MICHAEL SHANNON STARS IN A TANTALIZING TURRET
If you had to define the word turret, what would an easy definition be? Well, I love castles, so I know a turret was often the corner where a guard could be positioned. But a turret is also that rotating structure you’ve seen in Star Wars on the Millennium Falcon from which they can shoot ammunition. Defining writer/director Levi Holloway‘s world premiere play Turret, which opened at Chopin Theatre last weekend, stunningly mounted by A Red Orchid, is not so easy.
Travis A. Knight and Michael Shannon
Certainly I can start with enigmatic; mysterious; dystopian; and static. And Groundhog Day. And A Quiet Place. There’s horror, but the main genre is sci-fi. We are in a turret like none I’ve ever seen. Grant Sabin‘s cutaway set shows us half of the underground dome-like structure, which looks like it could pass for Dr Frankenstein’s laboratory, but made with steel which has weathered. Upstage is a hatch for going outside. Stage right there is a crematorium. In the center is a hamster wheel-type structure on which a fit young man is running on a treadmill. With the air of a soldier, his name is Rabbit (a vulnerable, likeable, naive Travis A. Knight), who seems to be an inductee of some kind.
Michael Shannon
An impassive man named Green is running an experiment on Rabbit, who wears a helmet with wired sensors … but who is this test for? As Green, the great Michael Shannon offers an emotionless exterior that belies an inner turmoil, which makes Green all the more threatening. At one point, Rabbit says “Something kind,” to which Green replies, “Something kind back.” It is at once humorous, sad, and scary. Laurence Grimm will appear later as a survivor “civilian” from outside, Birdy, dressed in a bear rug over a filthy tuxedo (costumes by Myron Elliot). “Birdy”? “Rabbit?” Those names are just one of the many not-so-red herrings in the play.
Travis A. Knight
In this Beckettian universe not unlike Endgame, the outside world has been devastated: War? Climate Change? Aliens? The reason is unclear, but we will learn it’s a hostile, unforgiving environment with strange creatures moving about. And there is so much more purposefully unclear for the better part of 140 minutes that it threatens the loss of our engagement. My theater-going companion found it too opaque and repetitive and zoned out. But that didn’t happen for me as it’s too intriguing, and not just due to a trio of knockout performances.
Travis A. Knight, Lawrence Grimm
This is a thinking person’s puzzle play, with elegantly perplexing, and sometimes funny, dialogue that slowly unravels making this theater into which you lean. What I can tell you is the sci-fi context slowly melts away to reveal a story about family, loss, and toxic masculinity. This survival shelter is a turret for Green, and what he’s fighting against will finally resolve at the last moment. But many questions will remain, just as Beckett would have it.
Travis A. Knight, Michael Shannon, Lawrence Grimm
This is a new foray for A Red Orchid, which has gone from its digs on Wells (where the company opened The Receptionist last Friday night) to this auspicious debut at The Chopin Theatre with its raked house offering great sightlines. Sabin’s astounding set is festooned with Rowan Doe‘s props (assisted by Jamie Auer) — an out-of-tune piano, a strange white liquid for Rabbit to drink, musty books, bottles, a murdered cat, and more. Mike Durst‘s lighting and Jeffrey Levin‘s sound are impressive beyond belief. Durst uses cool blues for the interior and golden amber in the crematorium, and blinding reds when alarms go off, accompanied by Levin’s heart-pounding sound effects and an original futuristic electronica score (there is also ’50s pop).
Michael Shannon
Academy Award winner Michael Shannon is A Red Orchid’s cofounder and no doubt one of the reasons the show was selling out before it opened (you would be wise to snag tickets now, but know that Shannon does not appear in the final weekend). If the play feels one-note, there are two reasons: First, we are not on board with what is really happening until far, far too late in the play; and second, it would have been advantageous to have someone else directing besides the author to ratchet up tension and emotion. Even though it’s stagnant with an overly tangled and winding nature, I recommend Turret because it’s well-produced, brazen and wonderfully acted. Even though the play falls short, you will be gobsmacked by the artistry of it all.
Travis A. Knight and Michael Shannon
photos by Fadeout Media and Jesus Santos
poster image by Levi Holloway
Travis A. Knight and Michael Shannon
Turret
A Red Orchid
The Chopin Theatre, 1543 West Division St
Wed-Fri at 7; Sat at 3 & 7; Sun at 3
ends on June 9, 2024 EXTENDED to June 22, 2024
from June 19-22, Grimm steps into the role of Green, with Drew Vidal playing Birdy
for tickets ($75), call 312.943.8722 or visit A Red Orchid
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You really miss the mark on this review. Full of incorrect information and misspelled words and names. This was one of the most tense, uncomfortable, and spellbinding plays I’ve seen in years. Riveted from start to finish. If anyone takes 3o seconds to actually think about this play they’ll realize it’s actually quite linear and makes a lot of sense. I don’t know why people want things spoon fed to them in the theatre. Sad state of the world.