Steadstyle Chicago
	September 2009 Theatre Review by Alan Bresloff
	The Night Season Vitalist Theatre has joined forces with Premiere Theatre and Performance to bring us the Chicago Premiere of Rebecca Lenkiewicz's "The Night Season" a sort of love story involving the Kennedy family of Sligo, Ireland, the home of legendary poet William Butler Yeats.  This is a simple family with many complexities.  There is a father, his three daughters and a grandmother.  The daughters are seeking love, as is their father.  Their mother, Esther, left them years ago and over the years the relationship has become non-existent.  The daughters are played by Eden Newmark as Maud, the youngest of the girls, Kelly Lynn-Hogan as Rose, and Vanessa Greenway as Judith, the local librarian. The father Patrick is skillfully played by Don Bender, who portrays the man who has used a bottle to substitute for the wife and life that has left him.  He handles his drunkenness and tenderness beautifully.  The men in the lives of the daughters are Jared Fernely as John, an actor who has come to Ireland to play Yeats in a biography and has a passionate affair with Rose, Paul Dunckel as Gary Malone, the first love of Judith who has never stopped loving her and rekindles his love during her ordeal with facing her mother after all these years. The affair between Yeats and Rose is one that he wrote about and reflected in his "The Secret Rose" and the title of the play is a line that he used many times in his writing as "The Night Season" represented a time of despair, which many of the characters in this play lived with.  The grandmother, Lily is the glue that hold this family together.  Mary O'Dowd steals the show with her portrayal of this woman who has raised the family and taken them through their despair.  She is marvelous.  Most Yeats admirers know of his special relationship with Maud Gonne, on which this play is based, and the effect it had on his writings and his life.  The themes of love that abandons and love that rescues, the enduring and patient lover (Gary), the recluse obsessed with lost love (Patrick) and the headstrong women of the show. There are many comical moments in this very Irish story, filled with drinking and smoking (not real, herbal) and of course swearing.  It wouldn't be a true Irish play without these ingredients, but of greater importance, it is a well crafted love story, divinely directed by Elizabeth Carlin-Metz on a cleverly designed set by Craig Choma and solid lighting effects by Richard Norwood.  The actors handle the brogues with great realism with the help of dialect coach Elise Kauzlaric.  This is a long play, over 2 1/2 hours but done so gracefully one hardly notices the time until it was over and that is a tribute to the entire production.  In the end, love triumphs over all.  If you are a Yeats fan, you will love this wonderful story, if you are not, you will get a little more insight into what his writing is really about. "The Night Season" will continue through October 17, 2009 at The Theatre Building Chicago located at 1225 West Belmont.  Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.  Tickets are $25, $20 for seniors and students, a bargain for theater of this quality and can be purchased at the box office, by phone at773-327-5252 or through Ticketmaster at 1-800-982-2787 or www.ticketmaster.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.