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Review: 'Ashland Avenue' at Goodman Theatre
When a business closes, who mourns their loss? Lee Kirk’s new play Ashland Avenue, now running at Goodman Theatre, asks that very question. Kirk resides in LA, but he studied theatre at DePaul a few decades back and has a strong connection to the city of Chicago. On a recent visit, he remarked on how few of his college haunts were still open. Perhaps it wasn’t grief that inspired him, but rather a nostalgia for the places he spent formative years.
You can’t tell a Chicago story in Chicago without one of the city's most celebrated actors, Francis Guinan. As to be expected, he brings a certain hometown charm to the role of Pete, of Pete’s TVs–his time capsule of an electronic store. Ashland Avenue begins with Pete preparing to be honored by the mayor for being part of the community for over 40 years. His daughter Sam, played by Jenna Fischer of ‘The Office’, loyally helps him keep the shop running as the world marches into the future and threatens to leave her behind.
Ashland Avenue runs the length of Chicago, and each block tells a different story, but every city has its own version of changing neighborhoods and gentrification. Kirk’s use of objects as storytelling devices feels especially relevant as a parallel to Pete’s TV shop. Though TVs are still a staple of most households, their importance has significantly waned in an era in which you can stream network TV on your iPhone. Ashland Avenue is at its core a play about the tension between Pete’s sustained resistance to change and his daughter Sam’s yearning for a new beginning.
If you live anywhere long enough, you’ll see storefronts change, but how often do we think about the proprietors and what prompted them to close their doors? Ashland Avenue brings you behind the counter to share in both the victories and failures of small business. It’s a play that celebrates family owned and operated businesses in a world of Targets and Amazons. It’s weird to say a business becomes part of your own family but like an aging family member, once they’re gone, they’re gone.
The small cast is rounded out by Sam’s husband Mike (Chike Johnson), Pete’s former shop assistant, now roommate Jess (Cordelia Dewdney), and a mysterious late-night customer played by Will Allan. A whole world of emotional catharsis happens just within the shop walls, but big things come in small packages. The scene work between Fischer and Guinan is understated and heartrending, which is to say, human and honest. Both performances only add to the authenticity of the play.
It can be tough to write a play about Chicago when you are not really from Chicago. Too often we see out-of-town writers jam in the words “bean” and “Sears Tower” but Ashland Avenue has perfectly captured the spirit of what it means to be a Chicagoan. Perhaps it’s the reliably earnest Guinan’s performance or Kirk’s brilliant script but Ashland Avenue might just be the best Chicago play since Bruce Norris’ 2011 Pulitzer winner Clybourn Park.
Through October 12 at Goodman Theatre. 170 N Dearborn St. 312-443-3800
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