Displaying items by tag: BLACK SUNDAY

TimeLine Theatre has entranced me for years with its historically- and politically-significant plays, riveting and educational – just my cup of tea! So, I felt honor-bound to pay homage to the final event TimeLine will produce in their current (way-too-small) Lincoln Park venue, where they’ve been for a quarter century. BLACK SUNDAY, by Dolores Diaz, sounded intriguing: a 1930’s rural family starving on land that’s been devastated by locusts, drought, and the Depression, leading up to the cataclysmic storm on April 14, 1935 that earned the Plains its moniker “Dust Bowl” (and inspired a Woody Guthrie song).

The story sounds terrific, but unfortunately it didn’t play out on the stage. All five characters were essentially caricatures of archetypal characters, without any individual uniqueness or liaison with one another. The performances were superb but fragmented by rapid runs of brief scenes that blacked out as soon as they got close to showing us who the characters were.

Pa (David Parkes), characterizing ‘strong silent type’, surpassed that cliche and went straight to surly and loutish. There was not one point in the production where I got any idea of how he felt about his wife or teenage daughter. He didn’t want to leave his Land, and that was the sum of his persona.

Certainly, the disasters across the Plains drove people insane and many of those were women. Ma (Mechelle Moe) was a traditionally Freudian hysteric: driven barmy by hardship and despair, she’s become psychotic, having visions that show her … what? I never quite saw. Ma hangs on Pa, imploring him to SEE the message in her visions and leave this hard-luck farm. I saw no trace of affection between Ma and Pa, but no true hostility either – the brief scenes of domestic violence were well played but uninformative. Aside from that one brief flare there was no real sense of how they felt about one another.

The character of daughter Sunny (Angela Morris) was classic rebellious adolescent, amplified by hardship and fear. Her rebellion and desire to fly the coop were authentic, but playwright Díaz returned to Victorian psychoanalysis by making her hypersexual, rubbing her baps on both the Mexican vagrant farmhand Jesús (Christopher Alvarenga) and the timorous preacher Jim (Vic Kuligowski). Jim’s extreme uptightness was noteworthy but never explored, though there could well have been interesting reasons for his qualms – deeply closeted? Wife and kids back in Abilene? Actually, hankering for Ma? Or Jesús? Jesús’s character is billed as having some sort of dark secret, but that ends up being fairly ho-hum and we learn little more about him.

So, these fragmentary folks wandered from one scene to another, moving on to the next before we could grasp why they’d just done … whatever.

The projections by Anthony Churchill and Parker Molacek were absolutely superb, partnering with Sound Designer Forrest Gregor to create a totally immersive experience, particularly the storms… and the locusts gave us an idea of What’s Next for Chicago! Props designer Saskia Bakker maintained TimeLine’s tradition of authentic and exciting touches, and Scenic Designers Joe Schermoly and Catalina Niño gave us a wonderful set, rich in nooks, crannies and levels, though I disagreed with some of the ways Director Helen Young utilized them. And I was a bit squicked by all the animal corpses: first chickens (with several additional references to eggs); then coyotes … one species after another piled onstage.   

This could have been a fine show; the actors were excellent, the production first-rate.  The problems lay with the play itself. Dolores Díaz was overambitious, trying to deliver The Show with Everything. She’d have done better to choose two or three themes to drill down on. She delivered the disaster and tragedy bits, but we could have got those from reading The Grapes of Wrath. And Steinbeck recognized the convoluted interpersonal dynamics as key. In BLACK SUNDAY the characters got lost in Díaz trying to include politics, racism, poverty, agricultural mismanagement, a bit of labor history, psychosis, sexual psychoneuroses, domestic violence … that makes for a pretty full agenda! even without expounding on climate change, not trusting the audience to make that connection ourselves.

Director Helen Young could have mitigated these problems with some judicious scene-cutting and slowing the action from machine-gunfire to a speed that would allow us time for thought and reflection before the next sensational scene superimposed itself. It was also faulty direction that kept the characters from connecting and interacting emotionally.

TimeLine Theatre is relocating to a vintage building in Uptown where they can expand their mission. Current estimates place its opening in 2026. In the meantime, TimeLine Theatre will continue to offer productions at various kindred theatres about the North side.

BLACK SUNDAY plays through June 29th

TimeLine Theatre     611 W Wellington

TimeLine Theatre announces the world premiere of the latest play developed through the company’s Playwrights Collective—Black Sunday, by Chicago playwright Dolores Díaz, a startling look at conflicts of climate change, race, and gender in the days leading up to one of the worst dust storms in American history. Sandra Marquez makes her TimeLine directorial debut with Black Sunday, running May 8 – June 29, 2024. Press opening is Wednesday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m.

Black Sunday also marks the bookend to a chapter of TimeLine Theatre’s growth. After 25 amazing years at the company’s longtime home at 615 W. Wellington Avenue in Chicago’s Lakeview East neighborhood, Black Sunday will be the final production presented in that space, leading toward the company’s exciting new era.

