“The Funeral” reviewed by Frank Meccia

[rating=2]This is going to be the weirdest review I have written. I know absolutely nothing about this theatre company. If you do a google search you find out they use to be at the Royal George Theatre in the 90’s. There is no website that I could find, there is no playbill given out before the show. I have no idea who the cast members were, I wish I brought a notebook so maybe I could catch the names they used in the play. While I am at it, there was no set, unless you call 4 chairs on a black stage with a black curtain with black walls and a black floor, Maybe I should call it a blank stage, which the play reminds me of, a total blank.

The name of the play sounded pretty good, I even dressed in black for a funeral, so I could blend in. I sat down with my date, drink in hands waiting to see what they were going to do. The story line that is written about the play is: “You are cordially invited to the funeral! This 60-minute Impromptu Play is about four estranged friends reuniting at a mutual friend’s funeral. Mystery abounds, secrets are revealed, and old wrongs put right. Every night is a brand-new play expertly written and performed on-the-spot by four veteran improvisors. Thrill as they weave a story in real time filled with humor and pathos- and just a touch of the meaning of life.”

OK, that’s the only thing written about this play, and then one of the actors comes out and tells you we are going to produce a show just by what somebody in the audience throws out to us. Someone quickly says, “Never go into theatre”, must have been a ringer, because it came out way to quickly. The real premise of the story is a professor of Fine Arts has died, you’re under the illusion it is Northwestern University, and two of the actors are Fine Arts majors with the older one being the TA. Now it seems these people are really involved with their professor, to be honest, I can’t even remember most of my professors from my masters’ programs, and when one died, I was sad, but I did not even go to the funeral. Why these students felt they had to give a speech and then rehearse the speech for the TA, and then go to his home and get his journals about him, still amazed me. In the course of the one hour show you meet the professor’s son, who definitely does not like his father, and does not care those students keep trying to involve him into his father’s funeral. For something that was supposed to be impromptu, seemed well rehearsed. Without giving too much away it has all the theatre drama that you are supposed to have now a day. Of the four actors, three were good, the one playing the son, really showed emotion, and gave my rating the extra half a star. To be honest the actor playing the TA, if you were mine, I would have dropped that class. If you have an hour to waste on a Friday or Saturday night, and your in the Lincoln Park area, grab a drink and see the Funeral.

The Funeral is playing till May 8th. Tickets are $35.00, but I recommend you go onto Goldstar or half price tickets and save some money. The Greenhouse Theatre is located at 2257 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago. The great thing about this theatre, the area is alive with new shops, bars and restaurants.

Funeral