A POST-PANDEMIC RECKONING WITH
ISOLATION AND MENTAL HEALTH

A moving character study elevated
by a nuanced central performance

The oddest thing about Kirsten Greenidge’s Morning, Noon, and Night is how fundamentally conventional its construction is. Not that this is necessarily a negative, but for a play that involves eco-doom-scrolling, cheating on exams with Google, and Artificial Intelligence coming to life, its basic conceit is a fairly hoary old trope: a magical/wise/quirky person intrudes into a troubled person’s life, shows them the error of their ways, and then with a “my work here is done” moment, vanishes back into the ether. Its old-fashioned-ness is almost charming.

Kristin E. Ellis (Mia)

Efficiently mounted by Shattered Globe at Theater Wit, this production of the Obie winner’s one-act opens with a messy living room. Actually, messy is putting it a bit mildly. It’s a roach infestation away from being an episode of Hoarders. Jackie Fox’s set design is fairly barebones: a few pieces of furniture and piles of boxes, filled and empty, littering the spaces in between them. The real scenic heavy lifting here is done by Abboye Lawrence’s projection design, which is quite spectacular.

Emefa Dzodzomenyo (Dailyn) and Hannah Antman (Nat)

Set in the immediate aftermath of pandemic-enforced isolation, Mia (Kristen E. Ellis) is still working from home even as schools have reopened and her daughter Dailyn (Emefa Dzodzomenyo) heads off each morning with her two classmates (Hannah Antman and Soren Jimmie Williams). Having grown accustomed to the security of her apartment, Mia has gotten increasingly agoraphobic, only occasionally venturing outside for aerobics workouts with her best friend Heather (Chicago theatre stalwart Christina Gorman, providing excellent support).

Christina Gorman (Heather) and Kristin E. Ellis (Mia)

But today is no ordinary day. It is the birthday of Mia’s eldest daughter, who moved out of the apartment into her own place and has not returned since. Mia and Dailyn are throwing her a birthday party. But the house is a mess and Dailyn, embarrassed by the filth, pleads with her mother to clean up while she’s at school. A plea that brings forth a mini-tantrum from Mia. Frustrated, Dailyn storms out and Mia goes off to her aerobics class to vent.

(Leslie Ann Sheppard (Miss Candice), Kristin E. Ellis (Mia)

And then Miss Candice (a note-perfect Leslie Ann Sheppard), an online personality with her own show on how to run a perfect household—you know the type—walks into Mia’s house, and everything changes.

Christina Gorman as Heather, Leslie Ann Sheppard as Miss Candice,
Kristin E. Ellis as Mia, Hannah Antman as Nat,
Emefa Dzodzomenyo as Dailyn and Soren Jimmie Williams as Chloe

Director AmBer Montgomery has assembled an excellent cast and all the actors are in top form but the star here is Kristen E. Ellis, who has to carry the show as Mia and is more than up to the task. The beauty of the performance is in its subtlety. Yes, she’s got the big actorly moments, but they land so well because of the less showy bits. Watch her body language when she steps out of the house. The tensing of her shoulders at every mention of guests intruding into her safe space. My favorite moment of the show, and what tipped me to its theme, is when she turns on her laptop camera for a work Zoom call and flashes a dazzling—and I mean breathtaking—smile at her coworkers (seriously, Ms. Ellis could and should do toothpaste commercials); a smile that cannot hide the panic and terror in her eyes. It’s a brief scene: a few seconds of Mia repeatedly trying to fit back into the real world even if it’s just via a screen, but it tells us more about her character than reams of dialogue could.

Soren Jimmie Williams (Chloe), Emefa Dzodzomenyo (Dailyn), Hannah Antman (Nat)

I won’t deny that I was a little irritated with the production at first for selling me a false bill of goods (I was promised a sci-fi-ish satire!), but I soon got over it because Shattered Globe’s Morning, Noon, and Night is a very good, if a bit scattered, show. An incisive depiction of chronic depression, it also examines how the pandemic isolation enabled the worst aspects of this condition to fester. It could use a bit more focus—for one, the AI exposition is very poorly written and, to my mind, entirely unnecessary—but thanks to the fine direction and terrific cast it’s still very absorbing and quite moving. It ends on a somewhat hopeful, if a bit cheesy note, but here again, Ellis’s remarkably nuanced performance improves the text.

Kristin E. Ellis and Leslie Ann Sheppard

The play promises us a relatively smooth road ahead for Mia and Dailyn, but even as she acknowledges it, Mia’s face remains a picture of uncertainty. As well it should be.

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photos by Michael Brosilow

Shattered Globe Theatre
Theater Wit, 1229 W Belmont Ave.
95 minutes, no intermission
Thurs-Sat at 7:30; Sun at 3; Sat at 3 (March 28 only)
for tickets, call 773.975.8150 or visit SG Theatre

for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago

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