Last month, TimeLine announced plans for a thrilling 28th season, including producing partnerships with three of Chicago’s preeminent performing arts organizations in 2024-25, as a bridge toward opening its future home at 5035 N. Broadway Avenue in Uptown. 

BLACK SUNDAY: A WAKE-UP CALL FOR THE WORLD IN THE 1930s … AND TODAY

Step back to April 1935 in the dust storm-riddled plains of Texas, where a family is struggling to keep their farm afloat amidst a mounting series of environmental disasters. As Jesús, a new field worker, arrives in their midst, stubborn Pa refuses to believe his land is no longer viable, young Sunny dreams of a new life in bountiful California, and Ma starts having mysterious visions of the future. It’s a startling look at conflicts surrounding climate change, race, and gender in the days leading up to an infamous dust storm known as Black Sunday.

Black Sunday is the fourth world premiere play developed through TimeLine Theatre’s Playwrights Collective, the same new play program that brought forth TimeLine’s debut productions of Tyla Abercrumbie’s Relentless (Jeff Award, Outstanding New Work), Will Allan’s Campaigns, Inc. and Brett Neveu’s To Catch a Fish. The Collective was launched in 2013 to support Chicago-based playwrights in residence and create new work centered on TimeLine’s mission.

The cast of Black Sunday features TimeLine Company Members Mechelle Moe (she/her) as Ma and David Parkes (he/him) as Pa, with Christopher Alvarenga (he/him) as Jésus, Vic Kuligoski (he/him) as Jim, and Angela Morris (she/her) as Sunny.

The Black Sunday production team includes Joe Schermoly (Scenic Designer, he/him), Christine Pascual (Costume Designer, she/her), Conchita Avitia (Lighting Designer, she/her/ella), Saskia Baker (Properties Designer, she/her), Anthony Churchill (Projections Designer, he/him), Forrest Gregor (Sound Designer, he/him), Kristina Fluty (Intimacy Director, she/her), J. Isabel Salazar (Literary Dramaturg, they/them), Bryar Barborka (Production Dramaturg, they/them), Dina Spoerl (Dramaturgical Display Designer, she/her), and Alden Vasquez (Stage Manager, he/him). Understudies are Connor Green (Jim, he/him), Christopher Hainsworth (Pa, he/him), Lauren Grace Thompson (Sunny, she/her), Richie Villafuerte (Jésus, he/him), and India Whiteside (Ma, she/her).

“Black Sunday embodies TimeLine’s mission—illuminating aspects of history often untold, while drawing haunting parallels to critical issues of today,” said TimeLine Artistic Director PJ Powers. “As part of TimeLine’s Playwrights Collective, Dolores has demonstrated evocative storytelling, fierce intellect, and propensity for collaboration. Black Sunday is the fourth world premiere to emerge from the Playwright’s Collective, and I’m confident it will make as notable an impact as the acclaimed plays which preceded it. Witnessing the play’s evolution the past four years, I’ve seen Dolores’ indefatigable passion, and we’re thrilled to pair her with the remarkable director Sandra Marquez whose career, including work as an educator and actor, has distinguished her among Chicago’s most notable leaders.”

BLACK SUNDAY PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Previews start May 8, 2024: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, May 8–10 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, May 11 at 4 p.m.; Sunday, May 12 at 2 p.m.; and Tuesday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m. Press Opening is Wednesday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. Opening Night is Thursday, May 16 at 7:30 p.m. Regular performances continue through June 29: Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 p.m., plus two added matinees: Thursdays, June 20 and June 27 at 2 p.m. Exceptions: No 4 p.m. show on Saturday, May 18; and no performance on Wednesday, June 19.

BUYING TICKETS

Single tickets to Black Sunday are now on sale, priced $35–$67. For tickets and information, visit timelinetheatre.com or call the TimeLine Box Office at (773) 281-8463 x6. 

Preview tickets are $35. Single tickets to regular performances are $52 (all evening performances) and $67 (all matinee performances). Student discount is 35% off regular price with valid ID. TimeLine is also a member of TCG’s Blue Star Theatre Program and is offering $25 tickets to U.S. military personnel, veterans, first responders, and their spouses and family.

Ticket buyers ages 18-35 may join TimeLine’s free MyLine program to obtain access to discounted tickets, special events and more. Discounted rates for groups of 10 or more are also available. Visit timelinetheatre.com/discounts for more about available discounts.

LOCATION/TRANSPORTATION/PARKING

Black Sunday will take place at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave., in Chicago’s Lakeview East neighborhood, near the corner of Wellington and Broadway, inside Chabad East Lakeview, the former Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ building. TimeLine is served by multiple CTA trains and buses. There are multiple paid parking options nearby, plus limited free and metered street parking. Visit timelinetheatre.com/timeline-theatre for details and available discounts.