Few things scream Chicago theater more loudly than a couple of dozen people packed into a building by Lake Michigan, listening to an emotional, possibly corrupt storyteller pouring himself a beer and telling us a tall tale of gangsters and giant rats, as penned in free verse.
So welcome back, Jackalope Theatre Company and director Gus Menary, who made a career sojourn to Seattle only to re-discover the pleasure of working in Chicago. The new show is the local premiere of “The Smuggler,” a 75-minute piece performed in the Chicago Park District building known as the Berger Park Coach House, a tiny venue steps from the water and forever seared in my memory as the home of an indoor-outdoor parody of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.”
“The Smuggler” is by Ronán Noone, an Irish-born writer now based in Boston and the work (produced in New York by the Irish Repertory Theatre in 2019) is set in New England, specifically on the island of Amity, off the coast of Massachusetts. Our narrator, played here by Andrew Burden Swanson, is an Irish immigrant struggling to care for his family and pay his bills (especially after he loses his job as a bartender) and who gets drawn into a very 21st century form of smuggling, that of people looking to come to America. The deftly penned story is intended to keep you guessing, and it does, and it asks an audience to ponder the intersection of poverty and desperation as well as the complicated question of how this country treats those who want a place at its table.
This is a minimal production that, frankly, called out to be produced in a real pub, and on opening night, Swanson still had a ways to go (he tended to get distracted by his hair constantly falling into his eyes). But he’s an authentic, vulnerable actor and I suspect he’ll grow into the strikingly difficult textual demands of this role. He already builds an empathetic character, struggling to balance his personal needs with broader ethical responsibilities, a nexus that has informed many great plays, famed TV shows and movies aplenty. If, like me, you like this kind of cryptic storytelling, well, it’s always cooler by the lake.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
Review: “The Smuggler” (3 stars)
When: Through March 16
Where: Berger Park Coach House, 6205 N. Sheridan Road
Running time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Tickets: $15-$25 at 773-340-2543 and www.jackalopetheatre.org
