“Fun Harmless Warmachine” reviewed by Jeffrey Leibham

Highly Recommended *****The creative folks at The New Colony are once again exploring a subject matter that they seem to be particularly drawn to — the world of video gaming. In 2016, this very same company presented the world premiere of “Merge,” which dealt with the people involved in the creation of and travails involved in incorporating what ended up becoming the Atari company in the late 1970’s, and its eventual downfall. Their latest world premiere (New Colony’s 31st) is “Fun Harmless Warmachine,” written by the new Co-Artistic Director Fin Coe, which is a much more polished and decidedly darker and rewarding work.

Tom (Daniel Chenard) is a recent college graduate who has been playing, and fixated upon, video games for the majority of his life. His job, actually, is creating code and designing video games for a small, independently-owned company. Dissatisfied with the mundacity that he faces on a daily basis during his nine-to-five existence and a boss that he hates, Tom boldly approaches a female co-worker named Melissa (Emily Marso) and asks her out on a date. Whether or not Tom is even remotely attracted to Melissa is left ambiguously open-ended. More than likely he is just engaging in PUA (pick-up artistry), a live-action game in itself in which unattractive or socially inept men approach women and try to score just to prove to their fellow players that they are not afraid of rejection. When Melissa rebuffs Tom’s advances, the game turns odious. Propelled to move on with his life by his best friend DC (Londen Shannon), Tom eventually meets and starts dating the mysterious Ekaterina (Ayanna Bria Bakari). As we travel deeper down the rabbit hole, Tom encounters an anomalous cyber organization known as The Order of the Sword. Suggested by his co-worker Niko (Victor Musoni), Tom pursues the possibility of becoming a member and, once accepted, the game mushrooms hideously out of control.

Coe has constructed a taut and suspenseful script which is smartly written and intensely compact. It seems quite clear that he worked very closely in collaboration with director James Fleming to ensure that the finished product is meticulously delivered. Fleming has done a remarkable job of taking information and data and presenting it in a completely innovative, visual style. Just watch how he handles the crisis as we learn that Tom must return home to visit his family in Kansas City when his father has become gravely ill, having the actor playing his father drag a white plastic chair around the entire periphery of the stage while actors are still performing upon the stage. Or how Tom shuffles through random voicemail and text messages from the gradually alienated to nearly ignored DC and Tom’s mother, father and younger brother Jack as the actors swirl around the four corners of the playing area. Much of the dialogue can overlap in certain scenes and the frenzied pace has moments when two actors are speaking the exact same dialogue in perfectly-timed unison. This is an immensely well rehearsed and cohesive unit of an ensemble. Chenard gives a sincere performance as Tom and has a natural quality on stage which makes him feel less of a monster than his character really is. Bakari is solid and enjoyable as Ekaterina, the confident partner who can go toe-to-toe when it comes to the verbal sparring matches early on in their relationship. Shannon is very sweet as the loyal best friend DC who almost becomes desperate for Tom’s affection towards the conclusion and also Musoni, who gets to play evil as Niko and young and innocent as Jack. Musoni handles them both adeptly.

Complementing the sinister elements of the script are tremendously effective design elements. Sotirios Livaditis’ scenic design is simple but brilliant. A single, slightly raised square platform, painted in stark and crisp white, is the sole set. The minimalist furnishings, which are rarely utilized and carried on and off stage by actors as required for any particular scene, are all white as well. The three walls surrounding the stage are each constructed of a series of eight square light boxes per wall covered in white plexiglass, mirroring the outline of the stage and resembling TV consoles or computer monitors. The only time that naturalistic chairs and table are on stage is in the final scene, wherein Tom — in a mutually agreed upon meeting — faces his victim Melissa in a coffee shop for a quasi-resolution and attempt at forgiveness. Those 24 light boxes, as well as some tube lighting mounted on the ceiling that frames the stage from above, pulse in vivid and lustrous rich tones throughout the show, thanks to the striking lighting design by Claire Chrzan. Completing the disquieting mood is the fantastic original music and sound design of Eric Backus.

If this bold production of “Fun Harmless Warmachine” is any indication of what lies ahead for The New Colony — in the very first season under the new artistic leadership of Fin Coe and Stephanie Shum, by the way — the future of this important company seems to be in very capable hands.

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“Fun Harmless Warmachine” runs through November 4, 2018

The Den Theatre’s Upstairs Main Stage, 1331 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago

Curtain Times:

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  7:30 p.m.

Sundays at 3:00 PM

Tickets are $20 (students/seniors 25% off). Tickets are currently available at http://www,thenewcolony.org

Running time is 1 hour and 40 minutes with no intermission

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