Recommended *** Victory Gardens Theater is back! It is exciting to see that one by one our wonderful theaters are opening and that every night, there is something written in my “day timer”. Victory Gardens first show of the “post Covid era” is” Queen of the Night” written by Travis Tate. The production is being done in the upstairs, studio theater named for Richard Christiansen, who recently passed away. Before the play began, there was a moment of silence in honor of this man who made Chicago theater very special. I appreciated that being done as Richard was a true part of our scene and this theater being named for him made it perfect.The play is an 85 minute story about a father and son. They have drifted apart over the years. His parents are divorced and his mother is about to remarry. As we learn in the very beginning of their camping trip that Stephen ( Terry Guest) has recently lost his job. Ty, (deftly handled by Andre Teamer) his son, is gay and never tries to hide this. So we have a father and son, two men you would never expect to be on a camping trip doing so, to attempt to relive their pasts and maybe get a little closer, relationship wise.
From the start, we can feel the friction between father and son. Can Stephen put up his pup tent? Stephen doesn’t even let him. As Ty tries to do the right thing, his dad takes over, giving us the impression that a gay man can’t possibly put up a tent or make a fire or do any of the manly things that one does on a camping trip. They have made an agreement, no phones. Stephen it turns out brought one and had it pepped up to get service in the back woods in Texas. The play is about 90 minutes and covers what appears to be three days of camping, fishing, and just plain talking.
Sharpley directed by Ken-matt martin on a wonderful set (Sydney Lynne) and a wonderful assortment of props ( Caitlin McCarthy) and sound ( G. Clausen) and lighting (Sim Carpenter and Connor Sale), I found this to be a family picture of an estranged parent and child trying to get it back together. The costumes were designed by Rueben D. Echoles ( and it looks as if co-designed by Walmart). Stephen is dressed in flannel and Ty is wearing much more stylish garb.
In the press notes they mention that” Tate explores masculinity and queerness through the lens of multi-generation blackness”. I am not sure that their blackness has anything to do with the situation. I can see that Stephen might have a problem with a son being gay, but that would be his problem to deal with. Ty is looking for love, not only for his life partner, but from his father and he misses having a “family”. His brother is also estranged from his father and of course, with his mother remarrying, life will never recapture what they had years ago.
As the days go by and the father and son communicate, chasing away any bears who might hit camp, talking, fishing, cooking and having a drinking match, we see the changes take place. Each opens their eyes to see the other for who and what they are and in the final scene, we can see that the trip had value.
“Queen of the Night” will continue thru March 13th with performances as follows:
Wed, Feb 9:7:30pm
Thu, Feb 10:7:30pm
Fri, Feb 11:7:30pm
Sat, Feb 12:3:00pm
Sun, Feb 13:3:00pm
Wed, Feb 16:2:00pm OPEN CAPTIONING & 7:30pm
Thu, Feb 17:7:30pm
Fri, Feb 18:7:30pm- ASL INTERPRETATION and Audio Description with touch-tour at 6 p.m. OPEN CAPTIONING
Sat, Feb 19:7:30pm OPEN CAPTIONING
Sun, Feb 20:3:00pm
Tue, Feb 22:7:30pm
Wed, Feb 23:7:30pm
Thu, Feb 24:7:30pm
Fri, Feb 25:7:30pm
Sat, Feb 26:7:30pm
Sun, Feb 27:3:00pm AUDIO DESCRIPTION- touch-tour at 1:30 p.m.
Tue, Mar 1:7:30pm
Wed, Mar 2:7:30pm
Thu, Mar 3:7:30pm
Fri, Mar 4:7:30pm
Sat, Mar 5:7:30pm
Sun, Mar 6:3:00pm
Tue, Mar 8:7:30pm
Wed, Mar 9:7:30pm
Thu, Mar 10:7:30pm
Fri, Mar 11:7:30pm
Sat, Mar 12:7:30pm
Sun, Mar 13:3:00pm
Price: $29-$62
Show Type: Comedy/Drama
Box Office: 773-871-3000 for more info check out www.victorygardens.org
OPEN STREAM
There will be five live stream performances- March 9-13
Tickets are $24 and can be purchased at https://victorygardens.assemblestream.com/
Victory Gardens is located at 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago.
All City of Chicago Covid rules will apply- patrons must show photo ID with Covid vac card and wear a mask for entire performance.
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Queen of the Night”.
More Stories
The Neil Diamond Musical :”A Beautiful Mind”
“Annie”
“Every Brilliant Thing” reviewed by Julia W. Rath