terrific play, wrong venue
by ghrhfgh on 2/11/18Cadillac Palace - ChicagoWe saw this play 3 years ago at a small theater and enjoyed it immensely. It is about an intimate gathering of a family, and as such demands an intimate setting, i.e. a small theater. In the Cadillac Palace, a wide open house seating probably 1500, it didn't work. The actors, instead of projecting their voices as good actors do, were reduced to yelling. Still, with the acoustics of the house, there was reverb and echo that rendered many lines impossible to hear. To its credit, the theater has employed a sur-title system, of sorts. But it's made essentially of flashing lights, off to the side of the stage, so that it's distracting rather than helpful, and it only shows about four words per line as it scrolls quickly through the script. I think a wider stretch of text positioned above the stage, like Lyric Opera does, for example, would be much better. It was too hard to enjoy this wonderful play.