CAPTION: Violet (Vilmarie Rosario) reseeds the family apple tree. Photo credit: Joe Mazza/brave lux.
Many of the most renowned American playwrights are best remembered for their dramatic picturing of the American family story. Eugene O’Neill, Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Lorraine Hansberry have each painted their own portrait of American domestic life set amongst fraying familial ties. Noah Haidle’s Smokefall is the generative AI version of that same portrait, a patchwork of overplayed metaphors, overcooked characters, and overstretched sentimentality. Framing his portrait within the world of magical realism, Haidle’s three act structure presents a triptych of generational trauma spanning nearly eighty years across one family’s search for love and belonging. But the play falls short of a deserving space on the altar of American domestic drama.
What novelty exists in Haidle’s theatrical portrait takes directly from Thornton Wilder’s two great masterpieces, Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth. A narrator delivers the expositional contexts surrounding the family as well as their interior thoughts and motivations in the form of interjections he calls “footnotes.” The source of tension for the family stems from paternal abandonment, received primarily in theological terminology like “original sin” and allusions to Biblical stories. While Smokefall is not a bad play, it brings little in the way of novelty to a story about an American family and the lingering generational trauma that besets its dramatic framing.
Nevertheless, Wild Door Theatre’s debut production does much to dazzle audiences and elevate the drama from a merely well-trodden path to a journey of familial restitution and restoration. Upon entering the theatre, audiences are transported into a dream-like domestic space full of nostalgically warm wood tones and lovingly worn décor (scenic design by Spencer Donovan). The audience gazes across the home from either side of the theatre and the performance often extends into the seating areas which, at times, makes for some awkward sight lines. But the overall experience makes for an invitation into the intimate arena of the family life.
As an ensemble production, the cast takes on multiple roles across the family’s journey through the generations. At opening we are gradually introduced to the initial family members while Lucky ✩ plays the roles of our omniscient narrator. And though the character reads like a playwright’s cheap mechanism for exposition, Lucky ✩ brings electricity to the role, making for an engaging point of connection between their genuine admiration for each family member and the joy of sharing their backstories with the audience.
Vilmarie Rosario and Andrew Gallant (who is also the director) are the play’s central mother and father. Despite their strained relationship, Rosario and Gallant find powerful moments of heartfelt affection. In a flashback to their first date, Gallant fills his performance with the anxiety and excitement of a young man meeting the father of his beloved. Rosario’s portrayal of our mother, Violet, is steadfast and grounded—as if she is mother to the very Earth itself. Her nurturing of the family’s tree—a clever and magical scenic element which emerges from the center of the house—reinforces her role as the life-affirming force connecting each character. Richard Schumacher carries the older characters of the play with grace. And Isabella Isherwood is a stand-out in her role as Beauty; daughter, allegory, and promise for the family across the years. Isherwood’s performance is brilliantly understated but overflowing with dynamism as we follow her journey from a silently observant young girl set adrift at her father’s abandonment to a source of mature retrospection and reunification for her family. The ensemble cast shares some very real affection for one another, lifting the family off the page and charging our souls with the weight of strained relationships and powerful reminiscences from the family we each carry with us.
Smokefall is a bold and ambitious project for this young company. But Wild Door Theatre proves that it will not back down from a challenge, nor the opportunity to share with Chicago audiences a story which has deeply touched the artistic and human spirit of the company members. Their love for the work is palpable. But, at times, the cast seems to be swimming against the current of play, working to elevate its dramatic power without drowning themselves, and us, in its heavy-handed mawkishness. Despite issues with the play, Wild Door Theatre has made a resounding entrance into the Chicago theatre scene and there is certainly a lot to look forward to in the future.
Smokefall by Noah Haidle at Theater Wit (1229 W. Belmont Ave, Chicago) is reservedly recommended. Performances are scheduled Thursdays through Sundays through Sundays until Dec 10 (except for November 27th) The performance is two hours with a fifteen-minute intermission. Tickets are $25 –$39 and can be purchased at http://WildDoorTheater.com.