“Surely Goodness and Mercy”

Highly Recommended **** One of my favorite “storefront” theaters is Redtwist, a PURE storefront on Bryn Mawr Avenue in the Edgewater neighborhood. This intimate space allows the audience to become the perverbial “fly on the wall” almost feeling as if they can reach out and touch the actors. In fact, we could. Today, while witnessing a “rolling World Premiere” of “Surely Goodness and Mercy”, by Chisa Hutchinson, there were times I had to uncross my legs so that the actors could get off the “stage” ( if you have ever been to Redtwist, you know there is no actual stage). They keep you on your toes for sure.

Let me take a second to explain the “rolling World Premiere concept”. This play has had several premiere openings as it has been re-tooled and rewritten along its path to coming to Chicago. Now, directed by Wardell Julius Clark, who has done a masterful job of utilizing this small space, we are seeing what might be the FINAL version. The play is in two acts, each 45 minutes in length, and I am not so sure that one more teak, making it a straight 90 minutes, no intermission, might make sense. The story is strong and involved and keeping the audience under Hutchison’s spell might make the play even stronger.

Now, let me get to the meat of the afternoon; the actual production of this play. The story takes place in Newark, New Jersey. The area is one of low-income and the main character of our story , Tino ( an incredible job by newcomer Donovan Session), a 12-year-old student, who resides with his aunt, is seeking his own identity. His mother has passed, his father is unknown to him, and his only living relative is his aunt, who is selfish and has no emotion for this special boy. He is brilliant, with a photographic (although they refer to is as photogenic) memory. He also , in searching for his identity, totes the Bible with him and reads it constantly, often dropping it, and where it opens, reading on.

At school , where he is picked on, teased and bullied, he befriends Deja (the very bubbly and adorable Charlita ” Charli” Williams ). They become close and true friends. There is an ornery lady, the cafeteria lady who they befriend. Her name is Bernadette ( deftly handled by Renee Lockett) who while she yells at all of the kids, has a sense of who is real and who matters. It is what takes place between these two pre-teens and this “old-maid” who becomes  ill ( we watch her symptoms of a disease come to be). What happens afterwards is where we witness the two young people find themselves, and their fates. There is even a part where Tino runs away from home, lives in hiding in the school and is found by Bernadette, who changes his life. He returns the favor later.I don’t like to give anything away, so I will only tell you that there are some alarming scenes involving Tino and his Aunt Alneesa ( Katrina D. RIChard). Sitting as close to the action as we do in this space, I noticed a few audience members jump during some of these altercations. (the fight design by Almanya Narula was as real as it gets, from my vantage point). Through all of the crap that life often hands us and despite the odds that the world presents to us, the young boy, his good friend and their new “old” friend can smile at the end of this story! Audience members, will do the same, but there is a portion where a tissue or two comes in handy.

The set (Lauren Nichols) is very multi use. In fact, the bed is used for several scenes and plays an important role in the development of what is happening to Bernadette. The lighting (Daniel Friedman) and sound (Grover Hollway) work to keep the mood of the show moving and the costumes (Kotryna  Hilko) are just what might be expected. The props by Dana Macel are sheer perfection, but I wish a non-smoker would not be asked to smoke the fake vapor cigarettes for no apparent reason. It is one of the “stereotypes” that one sees in plays about lower-income people. They all seem to smoke, despite cigarettes costing even more today than they should. The story is one that will give your soul a boost and your heart a warm feeling.

“Surely Goodness and Mercy” will continue at Redtwist Theatre located at 1044 West Bryn Mawr thru March 18th with performances as follows:

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  7:30 p.m.

Sunday  3 p.m.

Tickets range from $35-$40 with discounts for seniors and students

To reserve your seats call 773-728-7529 or visit www.redtwist.org

I did not count, but I am pretty sure that the seating is approx. 44 seats

Parking on the streets is possible ( meters on Bryn Mawr and around the corners) and valet is available at Francesca’s Bryn Mawr across the street. Meters are FREE Sundays. Red Line stop is one block west of the theater.

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