“Five Mile Lake” reviewed by Carol Moore

[rating=2] Unfortunately, I found Shattered Globe’s production of “Five Mile Lake” to be kind of boring.  I found myself zoning out a couple of times during the show.  The problem – there was no real conflict, which is essential for good drama.  Although there were a couple of spots with a little bit of push-pull – in the end, nothing happened, nobody changed and there were no lessons learned.  2 ½ Spotlights

In a small town somewhere in Pennsylvania, Jamie (Steve Peebles) and Mary (Daniela Colucci) work the counter in a bakery/coffee shop; the most exciting task seems to be changing the featured muffin on the board.  Although she knows better, Mary feeds the feral cats in the neighborhood every morning.  Mary is supporting her brother, Danny (Drew Schad), who suffers from PTSD.  Jamie, a really nice guy, is fixing up a cottage on the lake.

One day, Jamie’s brother Rufus (Joseph Wiens) and his girlfriend, Peta (Aila Peck), show up at the bakery, surprising Jamie with a weekend visit.

That evening at the lake house, the brothers sit out outside drinking a beer.  Jamie can’t think of a place he’d rather be, since he loves sitting and watching the sun set over the water.  He’s proud of the work he’s done on the house, which is still a work-in-progress.

When Jamie mentioned the name of a buddy who’d helped with the work, Rufus made fun of the guy because he didn’t make good grades in high school.  Aha, I thought, maybe there’ll be an argument about the house.  Didn’t happen.

Rufus went on to tell Jamie more than he ever wanted to know about the obscure topic of his dissertation, bragging about the 100 or so pages he’d already written.

Peta came out to join them, Rufus went in the house.  Peta cried as she told Jamie she’d recently had a miscarriage which was the reason for the distance between the couple.  Maybe there’d be a scene as they broke up, I thought.  Didn’t happen.

Meanwhile, Danny has a chance for a job and he needs to borrow Mary’s car.  OK, I thought, maybe this will lead to something.  Nope, didn’t happen!

I could tell you more about these people and what they said, but it would be a waste of time.  All they do is talk – for an hour and a half – and nothing happens!

I’m not sure what effect Scenic Designer Jeffrey D. Kmiec was going for, but the set, with everything leaning at a different angle from everything else made me dizzy.

Shattered Globe’s production of “Five Mile Lake” runs through February 24^th at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Avenue, Chicago. Parking is available for a fee in Theater Wit’s lot behind the restaurant across the street.

There is limited free parking as well as metered parking on Belmont.  Valet parking is also available on weekends.  Running time is 90 minutes, no intermission.  Performances are :

Thursdays   8 p.m.

Fridays  8 p.m.

Saturdays  8:00 pm

Sundays at 3:00 pm.

Tickets range from $28-$35.  FYI (773) 975-8150 or www.theaterwit.org.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Five Mile Lake”