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K. sez:
When I was in my late 20s I wrote a novel about various adventures I’d had in my earlier 20s. I was pleased with this accomplishment until another writer asked me, “What’s your book about?” Stumped, I blurted out, “She sleeps with a lot of people.” “How nice for her,” she replied. Needless to say, that novel is still in pristine manuscript form on the top shelf of my office closet.
Elise Spoerlein’s A Phase , now receiving its world premiere at Broken Nose Theatre, is my novel onstage. Sam[antha], reeling from a painful breakup, sleeps with a lot of people til she realizes this doesn’t actually prove anything; end of play, as telegraphed by the title. Along the way there’s a lot of witty dialogue between Sam and her mother, Sam and her best friend (appearing solely by text message), and Sam and her sex partners. The dialogue is well-delivered, which is partly a tribute to Spenser Davis’s skill as a director and partly to the fact that the author also plays Sam.
Playwright Spoerlein has a fine ear and a strong comic touch; actress Spoerlein has appealing delivery and a commendable absence of vanity. But none of this a play makes. She should put A Phase on the top shelf of her office closet, and keep writing.
A Phase continues at The Den in Wicker Park through March 26.
Welcome to the on-line home of the Dueling Critics, Kelly Kleiman and Jonathan Abarbanel. Here you'll find the Critics' weekly conversations about Chicago theater. These verbal battles are broadcast every Sunday morning on "The Arts Section," WDCB's on-air culture magazine. Tune in to 90.9 FM to hear the Critics going at it.
On this site you'll also find written reviews by Kelly and Jonathan as well as links to their writing in other venues. Never fear, there are plenty of opinions to go around!
Please let us know what you think of the broadcasts, the written reviews and the opinions expressed therein. Thanks for listening and reading.
The best of 2016 in Chicago theater January 3, 2017
Which one of us whacks the other in the knee? We review Tonya and Nancy, The Rock Opera December 20, 2016
DC split over David Rabe world premiere at Steppenwolf October 11, 2016
K says “wunderbar” for WONDERFUL TOWN, J says “Hmmm.” October 5, 2016
The House does a dark take on Punch & Judy but it lights up J. & K. September 28, 2016
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Kelly Kleiman at the Huffington Post Jonathan Abarbanel at the Windy City Times