Steadstyle Chicago
	May 2008 Theatre Review by Alan Bresloff
	Looking for a Ticket Broker? Check out the hottest broadway tickets from Gotickets.com Durango Critical Evaluation: *** out of **** Chicago theater has been filled with premiere's of late showing the world just how powerful our theater scene is. The latest is Silk Road Theatre Project's "Durango" written by Juilia Cho. This is a story about three men, a Korean widower father and his two sons, but the concept could be any family, anywhere.  In Ms. Cho's story, the two sons seem to have it all together.  Isaac, the eldest (Dawen Wang) is going to be a doctor.  Jimmy (Erik Kaiko) is a swimming champion who is looking at the college scholarships that will be out there due to his success in the pool.  Dad Boo-Seng (the always strong Joseph Anthony Foronda) has worked at his job for over 20 years and has been terminated and in cleaning his desk finds a brochure for a trip that he never took- to Durango, Colorado and so he takes his sons on what is called the "family Road Trip" to take the train ride to the top of the mountains.  This is quite an experience for all three and during this trip they learn more about themselves and each other.  Filling out the cast are Walter Brody and Austin Campion playing all the other roles.  Both are superb! Director Carlos Murillo uses this small stage at Pierce Hall located at the Historic Chicago Temple Building located at 77 West Washington Street to its fullest capabilities and designer Marianna Csaszar creates all of the locations in a simplistic way making the transitions easy and uncomplicated as we go from space to space.  The auto driving time on office chairs is choreographed to perfection as each actor works in total harmony with the others.  This is a one hour forty five minutes with no intermission as we cannot break the events anywhere and keep the powerful story going, it would not make sense to do so. This is a play about honesty and emotions. The father is a Korean born male that was in an arranged marriage and lost his wife.  His sons were born in the United States and raised American, so they are not of the culture that their father grew up in.  The road trip play allows us to see the family members in a different light and as we watch their stories unfold, we get a better idea of what they really want from their lives and in reality what has been expected of them by their father who came to this country so he would have a better life, and thus his offspring would as well.  Memories are revealed on this trip and lies become revealed as lies.  Each character has an awakening and the pretense that they have lived with becomes revealed. There are some caring moments, some comical, but for the most part this play is about people and family and honesty and deception.  This is a "think piece" and will cause some discussion, which is a good thing.  While there are few slow spots (perhaps Ms. Cho can do a little cut here and there to shave off 5-10 minutes) the strength of the actors, director and script are enough to make this a worthwhile theatrical experience.  "Durango" is part of the Silk Road Project program and will run at the Historic Chicago Temple Building through June 15, 2008.  Performances are Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m.  Tickets are $28-$32 and are available at the box office, by phone at 866-811-4111 and online at www.srtp.org.  Discounted parking is available at 230 W. Washington (three blocks west of the theater) for $6.00 (bring your ticket with you for validation)   About Alan Bresloff Alan Bresloff, once an actor himself, has been covering the Chicago Theater Scene since 1993, first as the Theater and Arts critic for LaRaza newspaper, then with Salsachicago.com and then onto Extra Newspaper and The EpochTimes.  He also writes for ElImparcial and TeleGuia.  His reviews can also be seen on www.theatreinchicago.com.  Alan does not call himself a "critic" but a "reviewer" as he tries to educate the reader about theater itself, what is a good value, what to look for in a play or musical and more.  "Exposure to theater is a very important part of a young person's life" he says. "Learning about the arts and culture is in fact learning about life" and he tries to explain more in his reviews than just if it is good or bad.  Even some of the poor productions have some value, he often says and he would love your feedback on shows that you have seen.  You can write him here or at albresloff@sbcglobal.net.