Steadstyle Chicago
	July 2009 Theatre Review by Alan Bresloff
	Earth: TTFN?! Many of us know the expression "Theater of the Absurd", and tonight I witnessed a new way to express this old adage.  WWS Productions, which I think might be new to the scene, in association with The Spatz Family (in fact, they may be the WWS) is presenting an original Sci-Fi play at The Greenhouse Theater on Lincoln Avenue.  This is a very camp 90 minute production that takes us from Earth to Sildenia, the Planet that produced Earth some 6,000 years ago as a sort of suburb and who now wants to destroy Earth, before we do, so that their population explosion has a new place to reside. Yes, this is a story involving Aliens and space.  In fact, they invite audience members to dress up as aliens, offering guaranteed prizes for those who do.  This is a silly show with very little premise but lots of laughs in the second act.  I still am not sure they should have a second act as the total run time is ninety minutes and surely may hurt the story as the second act is far funnier than the first.  Some people may not come back for Act II, so why not make it a straight ninety minutes and see if they can beef up the first act?  It is done in episodes and they use audience participation, much like Second City, incorporating the suggestions of the audience in the play.  Even the ending of the show is based on whether an audience member pushes the button to destroy Earth, ie "Deal or No Deal". While the show is somewhat inane, there are lots of laughs amidst some groans.  One scene in particular, where you will laugh til it hurts, is the Botoxayomama scene, handled with style and grace by Keith Sanga Alexander who truly has our President down pat, vs. the Lobbyist, beautifully played by Jen Spyra.  Ryan Heywood is a standout in his dual roles as Alcumuson and ID and Drew Anderson is quite a stitch as Addison Clark.  The main character is Carter, the Earthling who gets to state his case to the Senate in Sildenia.  Austin Campion lives up to his name in playing Camp perfectly.  Let's not forget the stunning  Jessica Bennett as Queen Levitra who wants nothing more than to destroy Earth for her benefit, and the delightful Katie McBroom, whose Kilo Mom will have you roaring.  Bruce Phillips handles all the other roles and appears to be a true master of improv.  The costumes by Ricky Lurie are wild and the lighting by John Horan is very cleverly done.  Jason Knox handled the sound and the music used is a special addition.  Written by The Chroniciler (T. Kim Williams) and directed by Craig Parsons, you will find this a combination of old "Batman" on TV and a little Mel Brooks with a lot of "Saturday Night Live" and of course Second City mixed up and stirred together to create a fun filled evening with no real story and a different ending each performance.  As I said, the audience offers suggestions throughout the play and they end this comic book story with (or without) a bang. Incidently the TTFN could be either "ta Ta For Now" or "TTFE, Ta Ta Forever".  To find out, you will have to make the trip to The Greenhouse Theater located at 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue, through August 9, 2009.  Performances are Wednesdays through Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 7:30 and 10:00 p.m., Sundays at 2:30 p.m.  I would expect the late night crowd coming from the nearby bars would be a delightful experience.  Tickets range from $24-$30, which is  bargain for live theater, and can be purchased by calling the box office at 773-404-7336 or online at www.greenhousetheater.org.  To learn more, you can also visit www.earthttfn.com.   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 Epoch Times.  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.     Second Thoughts by Nicholas Ryan Lamb When I glanced at the synopsis and the style of show (in short will earth be saved from an alien race), walked into the Greenhouse Theatre, and gazed at the set which replicated a mix between the cheesy sci-fi film, “Mom and Dad Save the World”, and a theme park production I get a sense that a dynamic, hilarious, and unconventional folly will unfold in front of me.  I left thinking that the show should be T.T.F.E (Ta Ta ForEver). The redeeming qualities of the show rarely came from the actors onstage.  Keith Sanga Alexander was able to pull off wonderful distinctions between his characters while maintaining a desire to be there, a sense and interaction of the audience, and impeccable improv timing.  The other saving grace was the well executed lighting design by John Horan.  There is a fantastic light grid to utilize and he brought a great sense of enveloping the show with it. Besides finding the acting to be on the level of a run down theme park show, the use of the audience was appalling.  This show, to my knowledge, was supposed to use the audience as an integral part of the show and plot.  The first time the lights went up in the house and the audience (mind you small) was probed for madlib insertions I thought it would take on a choose-your-own-adventure route.  What it ended up being was a series of loaded weapons given to the actors.  When it was time for the weapons to go off the actors couldn’t remember what had been said or threw them away like the audience didn’t matter.  I was insulted.  If you are given gems and lead us to believe that you will polish them and make them shine like no other then do it.  Every so often I glance around and look at the actors that aren’t saying anything to see if they are in the show or not.  So many were checked out of it or didn’t care if they were there.  They dropped characters to fix costumes because they felt uncomfortable or didn’t listen to what was just said.  This show has the potential of being something splendiferously witty and original.  The characters are so rich with improv and room to be free.  They were weak and unsolidified.  The blocking seemed unnatural and uncomfortable.  It is necessary to note that I gave a lot of room for cheesy sci-fi adventures that we have grown to love.  This didn’t help. I am obligated to give the information to the show.  I do this in hopes that it was an off performance and that even with a dead audience that actors will know how to fuel their own show.  I am being nice giving it a 1 out of 4.  The show runs through August 9th at the Greenhouse Theatre at 2257 Lincoln ave.  For the box office call 773-404-7336 or go to www.greenhousetheater.org.