Steadstyle Chicago
	June 2009 Theatre Review by Alan Bresloff
	Strauss at Midnight Theater Oobleck is dedicated to producing new plays for public consumption at a very low cost, with no physical directory.  The ensemble feels their way through the rehearsal period and brings the final production to the stage for the audience.  Their works are new and fresh.  The current Oobleck production, in association with DCA Theater (The Chicago Cultural Center) at their black box Storefront Theatre, is a wild visit to "The Odd Couple" by Neil Simon.  The play opens just as the original with a weekly poker game, but the players are different.  There are now women at the table and the game is now Texas Holdem.  The apartment is sloppy and the talk is not sports.  We are in an unknown time. Written by Jeff Dorchen, this play titled "Strauss at Midnight" takes us on a wild journey through time and dimension.  What we see at the onset is a play in a theater, but right below is a place identical in appearance, but sweeter smelling and filled with people who have long since passed away.  They state over and over that this might not be Hell.  David Isaacson is dynamic in his interpretation of Saul Bellow, a scholar who it seems created a character that Neil Simon cut from his writings, Niccolo Machiavelli (solidly handled by Scott Hermes) as well as Leo Strauss (thus the title) and Allan Bloom, played by David Shapiro and Troy Martin.  They also encounter Virgil Tibbs (D'Wayne Taylor) who represents Virgil, or so they lead us to believe. The two worlds are kept apart until later in the play, but we are told during the poker game that a rich person (many are named) went back in time, stepped on a butterfly, killing him, and screwed up time.  Example: Nixon beat JFK (how could a Catholic ever be President?).  In the "upper" poker room referred to as the play Oscar (H.B. Ward) and his poker buddies Roy (Matt Rieger), Gauss (Matthew Holzfeind), Evelyn (Kelly Ann Corcoran) and Crabtree (Kat McJimsey) are waiting for Felix (Brian Nemtusak) to show so they can tell him that he is getting divorced.  Ward does a great job with the Oscar character, if only what he said and did made more sense.  Perhaps someone will cast him in a real "Odd Couple" in the future.  Nemtusak falls in and out of Tony Randall on a regular basis, but in some speeches becomes Jimmy Stewart.  Corcoran has a great deal of energy and sounds like a true New Yorker and McJimsey is as cute as a button, but needs to slow down so we can hear what she is saying. If one pays close attention, which is not easy due to eerie transitions, one can see that what Dorchen is trying to explore is odd coupling: Liberty and Tyranny, Love and Hate, Man and Superman.  And while there are some wonderful moments in this two hour and twenty minute production, often due to the weird transitions we get lost as to why he has the characters doing what they are doing.  How did the killing of a butterfly cause "time shocks" which change the course of time?  Can someone truly change the course of time and life just by killing a butterfly?  Why is Bloom an animal of sorts?  Why is the underworld as filthy as the Theater Level?  Lots of unanswered questions. While I truly feel that new and adventurous theater is great for audiences to experience, I am not sure if this would be one that I would suggest to most.  Those who are intellectuals at the University of Chicago, in particular Grad School, might find this stimulating and even worthy of deep discussion after the show.  Most audiences will find themselves somewhat lost and with the language and religious negativity.  There is a lot of sex talk and gender stuff as well.  I would think this not for everyday theater audiences.  The players are strong and there are some funny moments and the good people of Oobleck only charge $15 per seat.  Or if you cannot afford this, make a donation of some amount when you call to order at 312-742-8497. The performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 and Sundays at 3 p.m.  The Storefront Theater is located at 66 E. Randolph between Michigan and Wabash and easy to get to by public transportation. The show will run through July 19, 2009 and there is no performance on July 3rd and 4th in honor of Independence Day.   For more info on the DCA Theater check out www.dcatheater.org.  They have a lot of choices during the year for both children and adults.   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.