“Round Heads and Pointed Heads” reviewed by Jacob Davis

Highly Recommended **** “It’s no misfortune for us. Only you.” With those blunt words, a nascent peasant uprising splits along racial lines due to a devious plot by a dictator who is quite proud of the roundness of his head. But his victory soon goes off the rails, as Bertolt Brecht’s 1930s play Round Heads and Pointed Heads, or, Money Calls to Money takes a surprising turn to the Shakespearean. Anybody in Chicago who is interested in Brecht’s style of Epic Theatre, with its ballads, free verse, and themes of social injustice, would do well to see the latest collaboration between director Max Truax and composer Nicholas Tonozzi. It’s funny, thought-provoking, wildly inventive, features a brilliant ensemble, and is free.

Our story is set in the country of Yahoo, which is on the brink of collapse. There’s a foreign war, the peasants are too broke to pay rent and furious about it, and the country is bankrupt. Sensing that decisive leadership by a person with a sterling reputation is required, the viceroy (Peter Laughlin) takes a leave of absence, and in his place, appoints the demagogue Iberin (Felix Mayes). Iberin has a novel theory: noticing that Yahoo is populated by both round and pointy-headed people, he declaims that the round-heads are “Zacs,” the moral, native inhabitants of the land, while the pointy-headed “Zics” are money-grubbing, parasitic wanderers. It’s a theory that upends the class system, since both races had been equally diffused at every level of society, and quickly gains support as Zacs see enemies everywhere. But the need for money still exists, and the entrenched system proves harder to dislodge than Iberin anticipated. A petty dispute between a Zicish oligarch and his Zacish peasant mistress escalates into an increasingly ridiculous series of incidents that threaten plunge the country right back into chaos.

Nicholas Tonozzi supplies Eastern European inspired original music for the many ballads Brecht included in this play. Some of the songs are clearly predecessors to Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret, but translator Tom Kuhn supplies them with biting and often amusing wit. Truax has assembled fourteen versatile actors who are able to cycle through several distinct roles and possess the perfect blend of intellect, satirical humor, and sincerity to land each of their solos. Mayes especially stands out as the honey-voiced and cunning Iberin, while Ann Sonneville is a dry and cynical Madame Cornamontis and Nora King has an amusing turn as a befuddled judge. Caleb Roitz and Maryam Abdi skillfully handle the father-daughter Zacish peasant pair Callas and Nanna, whose pathetic amorality in their attempt to keep their heads above water causes most of the chaos in the plot.

Round Heads and Pointed Heads isn’t the easiest play to stage for a few reasons, but Truax is a master at non-naturalistic presentation. With the help of lighting designer Taylor Ovca and props designer John Nichols, a quite minimal staging becomes an endless source of striking visuals. Costume designer Rachel Sypniewski also deserves a great deal of credit for making the land of Yahoo come alive. This was one of the earliest plays Brecht and his collaborators worked on in exile, and the Nazis’ anti-Semitic rhetoric is clearly echoed in Iberin’s speeches and the self-justifying gossip of his followers. As a result, the play has a dire atmosphere despite its Simpsons-style comic sensibility, which makes its transformation into a Shakespeare adaptation very strange. However, Brecht does make his case that emphasizing the oppression of the class system and racial prejudice deepens the horror and absurdity of the story. Red Tape Theatre is now free to all patrons, and the high level of professionalism displayed by this production will hopefully be vindicated by continued audience support. And for people who have never seen this style of theatre before, a free production provides a low-risk opportunity to try something new.

“Round Heads and Pointed Heads” will continue at The Ready, 4546 N Western Ave, thru April 21, with performances as follows:

Fridays:                                8:00 pm

Saturdays:           8:00 pm

Sundays:              7:00 pm

Mondays:            8:00 pm

Running time is two and a half hours with one intermission.

Tickets are free. Reservations may be made at Red Tape Theatre.

Parking is available in the neighborhood.

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