The Last Match
“Unless you’re hiring actors with powerful serves and mean forehands,” said Chris Jones in the Chicago Tribune, it’s difficult to re-create the drama of a real-life tennis match in a theater setting. But the acclaimed Writers Theatre in suburban Chicago has found a way with “a very sophisticated, high-energy, and entertaining new show” that gains added energy because it’s streamed to viewers’ home screens. Ryan Hallahan portrays an American champion who, at 34, is “tennis old” but craving one last U.S. Open title before retirement. His young Russian opponent, played by Christopher Sheard, is “amoral and manipulative,” but also hungry to win. As their finals match progresses, the two racquet-less players narrate their crucial shots while their movements and a throbbing soundtrack “capture the tension of the game.”
Playwright Anna Ziegler weaves in flashbacks, and every turn in the story “makes you feel deeply for the players,” said Catey Sullivan in the Chicago Sun-Times. “Where Hallahan’s Tim tries to keep his emotions as tightly sealed as a vacuum-sealed can of tennis balls, Sheard’s Sergei wears his on his sleeve.” But we know that Sergei is hell-bent on defeating his former hero and that Tim is plagued by self-doubt despite his past triumphs. Their romantic partners are secondary characters, but Kayla Carter and Heather Chrisler make the characters memorable, one radiating warmth and the other “all fire and ice and ruthless pragmatism.” Unfortunately, Ziegler has neglected to provide a conclusion as dramatic as everything that leads up to it. “Imagine watching a breathlessly close Wimbledon final, only it culminates without a winner being declared. That’s the sense of deflation The Last Match ultimately serves.” From $40, writerstheatre.org, through May 30