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Regional Reviews: Chicago Picture Imperfect Also see John's review of First Wives Club
Divorced and unemployed Mary is awaiting the return from the hospital of her 12-year-old son who has autism while dealing with an older son who's recently returned from rehab for a drug addiction. Her husband walked out on the family years ago and if Mary can't find a job soon the state may take custody of the younger son. Okay, adding the older son's drug addiction on top of autism, divorce, and unemployment may be a lot of trials to bear, but we're still with it at this point, thanks to crisp dialogue and some decent acting by director Michael Stults' cast. We're pulled into the story initially by the nuanced performance of Sarah Bright as the mother, Mary. Mary has some rough edges but seems to have a good heart and is honestly doing the best she can. And Jamie McKinney is believable as the lethargic son recovering from drugs, even if the script leads him to shouting matches with his mom too predictably and frequently. Then we see autistic Cole, played quite convincingly and without exaggeration of mannerisms by a seventh-grader with the wonderful name of Izadorious "Izzy" Tortuga. Cole spends most of his waking hours painting, and it's his main mode of communication. It's gripping to watch Tortuga's portrayal of a young boy with a condition we don't see all that often on stage or screen, though it appears to be on the rise in the real world. What seems to be the start of an engaging social drama shows signs of going off the rails when we meet ex-husband George (a truly slimy Jeffrey Brown) at his home with his much younger waitress lover (Alyssa Thordarson). George is a thoroughly distasteful, pot-bellied lout who has somehow gotten Thordarson's character to fall for him. He owes some big bucks to loan sharks and learns that paintings by people with autism have been selling for a high price. When he schemes to reconcile with Mary so that he can somehow take Cole's paintings—paintings Mary treasures and would not relinquish at any price—to sell in order to pay off his gambling debts, it all seems just a bit too much to ask Mary to bear. Just when we think this is simply a matter of bad playwriting, the story turns into something very different than we've been set up to expect. I won't spoil the plot twist, but I'll say that all the plot details converge to take the story into some noir-ish territory. And it does rather cleverly, even if the script relies on a twist many theatre followers will find familiar from a certain recent musical. But the real question is why? Why take us down one road, expecting social drama, into something more like Raymond Chandler? You can't help but feel a little hoodwinked. Picture Imperfect plays through April 4, 2015, at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. For ticket information, call 773-935-6875 or visit www.athenaeumtheatre.org.
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