Steadstyle Chicago
	February 2010 Theatre Review by Joe Stead
	The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds Has there ever been an odder title for a play than Paul Zindel's "The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds"?  Zindel's 1971 Pulitzer Prize winning drama is only marginally concerned with radioactivity or botany, but the subject of a high school science project that could be taken as emblematic of a mother's relationship with her two daughters in a heavily dysfunctional family.  There are certainly shades of Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" here with a painfully shy crippled young woman and her deluded mother.  Those marigolds are just as symbolic and effervescent as Amanda's jonquils, which suggest the beauty of the mind if not always reality.  And just as real life doesn't always hand us bouquets of roses, this is not a terribly pretty picture of an American family.  It is quite disturbing in fact, yet every bit as powerful as Williams, Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller at their trenchant best.  And it is being given first class treatment by The Theatre of Western Springs. Teenage Tillie Hunsdorfer is preparing a high school science project that shows the changes in seeds under Cobalt 60 radiation.  As we see, the flowers that grow closest to the "gamma rays" wither and die, while others that are placed at an appropriate distance not only survive but flourish.  Flowers aren't the only things that get a radioactive jolt in the Hunsorfer home, a seedy tenement that once held a fruit and vegetable store.  Matriarch Beatrice Hunsdorfer constantly wonders "What would I be if it weren't for this mud hole I got stuck in?"  Beatrice had dreams of being a dancer but her beautiful legs now have varicose veins.  Real estate and beauty school also failed her, but she still clings to her dream of opening up a dainty little tea shop.  Instead, she's left caring for elderly cast-off's such as Nanny, whose daughter pays Beatrice $50 a week for her food and care. "Everything I was supposed to be exploded," Beatrice cries.  One mistake, take the wrong turn and marry the wrong guy and the world falls apart in an instant.  She still has hope for her daughters Tillie and Ruth, the former who suffers from an illness the exact nature of which has never been clear, and the latter experiences epileptic seizures, nightmares and a paralyzing fear of death.  "If you're a little bit different, they try to kill you off," she warns Tillie.  Mom is cruel, bombastic and alcoholic, yet she still has her dreams.  An opportunity to get all dolled up for Tillie's science fair presentation gives Beatrice "the first time in life I felt proud of something," and that moment too is short-lived.  She's not called "Betty the Loon" for nothing, yet she pathetically continues setting tables with napkins and tablecloths as she refuses to give up on her dreams of a better and prosperous life. By virtue of the superior acting of Theatre of Western Springs' current production, "Marigolds" is must-see theatre that rivals any of Chicago's professional Off Loop companies.  With new Artistic Director Kurt Naebig at the helm, it bodes extremely well for the future of this 81-year-old suburban treasure.  Patti Roeder's Beatrice is a volatile hurricane, a blistering mass of despondency and delusion.  It is a masterful, award caliber performance that takes no prisoners.  Beatrice has the lion's share of lines in this play and hers is a tour de force character, but no less powerful is the work of Hannah Bulger as Tillie, Kristie Denlinger as Ruth, and Mary Ellen Druyan as Nanny.  Druyan has no lines at all, but her body language and expressions speak volumes.  Bulger is a particular revelation, clear, precise and committed to her role.  Caroline Dost completes the cast in a hilarious cameo as a cheerful science fair rival who has boiled a cat down to its skeleton for demonstration.  It is refreshing to see this quality of performance from actors young and old.  I would have to say the dreams of TWS founder Mary Cattell are well honored here. "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" plays through February 21, 2010 at the Theatre of Western Springs, 4384 Hampton Ave.  The play runs 1 hour 40 minutes with intermission.  Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays, with an additional 2:30 p.m. matinee Saturday, Feb. 20.  Tickets to "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" are $18 and $20.  Call the box office at 708-246-3380.  Free parking is available.  Call 708-246-3380 or visit www.theatrewesternsprings.com.   About Joe Stead Joe Stead has enjoyed a lifelong passion for the theatre, which has involved acting, directing, producing, designing and reviewing for the past twenty-five years.  He served as founder, producer and Artistic Director of Curtain Up Productions in Baltimore, Maryland and Four Star Players in Tampa, Florida.  Favorite productions have included "Life With Father," "Deathtrap," "The Odd Couple," "The Miracle Worker," "Brighton Beach Memoirs," "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "Godspell".  He has also performed leading roles in "Fiddler on the Roof," "Pippin," "The Phantom of the Opera," "The Front Page," and most recently as Hucklebee in "The Fantasticks" for Waukegan Community Players.  Joe holds a degree in Commercial Art from Tampa Technical Institute.  As a critic, he has reviewed everything from Broadway to community theatre and major regional theatres throughout the United States including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, and the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, Florida.  Since 1998, he has been a proud resident of Chicago, the greatest theatre city in America.  He served for two years as Theatre Editor for College News and Central Newspapers.  He created the website Steadstyle Chicago in 2000 to showcase the city's outstanding and diverse theatre scene.  Joe was proud to serve alongside a distinguished panel of theatre professionals as a judge for two seasons of Speaking Ring Theatre's "Vitality" Festival of original short plays.  His most fulfilling role, in addition to reviewer and all-around theatre fanatic, was as director of the 2007 production of Peter Shaffer's "Equus" at Actors Workshop (now Redtwist) Theatre, which was nominated for five Joseph Jefferson Award Citations and won for Best Actor (Peter Oyloe).