The first time I ever watched actor Brian Dennehy on stage was in 1990, while I was still a student taking a theater class at Valparaiso University.
Professor John Steven Paul took my History of Theater class on a field trip to Chicago to the Goodman Theatre's "old" location for the rare opportunity of seeing Dennehy star as the lead in "The Iceman Cometh," the classic written by Eugene O'Neill in 1939.
It was directed by Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls and marked his first collaboration with Dennehy.
On Monday, nearly two decades later, I attended the press opening at The Goodman Theatre for "Desire Under the Elms," another great work by O'Neill and once again starring Dennehy with Falls directing.
Presented in just one powerful and compelling act in 100 minutes without an intermission, audiences find themselves emotionally teetering on the edge of every overtone and undertone imaginable.
Playing now until March 1 in the Goodman's 856-seat Albert Ivar Theatre, this experience taps into every inner struggle ever experienced.
The cast performances radiate with an awkward, nervous energy that explores each of the seven cardinal sins of lust, sloth, envy, pride, greed, gluttony and wrath.
Dennehy plays the cruel and self-absorbed farming patriarch Ephraim Cabot opposite his new and much younger third bride Abbie, played by stage and screen actress Carla Gugino familiar to many from her work in "Entourage," "Sin City" and the "Spy Kids" films.
Minding the farm are the father's two older sons from his first marriage, Simeon, played by Daniel Stewart Sherman, and Peter, played by Boris McGiver, both bitter and eager to escape their father's control. The other unhappy member of the homestead is their younger half-brother, Eben, played by Pablo Schreiber, a tortured soul who is hardened and angry by his father's remarriage.
Much of the family's life is spent toiling in the rocky New England fields, removing rocks and boulders to cultivate the land.
An other-worldly mesmerizing set dreamed up by Walt Spangler is composed of a sea of stones of every size, shape and weight, including a few suspended by ropes in mid-air, which seem to swallow the stage.
This is a production with a set and setting so real and ecaptivating, the audience can actually smell the smoky, inviting aroma of fresh bacon cooking on a store.
This is a place where a modest yet sturdy farm house appears to float on and off the stage with the ease of a mountain breeze.
O'Neill's story doesn't allow for much suspense, since it's fairly easy to figure out how the play with unfold.
But it's the acting, lighting and set, all swept together with Falls' precision direction that make this such a legendary piece of Chicago stage craft.
Dennehy is the ever-solid lead, and this play allows him to celebrate everything great about his entering his seventh decade. (Aptly, his character also gets to dance with glee in one scene about being an ever-strong 76 years old.)
The other standout performance comes from Schreiber, whose permanently frowning brow captures his every brooding line. As an actor, he is deep and masterful with a connection that grips an audience's heart.
"Desire Under the Elms" also was produced as an Oscar-nominated 1958 film with Burl Ives as the patriarch, Anthony Perkins and Eben, Sophia Loren as Abbie and actors Frank Overton and Pernell Roberts as the stepbrothers.
Tickets for "Desire Under the Elms" are $25 to $82 and available at (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at ppotempa@nwitimes.com or 219.852.4327.
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