How many straight, Black men over 50 would consider texting a bro and suggesting a big night out together at Chicago Shakespeare Theater?
Not that many, would be the honest truth.
Women buy most theater tickets, and data consistently shows that most heterosexual men in a theater audience have been coaxed there by a female partner. Dudes, especially in friend groups, are an endangered population in a theater lobby, and that’s particularly the case when it comes to Black men. Thirty-some years of theatergoing have also taught me that’s especially true in Chicago, with rare exceptions. Which brings me to playwright Lolita Chakrabarti’s “Hymn,” if you get the double meaning of the title.
Here’s a modestly ambitious, highly enjoyable show that celebrates African American friendship and is directed by Ron OJ Parson with such exuberance that you leave thinking there actually could be few things better than finding a long-lost brother that you never thought you had. And that’s the case even though “Hymn” actually deals with such very serious topics as addiction and suicide, and works to probe the fragility of the Black middle-class in Chicago, especially during the COVID era.
Chakrabarti likes to introduce themes of social justice in her work, sometimes predictably and moralistically so, but Parson invariably ensures that the great Black life force takes center stage in his shows, and that’s where “Hymn” lands in its U.S. premiere. The right partnership, then.
Parson foregrounds the power of friendship, the strength of Black familial bonds (whatever troubles they may also bring), and the ability of one brother to love another with such power that all else drops away at the end. Although much of the soundtrack is part of Chakrabarti’s script, Parson long been a master of old-school, intra-show playlists and this one includes such pleasures as “Lean On Me,” “Got to Get You Into My Life” and “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It,” not to mention “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” which is especially apt, given the show’s themes.
In this two-character show, Parson has two Chicago actors in James Vincent Meredith and Chiké Johnson who can pull off this joy. Both men have deep experiential benches and watching the pair of them Friday night, I was struck by how clearly they were loving doing this show, leaning into its positivity. Both of them are entirely convincing all night long as their characters traverse from wariness to full-on acceptance and then back to wariness, life bringing the challenges that it invariably does. They’re just an unmitigated pleasure to watch for the play’s entire 100 minutes.
“Hymn” actually began as a play set in the U.K. (It starred Adrian Lester and Danny Sapani and was streamed live during the pandemic). For the U.S. premiere, Chakrabarti rewrote the play so it was set on the South Side of Chicago. That carefully wrought rewrite mostly works, even if lifelong Chicagoans likely will find it something of a glancing blow, location-wise, rather than a deeply specific dive. I had trouble fully believing one central event involving Michigan Avenue in the play (which I don’t want to reveal any more than that), given how there would be more checks at that level in reality. But going with that device really is not a big ask. Everything in this show feels believable, honest and raw. And there is the additional benefit of a lovely, rather cinematic setting from Rasean Davonté Johnson that wisely focuses on the emotional landscape of the two central characters, manifesting their doubts, fears and faith in each other.
I hope some members of the aforementioned, hard-to-reach audience make it to this play.
I’ve had a lifelong love of works that don’t offer up heroes or villains but fundamentally good people doing their best under very difficult circumstances over which they have only limited control.
Here, we watch two men trying to go forward with their lives, deal with their own mistakes and stay centered in a tough city.
“Hymn” is centered on father, brothers, and friends, on trust and guilt, on despair and hope. Whoever we are, we all deal with that stuff and not only is this a show about finally finding someone who has your back, you surely will feel like this lovable show has your back, too.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
Review: “Hymn” (3.5 stars)
When: Through May 25
Where: Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave.
Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Tickets: $52-$95 at 312-365-5600 and www.chicagoshakes.com
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