“Six Corners”

[rating=5]Growing up in Chicago, I am quite familiar with the term “Six Corners”, which due to our many angle streets, is the term used when three streets intersect, allowing for the intersection to be larger than normal- instead of four corners, we get six! They are in huge numbers, more so on the north side (although along Archer Avenue and Ogden, there are quite a few on the south side) like Milwaukee-Damen-North, Lincoln-Belmont-Ashland, Milwaukee- Division-Ashland, Diversey-Milwaukee-Kimball and of course, the most well-known, Milwaukee-Irving Park-Cicero which is KNOWN primarily as “Six Corners”, where one of the highest volume Sears store sits. The World Premiere play, “Six Corners” written by Keith Huff, and now on the stage at Stage 773 as part of the new season for American Blues Theater is all about an incident that occurs at this very spot.

Huff, who has penned other police dramas ( most notably Broadway’s “A Steady Rain”) is an artist when it comes to bringing this type of drama from real-life headlines to the printed page. To insure that transferring this brilliant script to the stage was perfect, ABT brought in Director Gary Griffin to do the job. The area depicted in this tale is very near and dear to me. During the early 1960’s I was employed at Bernard’s Men’s Wear at 4141 N. Milwaukee Avenue, directly across the street from the Portage Movie Theater. I shopped at the Sears Store on the corner, ate at the local restaurants and  went to many a chamber of commerce meeting. Many of the places mentioned in this script are not right there on these corners, but in close proximity, some having been vacated years ago and changed to other businesses. ABT has a great deal of factual information available to cover many of the places mentioned.

This 90 minutes crime story ( which might seem as if you are viewing a “Law and Order” episode, as the “fly-on-the-wall) is an intimate look at two cops, both burnt-out and tired of working violent crimes while their lives go sour, as they catch a puzzling murder of a CTA Employee. The cops Nick Moroni ( Peter DeFaria, who many might recall from Huff’s “A Steady Rain”) and Bernadette Perez ( deftly handled by Monica Orozco ) are working hard to solve a case of the death of BJ Lyles, a CTA Employee, and what truly took place. There are a few intertwining stories in this play. Each of these officers has their own as well. The chemistry between these actors is amazing. They seem like the perfect match to work as a team.

The play begins with us seeing a little girl Katie ( an adorable Lyric Sims) standing alone. She will meet a man, BJ Lyles ( Byron Glenn Willis) who will discuss why she is alone and where her mother might be. They are African-American. As we learn, they are at one of the many bus stops at Milwaukee-Irving-Cicero, facing the Sears Store, where Katie’s mother is shopping. At the police station ( located at Belmont and Western , where Riverview Park was back in “the days”), two people are sitting in the waiting area so they can be interviewed by Detectives Perez and Maroni. They are Amanda Brackett ( the always reliable Brenda Barrie) and Carter Hutch ( Manny Buckley with another outstanding performance for ABT). This being a mystery, I will not divulge much more in order to not spoil any of the twists and turns that Huff uses to keep us on the edge of our seats.

I will tell you however, that one need pay close attention to the way that Huff has his officer work the witnesses in order to break their stories. I am sure that you will find the ending, one with surprises you will not see coming, to your liking. I, for one, left the theater with a wonderful feeling about these two cops and what they had experienced. The play does mention “Black Lives Matter”, which it should, but if one pays close attention we see that the legacy of violence in our city has been in place for eons.

The set (Joe Schermoly) is unique in that it allows Griffin the latitude to  make our brains work and use some imagination. The intimacy of the piece is very important to us getting into the story and staying with the characters. I firmly feel that this production fits perfectly on this stage and set and should they transfer this elsewhere in the future, that the producers try to imitate exactly what they have at Stage 773. The lighting (Alexander Ridgers) is delightful and the original music and sound ( Lindsay Jones ) is sheer perfection. Mary O’Dowd’s props are “right-on” and the costumes (Janice Pytel) are the final touch to a technically perfect production.

“Six Corners” will continue at Stag 773, located  at 1225 West Belmont Avenue ( in theater THE PRO) thru March 24th (possibly they can extend so more Chicagoans can experience this masterpiece) with performances as follows:

Wednesdays  7:30 p.m. 3/21 only)

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  3 p.m. (3/17 and 24) and 7:30 p.m. except 3/24

Sundays  2:30 p.m.

Sunday shows have free post show discussions.

Running time 90 minutes (no intermission)

Tickets range from $19- $49 and are available at the box office, by calling 773-327-5252 or online at www.AmericanBluesTheater.com

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

Street parking, some metered and some not is available but watch the signs for zone parking. Valet parking is also available and if you are dining at Kubo, across the street, there is an $8.00 charge but the dinner is delish!