“The Enigmatist” reviewed by Carol Moore

**** Highly Recommended   An evening at The Enigmatist is nothing short of an Experience!  From the pre-show ‘puzzle-rama’ in Chicago Shakespeare’s Skyline Room, (with the best view in Chicago), to David Kwong’s awesome combination of wordsmanship, code-breaking, mentalism and sleight of hand in CST’s Theater Upstairs, the entire evening was a blast!  4 BIG Spotlights

Although I’m not going to include any spoilers in this review, I recommend that you get to CST at least a half hour early – wearing your thinking cap!  Have an adult beverage while you’re figuring out the four puzzles, you’ll need it.  By the way, there are hints, and they do help.

Once you’ve figured out the puzzles – and gotten another adult beverage – you’ll finally get into the theater.  There’s a video screen/whiteboard at center stage flanked by shelves filled with books and curios.  Aside from a riser with a small table, the rest of the ‘stage’ area is filled with cabaret tables.

As soon as Kwong comes on stage, he starts baffling/dazzling the audience, first with a couple of card tricks and a little sleight of hand, then he went on to the hard stuff – codes!

Kwong built the entire performance around stories of George Fabyan, who invited experts in science, agriculture, Shakespeare, codes and more to work on his estate called Riverbend in Geneva, Illinois, weaving in anecdotes about him.  Kwong ran across his name in connection with the Gold Code which has never been solved.

Among those scientists was a couple, William and Elizabeth Smith Friedman (you can read about them in a book called The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone) were among the group.  After a dispute with Fabyan, they left Riverbend, but left the Gold Code as a ‘gift’, which Fabyan was never able to solve.

He had four puzzles for the audience to solve over the course of the show, asking people to stand when they figured it out, then choosing one to share the solution.  The answers all tied up in a neat little conclusion, too.

Kwong asked 5 or 6 different people to select a handful of scrabble tiles and put them in a cup, eventually dumping them out on a table. Using an overhead projector, we watched as he turned them over and started a game of scrabble.  In 2 minutes, 30 seconds, he used all but two of the tiles, making sure he included several bingos – 7-letter word which get a 50-point bonus!

Later, he explained how to build a crossword puzzle, then he went on to do exactly that – build an entire crossword puzzle (with occasional input from the audience).  I work the Sunday crosswords in ink, so I think I’m pretty good at them, but I could never do what he did!  I’m in absolute awe.

In fact, I think everyone in the audience, kids and adults alike were in awe of Kwong’s performance.  I heard “How did he do that?” over and over again as everyone walked out.  All in all, it was a great evening!

The Enigmatist runs through June 30^th in the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre on Navy Pier, Chicago.  Parking in CST’s designated area in the Navy Pier Garage is available at a 40% discount with validation from CST.

Running time is 90 minutes, no intermission.

Performances are Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays at 7:30 pm;

Wednesdays at 1:00 & 7:30 pm;

Saturdays at 2:30 & 7:03 pm; Sundays at 2:00 pm.

 Open-captioning services will be provided Wednesday, June 12^th at 1:00 & 7:30 pm Tickets start at $59.  FYI (312) 595-5600 or www.chicagoshakes.com

To see what others are saying, visit , go to Review Round-Up and click at “The Enigmatist”.