PicksInSix Review: Adirondack Chair Circle - Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Lessons In Life From A Crow.
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton
The stellar world premiere offering of “The Adirondack Chair Circle” by Chicago playwright Stephanie Alison Walker at Steppenwolf's Ensemble Theater, now extended through December 13, is one of those pieces that expertly delves into political satire at a time when such satire in America is so often overcome by the realities that currently exist. In other words, as the writer PJ O'Rourke muses: "American political culture quickly and always outpaces any attempt to satirize it." But this sturdy play, full of awareness and wit and even a charming element of magical realism, does its best to circumvent such issues and encourage proper debate between strongly drawn characters.
Here's the plot: Three suburban women have banded together to form a committee that wishes to fight the local school board. Their aim is to ban books, specific books, at the school library. They are all quite conservative in stance, and all have spoken or plan to speak at the local school board meetings as time passes. They meet in the backyard of their host Banna (Katrina Link, elegant and articulate as always). Libby (Sadieh Rifai, full of anger in varying shades, all of them fun) is the firebrand of the trio, always making sure that their 'side' is heard, no matter the subject or the reason. Then there is Winona (Wendy Mateo in an earnest, emotional Steppenwolf debut), the most flexible of the group, who constantly plays the peacekeeper while she pushes her Etsy sales to her compatriots. It's a trio of imposing force and constant planning to see their censorship goals met, even as they never touch the fancy charcuterie plates that Banna meticulously prepares.
Next door is the opposite side of this argument. Evelyn Grace (Caroline Neff, forceful and well-attuned to the exchange as the token liberal). We first see the conflict between neighbors when a ball rolls into Banna's yard. Evelyn comes over to fetch it, while Banna simply holds it in her hands, creating tension between the two women. When the ball is at last released back to Evelyn, it begins a unique dialectic that repeats itself throughout the play, with Evelyn the focus of the committee's piercing angst about having to 'protect our children' from the challenges of literature that they believe inappropriate for their children.
Pickleball figures into the story, as both Evelyn and Winona fancy themselves top-level players. Evelyn even says forcefully "I. Never. Lose." They create an uneasy truce between them so they can win pickleball tournaments together. But along the way, each woman begins to open up a bit. They learn a little more about the other's political stances and even make a pact to attend each other's meetings on the issue. It is a disastrous moment, of course, but it's reflective of how much Winona really does believe in reaching 'across the aisle' to learn, to agree or disagree, but to make the attempt at a kind of tolerance.
The magical realism comes in the form of a crow. Let's just call him “Crow.” Crow hangs out in the backyard. Around it. Flying over it. In the process, we learn from Crow various lessons on the dynamics between different sides in a dispute. About books. About mother/daughter relationships. About more than merely surviving in a world that doesn't always care. About the value of silence. Crow is an important presence in this story, because he represents us in many ways. And his reactions, if not totally human in regard, certainly make us all think. David Darrow daringly plays Crow with his own highly entertaining assortment of bird gestures, calls and thoughts. He has a really tender moment when Banna, in her frustration with Crow, shoots a gun up into the air above her yard—more than once—and a crow comes falling out of the sky. Crow sees what has happened and haltingly makes his way to his fallen friend. The gentle pause that Darrow takes in observing, then picking up the dead crow fills the theatre in a breathless silence. It's quite a moment to see.
The highly regarded director Pam MacKinnon helmed this production with a sharp eye for detail and a flow in her method that never fails the audience. Another Todd Rosenthal triumph in scenic design shows a starkly green backyard, complete with lawn chairs, a firepit and, in working toward other moments, a pickleball net that springs up from under the stage. The Barbara Samuels lighting design is stunningly simple to the eye, with wonderful splashes of color here and there to highlight birds and pickleball players and books thrown into the firepit. The entire production is more validation that Steppenwolf seems to always know its audiences, even with accomplished satire that could very well have already happened here and there in America.
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | RONALD KEATON received an Equity Jeff Award for the performance of his one-man show CHURCHILL. Coming soon, his new solo play about Ben Franklin, THE FIRST EMBASSY. www.solochicagotheatre.com.
PHOTO | Michael Brosilow
Steppenwolf Theatre Company
presents
Adirondack Chair Circle
The Ensemble Theater
1650 N. Halsted
EXTENDED through December 13, 2026
WEBSITE
PROGRAM
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