Kill Move Paradise

Highly Recommended **** The news is, for the most part, horrific! Besides all of the political “mumbo-Jumbo” ( this being an election year), we hear about disease, disasters, weather and shootings. Yes, it seems that every Monday we hear about the number of shootings over the week end and the number of deaths from said shootings. It is these deaths that we find ourselves looking at in  James Ijame’s drama “Kill Move Paradise” now in its Chicago premiere at Timeline Theatre. Talk about power!

This is 90 amazing minutes that we will spend meeting four men. They are of all ages and backgrounds. What they do share is that they are Black and that they are dead. Yes, we are in what is a waiting station (designed by Ryan Emens) where we see a teletype machine ( this is sort of like a fax machine) and a bare stage with  what appears to be a slide leading to nowhere. Isa ( played to perfection by Kai A. Ealy ) is alone and for a period of around 15 minutes we watch him and he watches us. It appears that this is a landing station or purgatory and at this time the next steps are up to a higher being.

During the course of time we will meet three others, Daz ( deftly handled by Charles Andrew Gardner) and Grif ( the highly energetic Cage Sebastian Pierre) and then much later, a young man named Tiny ( * Trent Davis is the perfect teen). They are as it turns out all dead, all shot and all trying to understand what happened. Why were they shot? They were doing nothing to cause this result? What will happen to them now? Is it Heaven? Is it Hell? They were not criminals! They were just living their lives but were shot!

This play examines and lists the ever growing list of slain unarmed black men and women. Yes, there are a number of plays that tackle this subject matter and for many theater audiences they may feel more than needed. Until we can stop this ever growing list, these stories will continue to be told. The list is far too long. Yes, the shootings are not all  law shootings. Many are drive-by and in the case of Tiny , an accident. He was just playing, but was carrying a fake rifle.

This is a highly energetic show with a strong moral and four powerful actors who are in great shape. They are tossed around the stage, they dance, they try to escape and in the end, well. See for yourself!

The tech parts of the production are powerful as well. Jeffrey Levin’s sound, Jason Lynch’s lighting, Izumi Inabas’s costumes and Mealah Heidenreich’s props are very fitting and create the feel that we need. The music by Levin is stimulating. The choreography of movement by Breon Arzell is amazing and this cast must feel as if they enjoyed a workout every performance.

As always, in the lobby you will be able to see stories and watch videos that pertain to the subject matter.

Post-Show discussions will take place:

February 23rd, February 27th. March 1, March 4th, March 25th and April 2nd. These are open to the public and you can check out more at www.timelinetheatre.com/kill-move-paradise

On March 21st from 5:30 p.m.8 p.m. Timeline will host a gathering that will be free for those who have tickets for either performance on that Saturday.

“Kill Move Paradise” will continue Thru – Apr 5, 2020

Price: $42-$57

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 773-281-8463

Running Time: 1hr, 30mins

www.timelinetheatre.com

Timeline Theatre is located at 615 West Wellington in Chicago.

Easy to get to by public transportation and they do have parking available at a discount at several garages. Check out www.timelinetheatre.com

ACCESSIBILITY

captioned March 7th and March 26th

Audio Described and touch-tour  March 20th

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com

go to Review Round-Up and click at “Kill Move Paradise”.

*Tiny is played by Donovan Session at select performances