‘ TEN’ WORTHY OF A ‘ 10’ AT GIFT THEATRE
Variety. Economy. Wit. Pathos. Timeliness. Spontaneity. Talent. Intimacy. Individuality of voice. Make a list of the many different things that make live theater spring to life and, to varying degrees, you will find them all among the 10 short world premiere pieces— a mix of playlets, improvs and readings— that comprise the 2017 edition of “TEN,” The Gift Theatre’s annual spice box of a season opener.
A program ideal for those with short attention spans and eclectic taste, “TEN” is much like Chicago weather, so if you don’t like any particular entry, be assured things will change in about 10 minutes.
While many of the pieces in the current edition play off the state of the world ( and humanity) at this troubling moment in history, several of the best of them also are evergreen. And there is this bonus element: The presence of The Gift’s droll artistic director, Michael Patrick Thornton, who some TV network might want to tap as a late- night talk show host.
“TEN” opens on the very dark side with Jose Nateras’ “Warrior,” directed by Vanessa Stalling. At the center of the piece is a young man ( the remarkable Daniel Kyri, who first caught my attention in the Chicago Shakespeare Theater production of “Tug of War”) who is trying to hold on while being questioned and electroshocked by his interrogator ( Christopher Michael Meister). During the ordeal, he finds some solace in the imaginary arrival of Xena ( Alexia Jasmene), the warrior princess of TV fame.
The program closer is “Arrangement for Red Bicycle and No Piano,” a magical piece by Will Eno [ best known as the author of the monologue “Thom Pain ( based on nothing)”] — directed by Marti Lyons. Perhaps best described as a Beckett- like, poeticphilosophical riff for an Everyman in the guise of two wheels and a handlebar, it puts a red bicycle in the spotlight, but it is Thornton’s deftly disguised live voiceover from thewings that is the star. Eno and Thornton combine to capture existentialism in all its “unbearable lightness” ( and weight). Beguiling and moving all at once.
Between these bookend pieces are a number of other gems.
An entry from gift LIT, a project devised to keep the oral storytelling tradition alive, features Jennifer Rumberger reading a wonderfully written piece about her Florida childhood. “Love, America,” Amina Henry’s of- the- moment yet ever- surprising two- hander ( deftly directed by Samuel Roberson), is set in a sports bar where a zealous Trump supporter ( Jay Worthington) suddenly proposes to his girlfriend ( Becca Savoy), a divorced mom whose ex is African- American and whose child is biracial. The two performances are firstrate, as is the play’s ideally ambiguous ending.
Ambiguity also is at work in Eva Anderson’s cleverly imagined play “Bye, Chuck,” directed by Lexi Saunders. It features Vincent Mahler as a middleaged father of two who is emptying his desk and Allie Long as the flirty and rather unstable younger woman who comes to bid him goodbye.
Finally, a few words about the audience- initiated improv ( by The Gift’s Natural Gas Ensemble) that quickly put The Second City to shame. It will never be repeated, but let the record note that it dished out the tastiest of satires with an Olive Garden restaurant as backdrop, and a storyline about an improv group that dubbed itself “The CzechIns.” And there was plenty more where that came from.