Explorations of a Scoundrel Husband: Part One

"What's wrong?" His breath sour. Her face of stone. Her hollow eyes penetrating him as he finally manages to lock the door behind him. Am I late? Did I forget something? Her birthday isn't til July... She knows. Does she smell the sex or cheap perfume or motel soap? Does she see the guilt in my eyes? On my face? In my hair and body language? Honey, I love you. Honey, I think there's something wrong. I'm not happy. I need help. I need you. Honey, it didn't mean anything. I'm sorry. I don't know where I'd be without you. Honey you mean the world to me and those eyes! They were so beautiful. Compassionate. Vibrant! But now... Tell me what's wrong! You used to come to me and you'd cry in my arms and I'd listen when you needed it and make a stupid joke and you'd smile and it's the most beautiful thing and I don't want to believe it's gone. Now you come home on the phone with one of your girlfriends. You make dinner. We eat in silence with intermittent grunting amounting to something like, "did you take the trash out?" Honey, where did the romance go? What happened to forever? Is this true love or is it--

"Nothing, I'm going to bed."

"Oh...okay. Good night." 

Completeness at Theater Wit

Chris and I went for a VERY long journey into Chicago down 290 which included a sing-along where he found his voice. Call me crazy but I find the tail lights, honking, and darting between lanes to be kinda charming. However, I probably only think this because I wasn't the one driving and wasn't particularly stressed out about being late. If I was on my way to an interview or something I would probably be laying on the horn screaming, "YOU PIG FUCKER!" 

Theater Wit 

First of all we loved Theater Wit. We got there about 5 minutes late and they let us in during a set change, which I thought was nice. They had a bar with quirky drinks. Their hot apple cider was awesome. The valet parking was also very convenient and only $10. 

Completeness 

Since I'm a playwright most of my criticisms are for the writing of the play. Even though we missed the first scene, within 5 to 10 minutes it was pretty clear what we had missed. The dialogue was amusing but there were a lot of long monologues that didn't really contribute anything to character development or further the plot (at least not after the first 3 minutes anyway). I felt that the character development was so-so and I didn't really care about what happened to them even though I was supposed to. I felt there were some serious flaws with the pacing and flow of the play that also contributed to this indifference about our protagonists' fate. Anyway, the acting seemed to be pretty good. The theater was intimate. I liked the set design, it was simple which put the focus on the characters, good for a character driven plot. There was a technical difficulty towards the end of the play which I think kind of threw the actors off in the final scene. 

Overall 

I wouldn't see this particular play again, nor would I strongly recommend it to anyone. However, I would certainly return to Theater Wit to see other productions. It was a good night out. My fiance isn't a huge fan of theater but this experience has helped change his mind. 

Score

3/5