Chicago, in theatrical terms, is a company town. The bulk of the work here is performed in packaged seasons by well-known nonprofit institutions that plan months, and sometimes years, in advance. We’re the happy beneficiaries of all of that, of course, but it does sometimes squeeze out what you might call spontaneous, quirky shows, especially those hoping for some union actors to climb aboard.
“Any Rebellion of Will,” which rather tickled me this past weekend, is precisely that kind of show. It’s staged at the Trap Door Theatre, which has been plowing the urban fields of the avant-garde in Bucktown for 33 years. (I was there for their first show.) But this world premiere, penned by S.L. Daniels, directed by the rising stage director Spencer Huffman and accurately billed as a dark, absurdist comedy with a touch of vaudeville, actually is a project funded principally by something called the Independent Projects Initiative. And the cast includes the venerable Chicago actor, Lawrence Grimm, appearing in something very much in his wheelhouse.
At first, I thought the piece was going to be all about the problem of boomerang kids, since we get introduced to a strange little nuclear family composed of a dad, Ferdinand (Grimm), a mom, Mona (Shawna Franks) and a son, Will (Lenin Izquierdo), reluctant to leave the nest despite being close to 30.
“You’ve done nothing,” his father says by way of prompting an exit. “You’re doing nothing.”
But while Will and his familial future remain at the center of things, further thematic complications ensue, with the arrival of Will’s friend Giselle (Camilla Frontain), a vagabond-ish young person who arrives on Emily Blanquera’s set all curled up on a little cart. Frontain, who I don’t believe I’ve seen work before, is terrific, drawing on what must be extensive training in physical theater and clowning.
All in all, these are 80 skillfully staged minutes of Samuel Beckett or Eugene Ionesco-like bon mots and little intellectual digressions melded quite effectively with noir, absurdist, gentle clowning, for want of a less tortured description. Ferdinand at one point observes that “there are better things than being remembered and worse things than being forgotten,” which offers some food for thought. At another, he asks, “Is that circular logic? I don’t allow that in this house.” Daniels certainly has imbued the great absurdists’ talent for self-awareness.
If you need a linear plot or an epic evening, this is not your show. But unlike some other pieces like this of my experience, “Any Rebellion of Will” is humanistic and moving. Better yet, it’s often very funny, in a sandpaper-dry kind of way. Imagine laughs where about 20% of the audience gets it and chuckles, with a different 20% snickering only at the next thing, and so on and so forth.
Things are a tad overplayed from time to time for this tiny theater. The deeply committed Franks has the dial all the way over to the right even in the pre-show and that doesn’t leave her much room as things intensify. But Izquierdo and Grimm, both excellent, have a father-son relationship that is as recognizable as it is metaphoric. And Frontain, a dedicated on-stage listener, is something of an emotional well. I doubt you’ll fully track all of the myriad artistic intentions here (I surely did not), but you’ll feel in professional, capable, committed hands. There’s a bar right in front of this theater to talk it all over.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic
Review: “Any Rebellion of Will” (3 stars)
When: Through Nov. 1
Where: Trap Door Theatre, 1655 W. Cortland Ave.
Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
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Tickets: $5-$30 at 773-384-0494 and our.show/any-rebellion-of-will