Today is a very exciting day for Windy City Writeups! I sent my good friend Kirby Brown on assignment for Windy City Writeups to see Mortar Theatre’s newest production, Mother Bear. And here’s her review!
The best I can describe Friday’s world premiere of Mother Bear by Chicago playwright Jayme McGhan is it reminded me of acclaimed HBO series The Wire. In an isolated subculture that functions on the sociopolitical battle for dominance, one has to question who is really working for whom. Where is there to go when the fight for justice surpasses itself into corruption?
The play revolves around ambitious young lawyer Freeley (played with a fresh wit by Brian Plocharczyk) as he goes undercover as a long-haul trucker in attempt to recruit Mother (expertly portrayed with a brooding sense of humor by Jim Farrell) the hard-ass ”king of the road” into his newly-founded startup truckers union.
The play starts out on the slow side, politely setting the stage for the cast of characters to be introduced and explain their reasons for being at a truck stop in the middle-of-nowhere-Utah. J. Kingsford Goode delivers one of the best performances of the evening with her portrayal of Vera, the owner of the Coyote Pass Truck Stop whose steadfast quality enables her to see truth in people when no one else can. Act two really takes off with a series of hard-hitting plot twists that bring into question the character’s true identities and motivations for being there.
The Verdict: In my opinion the best thing going for this production is the dynamic created by a very colorful cast of characters. That being said, I felt there were moments where the stakes were not high enough, and opportunities for deep, very personal insights as to why the characters fight so hard for what they believe in were lost.
In conclusion, for a budding theatre company starting production on the last show of its second season , Mortar Theatre Company has the appeal of a seasoned collective. This will be a company that continues to grow and outdo itself every year. B+.
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