Steadstyle Chicago
	March 2008 Theatre Review by Joe Stead
	Looking for a Ticket Broker? Check out the hottest broadway tickets from Gotickets.com Candles to the Sun Critical Evaluation: *** out of **** (Left) Bubba Weiler, CeCe Klinger and Stephen Dale; (Right) Sorin Brouwers and Rebecca Prescott in Eclipse Theatre Company's "Candles to the Sun".  Photos by Scott Cooper. The plight of the coal mining community is still topical and timely, so much so one could believe a young playwright named Thomas Lanier Williams had ripped the subject for his first full-length play, "Candles to the Sun" from today's front page news.  "Candles" would in fact be the first in a remarkable body of work by the great Tennessee Williams, even though it has languished on the shelf in obscurity since its first semi-professional theatrical debut in 1937.  And while it lacks the maturity and confident craftsmanship of such Williams landmarks as "Streetcar," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Glass Menagerie," rediscovering an early work by this seminal American artist is a worthy endeavor indeed. For the past ten years, Eclipse Theatre Company has built its niche in Chicago's bustling theatre scene by focusing on the work of one playwright per season.  This season begins a 2-year revisit to all ten playwrights featured thus far, with 1999 subject Williams up first.  Later this season, he will be joined by Neil Simon and Lillian Hellman, creating what is undoubtedly the most diverse Eclipse season ever.  Award-winning director Steven Fedoruk is at the helm of "Candles," and although it's drenched with some overwrought melodrama and an over-reaching dramatic arc, hints of the great playwright do emerge.  "Candles" also gives Williams a socialist political agenda to champion, in the style of Depression era masters Clifford Odets and William Saroyan.  In particular, it is the underpaid and overworked miners of Red Hills, Alabama, for whom the dangerous conditions and cruel working demands are an accepted way of life. Bram Pilcher is an "underground rat," an ornery old man of the mines, whose family have always been coal miners and he intends to keep it that way.  His wife Hester has other ideas for her kids.  Her teenage son Joel excels in school, a "fools notion" by Bram's illiterate standards.  Neither parent can read or write and they haven't seen or heard from their eldest son John in 7 years.  When John's wife Fern and teenage son Luke appear on the Pilcher's doorstep, Hester's worst fears are confirmed.  John has been killed in a northern mining accident, and his widow and son are left homeless and penniless.  Hester and Bram reluctantly agree to take them in, while Fern takes up cleaning jobs to save up enough money for her son's future.  Like Hester, Fern wants something more for Luke than the slave labor conditions of the family's ingrained way of life.  But what price does freedom come at? Bram and Hester's headstrong daughter Star likewise is intent on making her own way in the world, even if it means being kept by a man she doesn't love.  When her protector dies and leaves his cabin to her, Star vows never to be tied to any man.  But her determination for freedom takes a turn when she meets Birmingham Red, a so-called "Bolshevik" crusader for the rights of the workers.  Red isn't interested in love, not right now at any rate, although he promises Star, "maybe next spring".  "Love is a warm bed to lie in when a man's done fighting," he tells Star.  Red also shares the wisdom, "Peace is something a man has to make himself, it's not just something he comes across like a four leaf clover." There is some potent stuff here - the dreams of the two mothers to have better lives for their children, the desperate fight for workers rights and safety, and the almost inevitable destiny of the bloodline to follow family traditions.  The play also meanders in several different directions, with some of the themes and ideas not fully developed or followed through on.  But it's an important vantage to gage the talents of a major writer in the beginning stages of his career.  It is also a large scale work on the small canvas of the second floor studio at Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater, and Eclipse does a credible job with it. Director Fedoruk uses an offstage choir and a couple of onstage musicians to create a sense of community.  Kevin Hagan's wood plank cabin set handsomely evokes the Depression era mining camp.  And a large cast of 16 achieves a sense of ensemble, with especially memorable work by Rebecca Prescott (Star), Sorin Brouwers (Red), Julie Daley (Fern), CeCe Klinger (Hester) and JP Pierson (Luke).  Fans of Tennessee Williams will certainly want to explore this worthy effort.  Eclipse deserves kudos for unearthing a theatrical rarity.   (Left) Rebecca Prescott, CeCe Klinger and Chuck Spencer; (Right) John Milewski, Josh Venditti, Ross Travis, Stephen Dale, Chuck Spencer, Kevin Scott and JP Pierson in "Candles to the Sun".    "Candles to the Sun" continues through May 4, 2008 at Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago.  The play runs 2 hours 30 minutes with intermission.  Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., Sundays at 3:00 p.m.  Tickets are $25 (half-price rush tickets available).  There are discounts for students, seniors and groups.  Call (773) 871-3000, or visit www.eclipsetheatre.com.  Eclipse will also present a Playwright Scholar Series event, "Exploring Cocteau's World," on Saturday, April 5 at 2:00 p.m.  This special event will explore the films, plays and poems of Jean Cocteau (Eclipse's 1997-98 featured playwright) with a series of performances and discussions focused on the French artist's life and tremendous body of artistic work.  Admission (which includes a post-show discussion with the artistic team) is a suggested $5 donation, and reservations should be made at (312) 738-0704.