back to one side to address the other. This give the audience a sense of disconnect which the characters have emotionally and spatially as they tend to spend much of their stage time at opposite ends of this blank rectangle while speaking to one another. The musical numbers are a site, not to mentions a aura treat, the actors pull off some amazing feats making these songs seem meaningful and necessary while on paper they would seem pasted in. Perhaps with such a dark topic one needs a singing transvestite to ease the mood. While the play does have these “off the wall” attributes they are not what defines the piece, these events are an ornament to the deeper issues these characters have developed as a result of their loss. This play is not for everyone but I believe everyone could take something from the exceptionally strong piece of theater. One must have patience to allow this bizarre and sad tale of a family falling apart at the loss of it youngest member however if you give it a chance your patience will be rewarded.
God’s Ear
Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays 8pm
Sunday 5pm
$15 -$20
Pay what you can on Thursdays & Sundays
Ends April 26th
For more information