“It’s Only A Play” reviewed by Jeffrey Leibham

Recommended ***  Terrence McNally’s delightful comedy “It’s Only a Play” may not contain some grand message about loving your fellow man or a deep evaluation to the meaning of life but it sure does have a ton of good and hearty laughs. Written in 1986 and enjoying a slight success Off-Broadway at that time, McNally revised and updated the script for a star-studded version that hit Broadway in 2014. The current production at Pride Films and Plays, under the skilled direction of Jon Martinez, seems to have been revamped even more recently, as it contains hilarious references to both “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” and “Mean Girls,” two big Broadway shows that didn’t even open until April of this past year.

The setting for both acts of “It’s Only a Play” occurs in the elegant boudoir of Julia Budder’s (Marika Mashburn) swank townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Julia is the wealthy producer of a new play written by Peter Austin (Kevin Webb). On opening night, as the A-list celebrities gather in the living room below, seven individuals spend the evening bonding and bitching together upstairs as they await the reviews to pour in. Obviously hoping for a hit, the one review that can make or break any show is that written by the critics of the New York Times. In addition to Julia and Peter, the assembled zany cast of characters include leading actress Virginia Noyes (Sarah Hayes), a former Hollywood starlet who has seen better days and decided to give the legitimate stage a try since her agent is not securing her any film work; Frank Finger (Cody Jolly), the Brit director of Peter’s play who is worshipped by the critics and who wins awards for work that he personally abhors; James Wicker (William Marquez), Peter’s best friend and for whom the lead male role was written but James refused the offer so that he could star in a popular television sitcom;  eccentric theatre critic Ira Drew (Jeremy Trager) and new-to-the-big-city Gus (Christopher Young) who serves as the coat check boy for all of the partygoers and shuttles in and out with a series of more elaborate coats (costumes designed by Sonja Mayakovski) as the casts of Broadway musical shows arrive.

This is clearly McNally’s acerbic love letter to The Great White Way, and a genuine treat for any theatre geek. Much of the material zings by so fast that only those with a keen sense of past and current theatre knowledge will be in on the jokes. Nevertheless, it is a very funny, farcical take on American greed, our collective obsession with fame and celebrity as well as a thinly-veiled New Yorker’s dis on Hollywood and the “talent” found there.  Mashburn is a hoot as Julia, the somewhat ditzy but straight-faced doyenne who mouths endless malapropisms. Hayes is also terrific as Virginia, the once-promising ingénue who has run into hard times thanks to drug addiction, failed stints in rehab as well as recent incarceration (she still wears a fashionable ankle bracelet as a home tracking device). Trager has some down-right creepy and bizarre facial expressions as the scathing critic, so keep an eye on him throughout the evening. Director Martinez does a great job with keeping the tempo brisk and even has to employ a stronger grip once things threaten to go off the rails as the farce tends to get a bit broad in Act Two.

The current theatre season in Chicago has gotten off to a blazing start but it has been pretty heavily front-loaded with quite a bit of serious drama or scholarly literary adaptations. “It’s Only a Play” is a refreshing change from all of that. After weeks of consecutive opening nights of tears and solemnity it feels great to laugh once again. And laugh you will, no doubt, at the cutting but clever “It’s Only a Play.”

“It’s Only a Play” runs through November 11, 2018

Pride Arts Center – The Broadway, 4139 North Broadway, Chicago, IL

Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 3:30 PM,

plus Wednesday, November 7 at 7:30 PM

Premium seats are $40, general admission seats are $30, student/senior/military $25 (not valid Sat.)

Tickets available by phone at 866-811-4111 or 773-857-0222 or online at www.pridefilmsandplays.com

Running time is approximately 2 hours with one intermission

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