LOVE AND ANGER
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
If you’re Stephen Sondheim, you can protest against the corporate takeover of the arts in a song like “Putting It Together,” then turn around and sell it to IBM. The Grapes of Wrath can speak out against establishment forces, but better not do it too loud or AT&T might take your money away. Many artists are like court jesters who insult the ruler but never really threaten his authority.
Such is the case with George F. Walker’s Love and Anger, an uneasy mixture of slapstick comedy, maudlin soap opera, and politically correct antiestablishment rant. Initially the play takes some good shots at the establishment, but it falls far short of suggesting anything revolutionary; it winds up preserving the status quo and endorsing the idea of reforming the system from within.
Under Harriet Spizziri’s direction some characters behave inconsistently, while others behave so predictably as to be completely flat. Charles J. Likar as newspaper publisher Babe Connor and Wayne Brown as lawyer/politician Sean Harris are called upon to play broad villains of the dinner-theater variety; their facial expressions remain constant throughout. Meanwhile Karen L. Stephens as the client and Tina Thuerwachter as Maxwell’s secretary force their swinging moods and attitudes to fit the needs of the twisting plot.
