Somewhat Recommended ** Tonight was one of very mixed emotions as I watched the World Premiere of “The Doppelganger (an international farce)” at Steppenwolf Theatre. While the show was filled with great performances and hilarity, it’s almost like playwright Matthew-Lee Erlbach, could not figure out exactly how to end the story, so we had two-hours-thirty minutes ( 2 acts with an intermission), but with the final scenes becoming a bit tedious. Let me first explain the title, before going into the story-line. A Doppelganger is a person who resembles another to perfection. That being said, I can now explain the story-line , but in doing so will avoid giving away some of the content.
Our story takes place in Africa. where a British businessman is planning to sell his copper mines and has arranged to meet with several other powers in order to save the country and to allow the people a better life. Of course, power-hungry people, who see the light at the end of their tunnel, as good for them, do not care about the little people, so what we find is that all of those gathered for this meeting, have their own agendas, and will do whatever it takes to get their way.
Our hero, Thomas ( played to perfection by noted comedy actor Rainn Wilson, who many will recall from his “Office” days as Dwight) is a good man, but early in the play, he is injured. The maid, Rosie ( a terrific performance by Celeste M. Cooper, who surely should be noticed by the Jeff committee) greets her employer’s Doppelganger ( played by Wilson), who has come to pay a visit, to take the place of Thomas so she can save her countrymen. this is where the fun and games begin as Jimmy ( the Doppelganger’s name) is from a small Illinois town, and for the rest of the play, must pretend to be an English Noble. Director Tina Landau, who shows great farce knowledge, makes sure that Wilson gets off the stage as one character and returns as the other in great fashion, never missing a beat. There is of course another person in a fencing outfit, representing the “dead man walking” that is Thomas Irdley!
His wife, Theresa ( played by Sandra Marquez) has gone on a trip, but surprise- she does come back in the second act to bear witness to her “husband” doing things that he should not be doing. This is part of the “farce”- slamming doors ( set designer Todd Rosenthal has done himself proud with this masterpiece), mistaken identities, mis-understandings and all the characters being not what they are supposed to be. Again, not wanting to give it away, I will only tell you that all the ingredients of a true “farce” ( in the glory days of “Getting Gertie’s Garter”, “Up In Mabel’s Room”, “Critics Choice” and one that most modern- day theater people know “Lend Me A Tenor”) is designed to make us laugh and despite the script being a little weak, under Landau’s direction this cast did it with true style. Hats off to Karen Rodriguez, Andy Nagraj, Dan Plehal, Jame Vincent Meredith, Whit K. Lee, Audrey Francis and Chicago favorite Ora Jones. Wow, what a cast.
FYI- there will be some performances where Wilson will not be onstage, but will be replaced by Eric Slater, a Chicago actor that does comedy with just the right touch. The technical aspects of the production are flawless, Matt Hawkins has done the fight choreography, needed to pull off the great fight scenes ( worth the price of the tickets alone) and the lighting (Scott Zielinski), costumes ( Clint Ramos) and sound ( Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen) are sheer perfection. As I said earlier, it is probably the fault of the script that I did not give this more stars. Maybe a little paring down and a not so strange ending would make a difference.
There are some special events relative to defining farce-
Sunday. 4/22 at 6 p.m. at the Merle Reskin Garage down the street- a one hour discussion.
Sunday, 5/6 from 6- 7 p.m. at 1700 Theater ( located in the Steppenwolf complex- History and politics of Farce.
Sunday, 5/20 in the actual theater of the production-from 6 p.m.7p.m. learning how they pulled off some of the things that took place in the show.
NOTE: This is adult humor and should be rated R as there is some nudity ( male ) and some very sexual situations.
“The Doppelganger (an international farce) will continue at The Steppenwolf Theater located at 1650 N. Halsted thru May 27th with performances as follows:
| Wed, Apr 18: | 7:30pm |
| Thu, Apr 19: | 7:30pm |
| Fri, Apr 20: | 7:30pm |
| Sat, Apr 21: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Sun, Apr 22: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Tue, Apr 24: | 7:30pm |
| Wed, Apr 25: | 7:30pm |
| Thu, Apr 26: | 7:30pm |
| Fri, Apr 27: | 7:30pm |
| Sat, Apr 28: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Sun, Apr 29: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Tue, May 1: | 7:30pm |
| Wed, May 2: | 2:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Thu, May 3: | 7:30pm |
| Fri, May 4: | 7:30pm |
| Sat, May 5: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Sun, May 6: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Tue, May 8: | 7:30pm |
| Wed, May 9: | 2:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Thu, May 10: | 7:30pm |
| Fri, May 11: | 7:30pm |
| Sun, May 13: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Tue, May 15: | 7:30pm |
| Wed, May 16: | 2:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Thu, May 17: | 7:30pm |
| Fri, May 18: | 7:30pm |
| Sat, May 19: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Sun, May 20: | 3:00pm |
| Tue, May 22: | 7:30pm |
| Wed, May 23: | 7:30pm |
| Thu, May 24: | 7:30pm |
| Fri, May 25: | 7:30pm |
| Sat, May 26: | 3:00pm & 7:30pm |
| Sun, May 27: | 3:00pm |
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Price: $20-$114
Stage: Downstairs Theatre
Show Type: Comedy
Box Office: 312-335-1650
For tickets call or visit www.steppenwolf.org
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at
“The Dopplerganger (an international farce)”.
Parking is available at the garage, on the street ( metered) and valet.
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