Steadstyle Chicago
	April 2008 Theatre Review by Alan Bresloff
	Looking for a Ticket Broker? Check out the hottest broadway tickets from Gotickets.com Four Places Critical Evaluation: ** out of **** (Left) Peter Burns, Mary Ann Thebus, Jennifer Avery and Meg Thalken in Victory Gardens Theater's world premiere of Chicago playwright Joel Drake Johnson's dark comedy "Four Places".  Photos by Liz Lauren. Every family has "secrets" and I guess every family is somewhat dysfunctional, at least to the outside world looking in.  In Joel Drake Johnson's "Four Places" now playing at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, we get to glimpse in on the life of a family that has its own problems and to some people they mirror events in their own lives.  The main characters are a mother (Mary Ann Thebus is a delight in this role) and her two middle aged children, Ellen (Meg Thalken) a widow and Warren (Peter Burns) a divorced school teacher.  The mother and daughter have a weekly luncheon date, but on this particular day Warren has joined them.  The mother is surprised and at the same time suspicious.  Why is Warren not in school, is someone in trouble?  Little does she know that the planned day will change all of their lives. The story unfolds slowly and director Sandy Shinner keeps the action moving at a pace that I found better than the script content.  Jack Magaw's set is unique and quite serviceable.  The car, the waiting area of the restaurant, the actual dining area of the restaurant and the ladies bathroom are the four places where the action takes place and Shinner works these four places to perfection. This family was controlled by the mother, Peggy and despite her getting older, she still feels that she must control events in not only her life, but in that of her husband, a man in great pain who lies about the house drinking all day, and her two children.  There comes a time when children feel they need to become the parents, when they feel that the parents can no longer take care of themselves, let alone each other.  This play examines this concept, but also looks at the feelings of the elder parents who still feel that they are entitled to lead their own lives without having to answer to their children. There are some very comical moments in this story.  Ms. Thebus is a pure delight with a great sense of timing and Mr. Burns handles the dry comedy perfectly.  Ms. Thalken can make us laugh with just a facial expression,  and Jennifer Avery makes the restaurant scene itself more realistic as Barb, the waitress.  While I enjoyed this 90 minutes of theater, I didn't feel that all my questions were answered at the end.  I guess I wanted more (could there be a follow-up play?).  I will not tell you exactly what happens but I will tell you that there are several "white lies" and some sub-plots that do not conclude for me as I would want them to. "Four Places" has been extended through May 11, 2008 at The Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, located at 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.  Performances are Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 5 and 8:30 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m.  Exceptions: No performance on Tuesday 4/22 or Wednesday 4/23.  2 p.m. matinees will be added for 4/23 and 4/30.  Tickets range from $20-$45 and are available at the box office, by phone at 773-871-3000 or online at www.VictoryGardens.org.  Valet parking is available at the door, discounted parking is available at Children's Memorial Hospital and the theater is easy to get to by public transportation.  There are some special restaurant packages available with pre and post show discounts and post show discussions.   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.