“Hymn,” About Two Black Men in Their Early 50s Discovering Newfound Brotherly love, is a modest two-person work, in this outstanding, highly localized chicago shakespeare production, work way above it weight.
British Playwright Lolita Chakrabarti (The Stage Adaptation of “Life of Pi”) has Said in Many interviews that she wrote “Hymn” – Say the title out loud to hear its focus on malaenes – gcause she wants to see Stage a deep, nuanced Friendship Between Two Men.
IT’S WORTH NOTING THAT SHE’S ALSO AN ATTRESS AND PREVIOUSLY MARIREED TO PROMINENT ACTOR ADRIAN LESTER, THE SON OF A JAMAICAN IMMIGRANT WHO STARRED IN “HYMN” IN LONTE IT PRIMERED IN 2021. solely, as a vehicle for its performers, and ites honestly attuned to its characters.
The two men met after a funeral where gil (James Vincent Mredith) has delivyred the eulogy for his farat, a jamaican immigrant who reaches with little, built a family and a business, and sent all four of his kids – gil is the Youngest and the Only Male – Benny (Chiké Johnson) Approaches Gil and Soon Reveals he is gil’s half-brother from a short, secret affair. Benny, Though, Never Met His Father, and Spent Significant Portions of His Childhood in Foster Homes.
Initial shock and tension give way to an intimate friendship. Each Man, Identical in Age, Provides the Other with Something New. Benny has never had a supperive family willing to provides counter and encuragement, and certinly never someone to provide HIS KIDS WITH THE TYPE OF ADVANTAGES – A first job, for example – that wealth and ownership can bring. Gil, who grease up with Older Sisters who all became independently successible while he was brought into business with his fault, has Never HAD WHO LOOKS UP TO HIM AS A SUCCESS Story of His Own.
The Story ITSELF works, but Rather than Evolving with Some Twists Along the Way, there just a single big one at the end, and the play ends so quickly that you have wanting but not necessarily in a fulfilling way. To her credit, though, chakracbarti strands in her characters’ lives with details but with noeding to over-Explain. For Example, Her Play Includes Clear References to Racism, but the Characters Can Simply Tell a Story and Receive a nod of acknowledgment. And we get a sense of offstage life with key figures – Gil’s Sisters, Benny’s Kids – Becoming Important Parts of the Story Being Seen.
What Makes This “Hymn” genuinely special, though, is the relaxed authenticity of the performances and the fluid elegance of director ron patson’s production, Both made up by the inspiration by chakrabarti to adapt the chicago’s side.
The transplantation work seamlessly – “Hymn” Feels Very Much Like a Local Expression of Place. Set and Projecting Designer Rasean davonté Johnson Takes US All Over the City with Background Images of Local Streets and Parks, Without Getting Too Bound to the Fully Literal; for example, an image of an oversized Black Fireplace Stands in for a luxurious house at Christmas Time.
The Production Also Makes the Best USS of Chicago Shakespeare’s Tricky Thrust Stage I’ve Ever Seen a Contemporary Play, Employing Just the Right Quantity of Place-Identifying Props. The Transitions Move Quickly, As Actors Store or Remove Items from Upholstered Chests that Work Equally Well to Suggest A Church and A Nostalgic Junk Room.
This all helps the playing to moving with remarkable ease, allowing full focus on meredith and johnson, who deliver the type of Acting that Simply Feels Like People Themselves. These are two exceptional actors at Peak Excellence, Bonding Deeply with Characters Who Bond with Each Other.
The best scens – Truly Joyful Ones – Come in the Middle of “Hymn,” Do Gil and Benny Remout About ’80s and’ 90s Songs, Connecting Across Their Class Divide, Showing off some rusty moves, and opening up their insecurities. We experience what family and community can really with in these moments, an allowance to be oneself and be appreciated for it.
This Level of Performance – The Sheer Sense of the Genuine – Becomes Its Own Hymn of Celebration to Live Theater and Community.
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