“The Hero’s Wife”

[rating=5]One thing I have to say about Ann Filmer and her 16th Street Theater- they do remarkable work in the tiniest of venues ( 70 seats, all with clear views of the small stage) in the city of Berwyn. Thank you North Berwyn Park District for making this quality theater available to the greater Chicago area! They are currently doing a World Premier of Aline Lathrop’s dynamic “The Hero’s Wife” . The play will also have another World Premier in Atlanta with Synchronicity Theatre, but we are first.

Directed by Ann Filmer and Miguel Nunez, this is a very tense 90 minutes of theater and a look at the life of a military man and his much younger wife. Cameron ( a powerful performance by Aaron Christensen) a former Navy Seal has returned home from his special duties. Karyssa ( superbly played by Alex Fisher), a much younger person, sees that he is different and that he has “night terrors”. Understand that their relationship was a short one. Eight weeks into their being together, Cameron was shipped back to complete his mission. Now he has come home, retired.

Her days are spent working as a yoga instructor as Cameron stays around the house, playing video games ( all dealing with death and destruction) and his favorite “get-away from home activity” is to go to the range and do some shooting. The play begins with their first night together after his return from duty when he hits her during his “night terror” attack. What we then watch is the steady flow of these nights as Karyssa begins to see things that she has never witnessed before. Their time is well spent together until they go to bed, and that is when it all takes place.

The technical side of this production is very simple allowing us to focus on the actors and their characters. The set (Joanna Iwanicka) is quite simple, using several carpeted, almost circular areas that can be taken as bed, couch or chair. The lighting (Cat Wilson) creates the moods as I am sure the directors called for and each one works! Barry Bennett’s sound and original music is striking and truly helps in conveying the story that Lathrop has brought to us and Jamie Karas does a great job with the props.

If you have family that has night terror , you are aware of the problems. Do you wake them up? It is suggested, No! We have a grandson who walks in his sleep and on occasion, we have watched him do things that are not his normal being, but being a child and never having experienced war and the scars that are brought upon by same, he would never do the things that Cameron does in this story. What happens to this loving and happy couple during the months that follow Cam’s coming home, starts to wear very close on his wife. Can Cam ever be the man she fell in love with? Can Karyssa ever feel safe with him?

I do not want to reveal too much but will tell you that she is forced to change her ways and her life style in order to attempt to keep the love alive. How well do people really know each other? What can war do to the mind of a person? Secrets come out and the question becomes, can this young woman, deeply in love with Cam, get over the hump and find a way to bring him back to reality?  What  will one person do to keep a love alive? Stay tuned- it is a cliff hanger!

“The Hero’s Wife” is only here thru August 18th with performances as follows:

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  4 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Tickets range from $18-$22 open seating and can be purchased by calling 708-795-6704 or online at  tickets@16thstreettheater.org

Street parking is readily available ( read the signs). The theater is located at 6420 West 16th Street in Berwyn.

Be aware that there is language and sexual situations as well as gun shots in this production ( but they need to be there!).

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “The Hero’s Wife”.