Chicago Reader
This is a past event.
When: Fridays, Saturdays. Continues through May 23 2009
Phone: 866-593-4614
Price: $15
themammals.blogspot.com
Set in a nightmare landscape that looks like a Frank Miller comic book come to life, Bob Fisher's fevered noir centers around a man who's had a dangerous secret surgically erased from his memory. We never learn what the secret is, exactly, but evidently even having once known it is enough to get our hero trailed by a couple of brutal thugs who work for a grotesque, deformed, and apparently omniscient pair of old people jointly known as The Father. Fisher's staging for The Mammals effectively creates an unsettling, paranoid atmosphere, heightened by compelling performances full of David Lynchesque weirdness. But to what end? The piece gestures towards a metaphysical explanation for its depiction of evil, but ultimately seems all mood, no meat. --Zac Thompson

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Best show in town. Full of so much style it's nearly a fashion mag. And, for once, you actually feel something at a Chicago theatre -- even if the feeling is panic over how far they will take it.

Posted by JoeXXX on May 9, 2009 at 8:52 AM | Report this comment

Best show in town. Full of so much style it's nearly a fashion mag. And, for once, you actually feel something at a Chicago theatre -- even if the feeling is panic over how far they will take it.

Posted by JoeXXX on May 9, 2009 at 8:53 AM | Report this comment
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How much Mood (caps quite intentional) and misogynist tendencies can you fit into one play? The Mammals attempt to find out with this one. These poor actors (especially the actresses)...It could have been something more worthwhile, but the playwright takes himself so seriously it's suffocating. The soundscape, the scenery-chewing thug, and other annoyances overpower its good points (like that poor leading man, he does a great job with what he has). Watching this is like being trapped in an elevator with Keifer Sutherland. In his mind, you fear his intensity. In your mind, you just want him to stop embarrassing himself.

Posted by Marc on May 19, 2009 at 12:46 PM | Report this comment

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