Exciting.
Unexpected.
Smart. Entertaining. Original.
Theater.
2131 W. Cuyler #1
Chicago, IL 60618
Ph: (773) 879-4610
Email: hall@wneptheater.org
CHICAGO TRIBUNE REVIEW
"Remember
when Jay McInerney went from unknown writer to overnight sensation solely
on the basis of his 1984 debut novel, "Bright Lights, Big City"?
Remember the media's singular fascination with his newfound party-hearty
celebrity?
If the psyche of a McInerney-type writer were thrown under a microscope
and analyzed during those initial heady days of success, the result
might resemble "pretty things," the corrosively funny new
play by Zach Helm, a DePaul University alum now working as a screenwriter
in Los Angeles.
Jack (Brandon Bruce) and Annie (Jen Ellison) are husband and wife, aspiring
New York writers whose careers are on separate trajectories. Jack's
first novel, "pretty things," is getting rave reviews. Thanks
to his ambitious agent (Scott Markwell, predictably but effectively
insidious), Hollywood producers and their ilk materialize, hoping to
capitalize on Jack's newly acquired "it" status. Annie can
only contemplate her husband's literary ascent with bitter jealousy.
These two characters might as well be conflicting halves of a single
personality. Annie's the kind of person who empties an entire bottle
of champagne in one, long inappropriate swig. She's offensive and unstable,
with the eating disorder and amphetamine addiction to prove it. Jack
is the guy with everything under control: nice, polite, presentable.
Patrick Jacobi directs this world premiere production at WNEP Theater
with a keen instinct for the script's acerbity. The eight-person cast
is uniformly strong, particularly Donovan Sherman in a small role as
Annie's fidgety drug dealer.
But the show belongs to Ellison, an actor who can play high-strung intensity
like nobody's business. She dials it down just enough in this performance
to suggest there's more to Annie than her raw, exposed-nerve behavior.
A pretty thing she is not, and that's just as it should be.
pretty
things
Written by Zach Helm
Directed by Patrick Jacobi
Original
Run
April 3 through May 10, 2003
#4
of the Top Five New Plays of 2003
-- NewCity
“...fine staging by director Patrick Jacobi...bits of sensory
pleasure: John Stephen King's acid portrayal of a queeny book reviewer,
Don Hall's padded-cell-as-apartment set design....[a] winding investigation
of the intertwined fates of a married couple...the script's powder-keg
scene [is] played with grim authority by Jen Ellison as the tortured wife...” -- Chicago Reader
“...quite
moving...disturbing but captivating...it was superb...”
-- Lois Price, WLUW
pretty
things
tells the story of two struggling writers, Annie (Jen Ellison) and Jack
Parker (Brandon Bruce). The play begins with Jack's meteoric ascent
in the literary world for his new criticly lauded novel, “pretty
things”. As he is courted by the press, the wealthy and Hollywood,
Annie begins a rapid descent into speed addiction and bulimia. The
tension from these conflicting paths stretches and pulls at the couples
marriage and sanity until it snaps.
Zach Helm is
a writer from Los Angeles, California. His plays include Chapters on
American Artistry, Last Chance For A Slow Dance, Harold,
and his two new works Polonius and The Darkness. His screenplays
include The DisAssociate which will be directed by Chris Noonan
at Dreamworks and the adaptation of the Caldecott winning Sector 7
for Paramount. He is the creator and executive producer of the television
series Other People's Business for the upcoming WB season. He is
a merit scholar graduate of DePaul University, former performer at the
Lollapalooza music festival, the protege of acclaimed literary theorist
Joe Wells, and retired spelling champion.
Patrick Jacobi
is a graduate from Yale where he directed both Glengarry Glen Ross
and Buried Child at the Yale Repertory Theatre. Upon coming to
Chicago, he has mostly performed (in PHOBIA and the critically
acclaimed improvised documentary Postmortem)
although made his Chicago directing debut last winter with Oleanna
for WNEP’s Festival of 2.
With the production of pretty things, WNEP continues its trend
of refusing to be pigeonholed. After a tenth anniversary season dominated
by comedies (LOSERS BRACKET,
The Odds, Christmas
My Ass (redux), Dirty
Bible Stories, and Fairy
Tales are not for Children), WNEP closes its season with a stark,
angry drama deconstructing the literary world, the price of success, and
the minefield that is a competing professional marital relationship.
Brandon Bruce, Jen Ellison, Sarah Greywitt, Danielle Hoetmer, John Stephen King, Scott Markwell, Donovan Sherman, James Yeater
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