DON’T KILL THE FATTED CALF JUST YET —
THE PRODIGAL SON RETURNS EMPTY-HANDED

“I was fifteen. Do you remember fifteen? For me, it was a special, beautiful room in Hell.”

That brilliant line opens Prodigal Son, an autobiographical play from Oscar, Tony, and Pulitzer Prize winner John Patrick Shanley (Doubt, Moonstruck). First opening Off-Broadway in 2016, it’s now playing at the Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Julian Rus as Jim Quinn

Kathi Campbell’s clever set design splits the small space into three areas: a principal’s office in a Catholic school is recreated with such attention to detail that I flashed back to my own school days—grandfather clock and all. Many an uncomfortable conversation was had in that office, and many an uncomfortable conversation will be had in this one. In contrast, the other end of the space features a warm dining room, all chintz and hospitality. And the back of the theatre offers a beautifully recreated dorm room in about three-quarter scale. These spaces are also reflective of the broader themes of the play: discipline, emotional intelligence, camaraderie, and—in the constantly changing center space—the conflict and confusion that come with being a precocious teenager.

Steve Delaney as Carl Schmitt and Julian Rus as Jim Quinn

Set in the 1960s, Shanley’s play depicts two years of his life, when he was taken out of the Bronx and given a scholarship to attend a tony high school in New Hampshire. The reasons for this are not quite clear. There is much talk about Jim Quinn’s native brilliance, but it beggars belief that a subpar student in every way would be the recipient of such benevolence. Once at this school, Quinn does battle with his foe, headmaster Carl Schmitt; his supporter, English teacher Alan Hoffman; and his best (only?) friend, his roommate, Austin Schmitt. Twisted up in his notions of heroism and unsure of his own identity, Quinn lashes out—sometimes physically—at anyone within lashing distance, regardless of where they fall on his perceived support spectrum.

John Pietrzyk as Alan Hoffman and Steve Delaney as Carl Scmitt

This is not Shanley’s tightest work. The supporting characters are barely sketched out, though as the play went on, I became convinced that this was a deliberate choice. The only character that truly matters is Jim Quinn, and all the others exist almost exclusively in relation to him. More than anything else, Prodigal Son is a character study of troubled teenhood. Jim Quinn is purportedly a brilliant mind, though we see very little evidence of it. The only work of his that is displayed are snippets of his poetry—and even there, multiple characters state outright that it’s not very good (they are right: it is not). What’s clear is that, much like his literary antecedent Holden Caulfield, he thinks he has a brilliant mind.

John Pietrzyk as Alan Hoffman and Julian Rus as Jim Quinn

From the point of view of the actors, this is a difficult play: one extraordinarily complex character, three extremely underwritten ones, and another—that of Carl Schmitt—left somewhere in between. Tight direction might have brought these performers into a cohesive whole, but Jonathan James is not up to that task. The staging is stiff and the blocking awkward; with the exception of a marvelous dormitory scene, the actors are plonked on either side of an object and left there to deliver their lines. Movement, when it happens, registers as forced.

Steve Delaney as Carl Schmitt and Julian Rus as Jim Quinn

As headmaster Carl Schmitt and English teacher Alan Hoffman, Steve Delaney and John Pietrzyk never really come alive. Their delivery swings between stilted, mannered, and overemoted. As Jim Quinn, Julian Rus is brilliant at communicating his character’s inner torment and insecurity. What doesn’t come through at all is the arrogance and swagger. His Jim is too vulnerable, likable, charming—and worst of all, eager to please. There is none of the brash braggadocio and roughness the character is said to have. I could imagine him being taken home to meet his girlfriend’s parents, not beating up the entire freshman class.

Maggie Kelly as Louise Schmitt

Strange, then, that the two best turns come in the two slightest parts. As the headmaster’s wife and Jim’s poetry teacher, Maggie Kelly gives a beautiful, tender performance laced with twinkling dry wit. Her every moment on stage sings.

Liam Pietrzyk as Austin Scmitt and Julian Rus as Jim Quinn

And as Jim’s roommate, Liam Pietrzyk delivers the best performance of the night. His affable, nerdy Austin Schmitt is played to perfection, with not a single false or overacted note. He also unlocks something in Mr. Rus, who elevates his acting game considerably in their scene together—and thankfully maintains that level for the rest of the play. As an aside, I wonder if Rus is more of a reactive performer. His best scenes are with the younger Pietrzyk and Maggie Kelly; he seems to match the energy of his scene partners, consciously or not… I couldn’t say.

Liam Pietrzyk as Austin Schmitt and Julian Rus as Jim Quinn

There isn’t much plot here—the single note of drama, whether Quinn will graduate, is only raised in the last fifteen minutes of the play—but there’s a reason Shanley is so richly rewarded in the hardware category. The dialogue is terrific, and the second act brings moments of genuinely powerful emotion, helped along by the fact that everybody has a little bit of Jim Quinn in them. We all remember being fifteen.

Early in the play, Schmitt says of Jim Quinn, “He’s the most interesting mess we have this year.”

The same could be said of this production: it’s an interesting mess—but a mess nonetheless.

Julian Rus as Jim Quinn and Maggie Kelly as Louise Schmitt

photos courtesy of JK Entertainment

Prodigal Son
JK Entertainment
Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture, 2936 N Southport Ave.
ends on November 2, 2025
for tickets, visit Athenaeum

for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago