Slaughter City by Jackalope Theatre Co. @ Raven Theatre



Slaughter City
by Naomi Wallace/directed by Kaiser Ahmed

The effort & quality of the production outweighed the quality of the script. I loved the artistic interpretation of the script. It was very much my personal taste, and executed exquisitely. The pristine but crafty style of Julie Taymor meets tenement rags of Rags…it felt at the same time a period piece, a timeless commentary, & a futuristic cautionary tale. This is a feat of the production staff--the dramaturge (high-five for having one), the meticulous direction, truly artistic stage dressing, & a finely-tuned cast. However, none of this can make up for a script that I found largely lacking.

A lot of the blocking written into the script. Which makes the over-direction & air-tight blocking somewhat necessary. It's a good directing style for actors who have talent but lack instincts, but for the high-quality, interpretive actor the restriction is nothing more than restrictive. A micro-managing director can stunt the growth of an actor, and I wonder how much authority these actors were given in the opportunity to interpret their roles. For some actors, such as Jack McCabe, this directing style is so necessary. I saw him in The Homecoming at Mary-Arrchie & his performance in this production was of a much higher caliber. It still was not the best casting choice, in my opinion; this role required a more layered, subtle, & engaging performance that he was able to execute.

The roles of the factory workers required very specific actors, in race, physicality, & specific personal abilities. The cast fulfilled the specifications well. As Rose, Kristin Anderson was natural in her part & never broke focus. She was too young, but that’s a flaw I am willing to overlook due to skill & commitment level. Anne Sears was subtle, sweet, perhaps too guarded, but overall gave a strong performance. As the curious & central character Cod, AJ Ware mastered the dialogue & danced over the words with an articulated influx of emotion. This part can make or break a production & her performance was an excellent fulfillment of the demands of the role.

The script was just too serious & stylized for my taste. It vaguely reminded me a script InterAct would consider. I love a solid, serious, message-oriented script, but it has to be well-rounded. There was no humor at all. The only moments the audience laughed erupted out of awkwardness or irony, but a 2+ hour show requires a light moment here & there.

I wanted more historical context. Isn't that why we have dramaturges on staff? I wanted more narrative of the fire, not the fault of the company but still a fault of the production choice. I love that so much of Chicago-theatre is based on local history & the fire is an intriguing subject matter. With the script's literal smoke & mirrors, stomps, sharpened knives, & heavy-handed metaphors, it is easy to forget to wonder: What Is The Point? It was so thick in metaphor that I couldn’t figure out where to plant my feet. The script itself lacked a solid point-of-view & I didn't leave with a new perspective or education on the subject matter.