“Wedding Play”
Written by Eric Rosen
Showing: About Face Theatre at Steppenwolf Garage, 1624 N. Halsted, through Dec. 2
Tickets: $20-$35
Contact: (312) 335-1650; aboutfacetheatre.com

By Lawrence Bommer

CFP theater editor

“Wedding Play” is a very conditional celebration of the theater’s power to deceive. This metaphysical murder mystery is adapted and directed by Eric Rosen, About Face Theatre’s artistic director, from a 1938 novella by Egyptian writer Naquib Mahfouz. An engrossing exploration of the shifting borders between confessions and creativity, it takes us behind the scenes of a small Chicago theater where a play within a play is about to break through the fourth wall and into the headlines.

The Rashomon-like plot never settles for a secure narration. Rosen prefers to make us wonder whether we can trust these unsolicited apostrophes from thespians caught up in a growing scandal. Or are they just part of a production (also called “Wedding Play”) that develops sudden “resonances” with the real world? What remains certain is that gay playwright Adam Mace (Sean Cooper), who had an earlier hit with a play about his father’s supposed killing in a vehicular accident, is hungry for another success. As if to gather more material and practice his “don’t look back” philosophy, Adam dumps his handsome lover Tom (Benjamin Sprunger) and marries an actress and old friend named Thalia (Lesley Bevan). Now pregnant, Thalia reluctantly accepts Adam’s protection, then disappears. Soon enough the world learns that both mother and child have died and, lo and behold, Adam has written a hot new play about their possible murder. Is this just a coincidence created by a playwright infamous for his piecemeal production process—or is it a piece of art as premeditated as murder?

That’s as far as any synopsis should push this plot. The tension builds as flashbacks, mirrors within mirrors, fill in some blanks and open up others. Setting aside the story, however, Rosen’s adaptation seems less thematically focused. It alternately details the infighting within a small theater ensemble, the perils of reading too much reality into a work of fiction, and the temptation to cannibalize your life in order to spark up your art. A simpler agenda would have tightened things up considerably.

Happily, Rosen’s staging narrates his twists and turns with confidence and conviction. Cooper’s dangerously ambitious playwright, Sprunger’s understandably angry jilted partner and Bevan’s reluctant wife create a tense triangle, even if the details aren’t as believable as the big picture. Veteran actor Craig Spidle has some moments of terrible truth as Adam’s father discovers his own private tragedies exhibited on stage. Joe Dempsey plays the overly ambitious director for whom bad news is just another promotional opportunity. Kareem Bandealy brings dignity to the histrionic role of Adam’s stage killer—and surrogate? Yes, the ending ties things up, alas, but it’s at the cost of a Hollywood cliche.