“Precious Little”

[rating=3] Language is our major form of communication. Yet, we often find other ways to communicate- take for example your pets, in particular, a dog. They will let you know when they want to eat, take a walk or just to be loved. Go to the zoo and watch the animals, both with each other and often with you the spectator. Try to imagine, however, that you are about to have a child and that there may be a abnormality that will prevent your child from learning language. How would you react? This is a major portion of what Madeline George’s new work, “Precious Little”, now having its World Premiere at the Chicago DCA Storefront Theater, looks at. This production, in association with Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, is strikingly simple with a set(Chelsea Warren) that is designed to be in the square ( instead of “round” allowing the entire audience to see all the parts of the puzzle that has been created by George and masterfully directed by Julieanne Ehre. This is a story that is about words and because of the importance of these words, we, the audience must pay close attention to the many characters depicted by the three marvelous actresses who bring them off the paper and into our hearts and souls.

Brodie ( superbly played by Meighan Gerachis) is a 40 something women , with a solid career as a professor of linguistics, who has decided to become pregnant by a donor. Fearing that because of her age, their might be problems she visits a clinic where they tell her of the probabilities and she gets tested. What the tell her is that there may be a chance that her child will ever be able to learn language. Her lab assistant/girlfriend ( deftly handled by Kathy Logelin, who also plays the technician/therapist who delivers the bad news as well as a myriad of people at the zoo) is somewhat uninvolved with the choices that Brodie will ultimately make. There is  some activity at the zoo, which is where the story begins as we watch a female gorilla ( a brilliant portrayal by Marilyn Dodds Frank , who also plays two other characters) eat some veggies and hear her thoughts. Later , Frank plays a woman who speaks a dying language that Brodie wants to tape for posterity and some of her motions and language indicate the closeness of our being able to understand even that which we are unfamiliar with.

Brodie, through the meeting and working with these others as well as observing the gorilla, must struggle with if she should keep or abort the baby and during this 90 minutes of action and swift changes of scene and characters ( with te exception of Brodie) we watch Brodie change and her relationships as well. While there are some very funny moments, this is a somewhat deep story about relationships and love as well as communication. Can we love an unborn child enough to bring them into the world knowing that they may not be the perfect child that we had hoped for? Can we live with a child that is unable to fully understand and communicate with us? Or, is it possible that the love we feel can allow us to overcome the obstacles that life puts before us? “Precious Little” will open your eyes to what lies below the surface of our true feelings. It will give you some idea as to what parents might go through knowing that the child they have dreamed of raising to better things, may not be able to attain all that we had  hoped for, but it will also show you that love can work in the favor of attaining more than expected or anticipated.

“Precious Little” will continue at the Storefront Theater located at 66 E. Randolph Street through April 2nd with performances Thursday,Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m.

Tickets are $25 ( general admission, but there are n bad seats in this intimate venue), but only $15 for students ( with ID) and seniors.

Tickets are available at the box office, by phone at 312-742-TIXS(8497) or online at www.dcatheater.org     

Discounted parking is available at Wabash Randolph Self Park at 20 E. Randolph ( be sure to go to this lot) for $10 ( be sure you bring ticket to be validated at the theater)

For more info on Rivendell Thetare Ensemble and their upcoming new home , visit www.rivendelltheatre.net