Steadstyle Chicago
	June 2009 Theatre Review by Alan Bresloff
	The Ride Down Mount Morgan One of the exciting parts of the Chicago theater scene is the many little storefront theaters in neighborhoods of the city where you might not expect a theater to exist, let alone survive or grow.  One of these storefronts is Redtwist (formerly AWT), located on Bryn Mawr Avenue in the Edgewater community, just west of Sheridan Road.  The name Redtwist is designed to project who they are and what they do: "white hot drama, in a tiny black box with a little red twist," and this they do! Their current production is a rarely done Arthur Miller play, "The Ride Down Mount Morgan," written in the 1990's as an indictment of what the people in our country had become: greedy, selfish and uncaring of others.  If one had money, they felt they can have whatever they wanted, they had earned the right to have anything they desired, even if what they wanted was illegal to have or own.  In this case, our hero (or might be he be the anti-hero) is Lyman Felt, who as the play opens is in a hospital bed in Elmira New York, after being in a car accident.  Robert Dennison gives a powerful portrayal.  His wife and daughter have been contacted and are in the waiting area in hopes that he comes to soon.  At this point, it all seems very simple and run of the mill, but as it turns out, there is another wife and a nine year old son and now the fun begins. Director Alex Levy works the story with wonderful flashbacks allowing us to leave the hospital room and learn just how Felt, a business giant who has one of the largest insurance companies in the United States under his control came to be in this setting under these conditions.  Theo (deftly handled by Jan Ellen Graves who truly makes one feel that she was the love of his life) is wife number one and with her, a grown daughter (Susan Myburgh) who upon hearing of the betrayal loses any feeling she had for her dad in the days before. Leah, the new wife (a strong and energetic portrayal by Jaqueline Grandt) is also in business with Lyman.  The son never appears onstage.  The other characters in the story are Tom (John Arthur Lewis), the family attorney and Nurse Logan (Michele Cason).  The flashbacks take us to different times and places.  We get into the head of Lyman and see that despite his claim that all is right with his world, it seems that he does have some guilt.  The question does arise as to the fateful accident that brought us to this place.  Was it an accident, or did Lyman, knowing the terrain decide that he needed to bring all this to a conclusion? In most of the blackbox theaters, the stage is as small as the theater.  This is certainly the case at Redtwist, but Levy uses it well with the help of a very simple set by Grant Sabin.  Adding to the solid production is the sound design by Christopher Kriz (with some clever music in the background) and lighting by Christopher Burpee.  We, the audience get to watch these flashbacks take place with just a change of a shirt or a curtain being pulled back and forth. The stories we see and hear are very realistic and we are all faced with the moral issues.  Does Lyman love both of these wives with the same intensity?  Does each have a special place in his heart and fulfill a special need that he cannot get from the other?  While he wants it all, and feels that he is entitled to being allowed to, the times and laws do not allow for this and while he appears to have both of these women convinced that he has only their best interest at heart, we know that in the end it cannot be. I myself had never seen a production of this play before and found it a very intense piece by a brilliant writer who surely cared about people and relationships.  Redtwist is one of the adventurous theaters that will tackle works like this and as they grow their works get better and better.  The shame is that in a small black box theater, space is limited so only those lucky enough to reserve their tickets right away get the opportunity to experience the theater as presented by this strong troupe. The show will continue through July 3, 2009 with performances Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m.  Tickets range from $22-$30, a value for a production this strong, and can be purchased by calling 773-728-7529 or online at www.redtwist.org/Tickets.html.   The theater is located at 1044 W. Bryn Mawr and while there is some metered parking in the area, with all the meter stuff going on, you might just want to take the Red Line to Bryn Mawr and walk the block.  Stop at Starbucks and bring your beverage in the theater.  A lot of new restaurants are in the area as well.  Enjoy!!    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.