Lookingglass' Fedra Lacks Passion

By Suzy Evans in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 19, 2009 4:40PM

When we saw the advertisements for Lookingglass’; Fedra: Queen of Haiti, we were worried about taking our parents to the show. This “explosive” retelling was sure to bring out the junior higher in us during our folks’ visit, but we braved it anyway. However, we didn’t feel uncomfortable once. Maybe it’s a sign that we’ve outgrown parental awkwardness, but we’re pretty sure that’s not the case. The show simply did not deliver on its promises.

Now, that’s not to say there wasn’t supposed to be passion. The repeatedly dramatized myth - most famously by Jean Racine in Phèdre - is jam-packed with desire and rage. King Theseus is presumed dead, while his wife Fedra sinks into insanity and depression at home. She harbors a secret lust for Hippolytus, Theseus’ son and her stepson, and she lives haunted by these feelings, as Hippolytus is her rival for the throne in Theseus’ absence. Meanwhile, Hippolytus longs for the heart of Aricia, the daughter of Theseus' sworn enemy and sole survivor of her family who is imprisoned and under a forced chastity pledge.

Lookingglass ensemble member J. Nicole Brooks’ retelling of the myth takes the story to futuristic Haiti, and instead of being the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, Haiti is the richest. After six years of not performing on the Chicago stage, Brooks takes on the title role, but she seems so focused on her lines and blocking that her emotions fail to surface. We never believed that she was actually in love with Hippolytus, while we also never believed that Hippolytus (an adequate Anthony Fleming III) was in love with Sharina Martin’s somewhat annoying Aricia. We did, however, cower at the rage of King Theseus, played excellently by Morocco Omari, but unfortunately, he doesn’t enter until the second act and his anger couldn’t make up for what as missing elsewhere. The characters' pent-up desire simply simmered, never coming to the anticipated boil.

Although Brooks sets the story in the future, she uses urban slang that can be heard on the streets of Chicago today. We don’t know if antiquated is the right word, but phrases like “son of a bitch,” while amusing, don’t seem to fit the futuristic setting. She also uses DVDs and the soy diet fad as time signifiers; however for Brooks, DVDs have vanished in the future while Fedra still enjoys soy food. It just doesn’t add up.

All that being said, we were still entertained by the production. The set was beautiful and the costumes divine. Brooks’ script makes a complicated story fairly easy to follow, and director Laura Eason’s staging flowed perfectly. We just wanted more, well, sex. There we said it. If you’re going to say the show is “rated R,” then give it a reason to be so, aside from scattered curse words and a little half-hearted kissing.

Fedra: Queen of Haiti runs through November 15 at Water Tower Water Works on Michigan Ave.