Steadstyle Chicago
	June 2009 Theatre Review by Nicholas Ryan Lamb
	Third Nationally acclaimed author Wendy Wasserstein bestows upon us the dramedy “Third”.  The dialogue depicts a university Professor, we find to be no stranger of the women’s lib movement, and a student nicknamed Third, who is the quintessential persona of everything she stands against.  This fuels her desire to expel him from the school because of a supposed bout with plagiarism.  In the meantime this story is interrupted with a mentally decaying father, a daughter determined to not be like her mom, and a colleague optimistically dealing with cancer. It is important to note that I consider myself a male-feminist before diving in.  I appreciated the metaphorical humor of Wasserstein to contradict her earlier feminist works.  The use of stereotypes was evident with Laurie, the main character, as her being a closed minded feminist who will jump to conclusions.  Wasserstein opposed this with the character Third, likably played by Michael Gonring, who went against the stereotypical jock, who would rather hoot and holler and join a fraternity than know how to open a book.  A nice mediation of the two said characters was Nancy.  Nancy was embodied by Susan Felder, more accurately vice versa.  Her portrayal of a character, which could have gone down a dark road dealing with cancer and not knowing if she should count her days down, was so flawless that I felt she channeled Wasserstein in her final moments before departing us in 2006.  Every moment of her on stage was masterfully decadent.  She carried the show when the others weren’t connecting as was needed. The technical aspects of the show were nice.  Though dark in some areas the lighting gave a nice natural glow in scenes such as being outside.  The use of the stage was well planned; however, I think that not all the actors understand how to use a black box thrust stage.  This is more apparent with young performers.  When the actors were aware of their positions there were some beautiful important pictures painted in front of us. I have to be honest when I expected more from Robin Lewis-Bedz, the other Equity actress.  Her intentions were played on an even level with not much variance and it took the help of other actors for her to connect in the scenes.  Another aspect that lacked in the show was the minor supporting actors.  The importance of the father was clear but the delivery wasn’t connected.  Understandably the character's mind wasn’t but there is a distinction between what a character chooses and what an actor chooses.  I felt that Emily was unnecessary to the script due to the fact that "Third" already embodied some of her important qualities and it ineffectively added to Laurie’s stress.  Kristen Pickering who plays Emily has some growing to do before she fully reaches her potential.  The script didn’t help out with scenes that didn’t further the action or story line much, such as the scene in the bar, or parts of scenes revealing the husband (who isn’t seen) or the visual decay of Jack, Laurie’s father.  “Third” runs until June 28, 2009 at Apple Tree Theatre, located at 1850 Green Bay Road in Highland Park Illinois.  Ticket prices are $38-$48.  For more information call the box office at 847-432-4335.         About Nicholas Ryan Lamb Nicholas Lamb is a graduate from Illinois State Universities acting program with a secondary focus on directing.  He is also a graduate from SAK Universities improv school.  As an accomplished actor he has performed in dozens of shows with his most notable credits including the title role in "Scrooge" the musical, Adan in Milcha Sanchez Scott's "Roosters" and Nicely Nicely Johnson in "Guys and Dolls".  Some of his most known directing works are "Barefoot in the Park" and "The Secret Garden".  Not only has he worked numerously with acting and directing but his training also includes the technical areas of theatre as well as film work.  Nick recently starred as Matt in "The Fantasticks" for Waukegan Community Players and is currently directing "Aladdin," "Charlotte's Web" and "Pinocchio" for Bowen Park Theatre.