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Remy Bumppo's The Island: Crisply Acted But Uneven

By Julienne Bilker in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 15, 2010 4:40PM

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photo of Kamal Angelo Bolden and LaShawn Banks via remybumppo.org

Every once in awhile, we’ll see a play that is well-written, important and beautifully acted ... and seems to be missing something. A show that has enough of the puzzle pieces in the right places to be worth seeing, but just isn’t as grabbing as it could be. That’s how we felt about Remy Bumppo’s The Island, an apartheid-era play about two cellmates in a South African prison (based on Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held). Written by Athol Fugard in conjunction with John Kani and Winston Ntsona - who originated the two roles and won a co-Tony Award for Best Actor - it is a historically significant story about friendship, inner strength and defiance.

The show opens with the two prisoners on either side of the stage, shoveling sand. We could almost feel the heat bearing down, and could certainly see the sweat pouring off of them. Our curiousity piqued, we found ourselves leaning in, anxious to see what would emerge from this project. After a few minutes, one man laboriously dragged his sand-filled wheelbarrow to the other's sand pile, and dumped it all out. But there was no satisfaction in this act. Repeated by the other prisoner, and then alternating between the two, the mimed sequence continued with the subtlest of changes - each time one emptied a load of sand, the fire in the other's eyes sparked just a bit, with increasing intensity. We realized their futile tasks were designed purely to provoke feelings of vengeance between the two men in attempts to break them. But these men were not going to break. Not at the beginning of the play, not at the end, and presumably, not ever.

When not subjected to pointless labor, the cellmates rehearse an abridged Antigone, to be performed for their wardens and fellow prisoners. There are some wonderful comedic moments as John (LaShawn Banks) continually tries to teach Winston (Kamal Angelo Bolden) the plot and characters of the story, but they are tempered by Winston's reluctance to play the title role. In one powerful declaration, he says, "I didn't burn my passbook in front of the Magistrate to be made into a woman." The perspective leveled by this statement is eye-opening, but removes an essential element of exigency. We didn't quite understand what was so important about performing the play in the first place.

That is not to say that the show is unfocused or treats the issues surrounding John and Winston's extended incarceration in a flippant manner. The true emotional bombshell comes when John learns he will be released in three months - leaving Winston behind to serve the rest of his life sentence. Though he is initially happy, Winston eventually admits jealousy, obsessing over all of the wonderful things that will happen to John once he is released, and questioning how he is to measure his own life. It is a crushing admission, impressively acted by Bolden, which threatens to implode the men's bond. But it doesn't. It is a testament to the strength of both actors that the message of prevailing friendship is affecting without being cheesy.

As to why the men need to perform Antigone - that question is fully answered with the incredibly moving conclusion of the play-within-a-play. But the time spent thinking about it distracted us from what should've been a consistently intense 90 minutes.

The Island, through March 7. Remy Bumppo at The Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N Lincoln Ave, 773-404-7336. Tickets $35-$50 (group/student discounts available).