PicksInSix Gold Review: An Enemy of the People - TimeLine Theatre Company

What Is The Price Of Truth?
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Ed Tracy

Precisely timed at an inflection point for the long-term stability of the performing arts in Chicago, TimeLine Theatre Company has accomplished the nearly impossible dream of planning, funding and opening a state-of-the-art black box theater that has all the makings of providing not only a sparkling, much-needed new venue for creative artists, but also a shimmering anchor for the Uptown neighborhood. It is an unqualified, stellar, multi-faceted achievement!

The opening production—the Chicago premiere of Amy Herzog’s new version of Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” superbly directed by TimeLine Company Member Ron OJ Parson—teams veteran TimeLine talent with exciting new actors to present a riveting drama that feels fresh, edgy and of-the-moment. And as much as the play is the thing, the aura throughout the building at last Thursday’s opening can only be described as electric long before the lights came up on John Culbert’s impressive set design—a versatile, bi-level interior that towers over the thrust stage configuration. Indeed, the black box itself, seating 250 and rising nearly three floors, provides an unmatched view for the audience of the action transpiring only feet away.

The Ibsen classic is high moral drama, raising the stakes for a small community in the late 1800s Norway trying to survive in the face of a health crisis that threatens the lives and livelihood of everyone involved, including the present and future generations of one family at the center of the story. Will Allan plays Herzog’s Dr. Thomas Stockmann whose research has concluded that the town’s baths, the lifeline of the tourist economy, have been dangerously contaminated. When word of his findings begin to emerge within a close-knit group that includes his daughter Petra (Campbell Krausen), a family friend, Captain Horster (Charles Andrew Gardner), and those responsible for the local paper, Billing (Kenneth Hamilton), Aslaksen (Anish Jethmalani) and Hovstad (Grayson Kennedy), a wave of righteous indignation initially sets in supporting Stockmann’s plan to present his findings. But when Stockmann’s brother and town mayor Peter (Behzard Dabu) gets wind of the story and raises doubts, support quickly evaporates and the tenor shifts radically away from full disclosure to hysteria and resentment. Stockmann’s case is further complicated by his father-in-law Morten Kill (David Parkes) who tips the scales on another level altogether.

Allan’s raw, passionate and finely nuanced portrayal of Stockmann brims with confidence and turns with powerful conviction, especially in his point-blank confrontations with Peter that Dabu effortlessly unravels as Herzog’s sinister, calculating opportunist who sacrifices all decency to undermine any point of view that he does not share. That familiar toppling of opinion rapidly washes over everyone except Krausen’s endearing and captivating turn as Petra and Gardner’s poised Horster, whose stalwartly loyal support holds the key to what may come next. It is a story for our time and in Parson’s expert hands, carves a wide path of fire and fury.

The creative team delivers a visually stunning palette of the period merging Christine Pascual’s exquisite costumes, evocative lighting by Brandon Wardell, a signature sound design by André Pluess and a flurry of ingenious properties of all sorts and sizes by Nicolas Bartleson.

As TimeLine meets this moment, all that has transpired before is merely the foundation—and excitement—for what is to come. The pride in accomplishment for a permanent home is richly deserved and can be seen and felt around every corner. What lies ahead is a new era for TimeLine and their unique interpretation of works, the next chapter of a theater company that has never compromised itself, pushing forward and executing at the highest level again and again. And we will have the enduring pleasure of watching, learning and enjoying that work for years to come.

PHOTO | Brett Beiner Photography

TimeLine Theatre Company
presents
Chicago Premiere
An Enemy of the People
5035 North Broadway
EXTENDED through June 27, 2026

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PicksInSix Review: Ashland Avenue - Goodman Theatre

"Ashland Avenue" Examines A Passing Era
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

At work, with relationships, in our very existence, we all are forced to come to grips with the end of something, a traumatic and daunting wall to climb. In playwright/filmmaker Lee Kirk's new play “Ashland Avenue,” now playing at the Goodman Theatre through October 12, everyone involved meets their own kind of 'ending' which then translates—as we all hope it will—into a new beginning in which to invest our energies.

In this story, it's about family dynamic. Pete (Francis Guinan), a widower, is the entrepreneur of what used to be a string of popular shops selling televisions, but now is down to one store, the original on Ashland Avenue. His television commercials from the old days made him a kind of Chicago legend, which inspires a life achievement award on his behalf. So, he has to make a speech. Pete's also quite a talker, as good salespeople should be, and he's had to sell off or close his other stores to survive. He remains stuck in sales methods that, with the advent of the internet, make him a bit of a dinosaur in the business world. Hence, his bad luck at a time in life when he is being urged to rest on his laurels, so to speak.

Now Pete has a daughter, Sam (Jenna Fischer), whose entire youth saw her involved with Dad's business. When not at school, she helped whenever possible in various ways; she kept the store clean, helped with record-keeping and whatever else needed to be done. All this time, Sam is developing her own dreams of being a novelist. Her husband Mike (Chiké Johnson), who helps out in the store, is a frustrated graphic artist and writer with three novels to his credit that just don't seem to help him find career traction. Sam and Mike are preparing for a move to Los Angeles and have struggled to find the words to tell her father.

To complicate things further, Pete has taken in a former employee, Jess (Cordelia Dewdney) and her two children, in an unusual stew of family concern and seeming romantic leanings that do not pan out.  And Jess is moving to Naperville, because her ex-husband Charlie has supposedly cleaned up from his drug habit. Pete doubts it all, of course, and continually tries to talk her into staying at his house, as he says, "for the children."

And this is all Act I. When Act II comes, the fruits of all the labor at last pay off. We see the essence of the give-and-take between Pete and his daughter, Sam and Mike in the welcome career news from LA, and Jess in a kind of "come-to-Jesus" realization about her irresponsible ex-husband. When all is said and done and Pete can sit quietly, reflecting on his last couple of days, he breaks down emotionally. To top it all off, the junkie Charlie (Will Allan) shows up at the store, wanting to sell a cable box for drug money. Pete realizes who he is and calls him on it, prompting a wild breakdown from Charlie and a not-so-surprising reaction of care and concern from Pete. That relationship at the end of the story prompts thoughts of what THAT play might be like.

The story becomes a thought-provoking combination of sitcom and morality tale about change and how such elements affect someone facing retirement, let alone what to do next in life. Mr. Kirk's script is well considered and interesting. Goodman Artistic Director Susan V. Booth offers this story in intimate, loving strokes. The thick, yet simple set design by Kevin Depinet has both nostalgia and the reality of existence in it. Ms. Fischer is a delicate surprise, and her work with the marvelous Mr. Johnson is fun to watch. Ms. Dewdney inhabits an appropriately desperate Jess, while the ex-husband literally explodes on Pete in Charlie's scene at the end. And Mr. Guinan, a real Chicago treasure who offers an actor's master class here, shares with us all a performance of eloquence and substance in all the fodder that Pete has to face. Pete's not Willy Loman, nor should he be. He's quieter and more introspective. But his Waterloo is just as valid and vital.

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | RONALD KEATON received an Equity Jeff Award for the performance of his one-man show CHURCHILL. www.solochicagotheatre.com  Coming soon, his new solo play about Ben Franklin, THE FIRST EMBASSY.

PHOTO|Todd Rosenberg

Goodman Theatre
presents
World Premiere
Ashland Avenue
Albert Theatre
170 N Dearborn Street
Extended
through October 12, 2025

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TICKETS

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

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PicksInSix® is a registered trademark of Roxbury Road Creative, LLC