Photo by Michael Brosilow

There is a dreamlike, Chagall-like feel to the play, even to the point of using a blue prop fish as a stand-in for their baby daughter Ida. (Chagall famously used surreal animal imagery in his paintings.) Ian Ross's music, performed by ensemble actors and multi-instrumentalists Elisa Carlson and Michael Mahler, has an often haunting flavor of Russian Jewishness that keeps the Chagalls' heritage in focus even when it isn't. However, in a show that takes place during World War I, World War II, and the Russian Revolution, it is usually front and center anyway.

The play is set up as a flashback taking place when Chagall, who died in 1985, is an older man living in America with his second wife Vava, whom he married after Bella's death. (We don't meet Vava; this play is about his relationships with the first woman he loved and with his art.) At its start, the artist is just beginning to have some success, mostly through sales in Paris, while Bella awaits his return in Vitebsk. (One scene shows her long boring days alone even after that return. Though there is never any doubt of the depth of his love, she comes off as fairly amazing for holding onto hers through this very lonely and difficult times.)

Cahill-Lemme and Rosenthal are perfect as the lovers. Margolius' carefully defined movements entwine them in a series of gorgeous positions, using Scott Penner's set to provide variety. Both actors, who exude the unquestioning love of youth even later in their characters' lives, hardly take their eyes off of each other when they are together, gazing deeply as if memorizing features. As they move about that set, making much use of its long ramp (though much less of the towering staircase dominating the upstage space), it is easy to see that they are utterly inseparable even when far apart.

The backdrop of the set includes a large moonlike cutout section that lighting designer Charles Cooper outlines in various shades, as well as some excellent uses of rope lights. Add to that Willow James' multilayered sound design and Rachel Lambert's lovely costumes and this is one of the most beautifully designed and realized plays I've seen in a while.

As for the title, well, unlike various people and animals in Chagall's paintings, the lovers here don't actually "fly." They do use a floor to ceiling pole to simulate not being confined by gravity, though, and their dance movements throughout the show involve a considerable amount of gorgeous movement that comes close to flying.

I walked into this play not knowing what to expect, and I was blown away by its beauty as well as its story. Having seen his work often in the Art Institute, I have always loved Chagall's painting. I also knew the story of his being removed–he says "expelled"–from the school he had founded by members of a rival artistic branch. However, I knew nothing of his wife and their deep love, nor her writing. Knowing that now gives much more meaning to his powerful imagery.

Chagall was a man with enormous emotions whose life was lived at the intersection of art, love, religion, and politics. And despite powerful forces at work in the world, his art and his love proved dominant. (Even the Nazis are bit players in his story.) I'm feeling the need to go to the Art Institute again so I can immerse myself in his gift, and I think that this reaction would please both the Chagalls and the cast and crew of this play enormously.

The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk runs through October 6, 2024, at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Boulevard, Skokie IL. For tickets and information, please visit northlight.org.