Superior Donuts is the story of Arthur Przybyszewski, an aging anti-war activist and the proprietor of a rundown donut shop in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago. When Arthur hires Franco Wicks, a fast-talking African-American kid with big dreams and bigger troubles, Arthur's world is quickly changed - quite possibly for the better. Playing the role of Arthur is Mary-Arrchie founding member and Artistic Director, Richard Cotovsky. Mr. Cotovsky has a long history with the play: he was a part of the original development workshops at Steppenwolf, understudied Michael McKean in the 2008 Steppenwolf production, and later went on to play the role at the Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. in 2010. He is excited to reprise the role back in Chicago in Mary-Arrchie's intimate theatre space located just blocks from the actual setting of the play.
Pulitzer-Winner Tracey Letts' Script
The script was good, but I was expecting better from the huge reaction of her Pulitzer-winning Osage County. It bordered on overly meandering & conversational in tone, although this tendendcy did result in some great moments of clippy, familiar, funny dialogue that erupts from everyday life. The conclusion wrapped up in a very neat & inspiration manner that was a little too plastic-wrapped for my taste. The script did have some nice elements. I liked Letts’ choice of having Art smoke a jay while giving an expositional monologue (however, this was true to inevitable result of a stoner’s ramblings...equal parts boring, enlightening, & somewhat obvious). The writing established the sense of Chicago's urban but down-home vibe of through subtleties like cross-streets references, generally decent accents, & the rhythm of conversational...it was authentic without stereotyping or over-embellishing details for validity. That excellent subtlety was not as apparent in the appearance of central conflicts…the racial elements presented themselves immediately & unabashedly, Wicks was just a little too hopeful, optimistic, & inspirational, and the change in Art appeared too suddenly & enthusiastically. The relationships between characters developed too strongly & too quickly. Important conversations between Art & Franco erupted without the opportunity for the audience to find faith in the authenticity of their relationship & mutual trust; the relationship dynamics seemed to shift rapidly, which may be due to foggy sense of how much time has elapsed between the occurrence of events within the plot. As an audience member, I didn’t have enough time to care about the characters before the serious events of the plotline erupted. The overly-heightened dramatics cost the audience the opportunity to authentically mourn to blow to Franco’s person & body.
The concluding scene felt like the wrapping up of a different play. The final fight was well choreographed, but so slowly-paced that the impact evaporated. The closing scene (both in script & interpretation) lacked continuity with the overall production. This scene (and this scene alone) reminded me of a watered-down, Lifetime interpretation of Martin McDonagh due to the abrupt violence & physical mutilation as a result of one’s missteps. It’s not that the play ended poorly; it just that it felt like the ending to an entirely different play.
The Players
Richard Cotovsky played Art. He was not stylized to convey the old Dead Head that a true Dead Head can never quite shake; he lacked that sweet, simple, & quiet quality, and mostly came off as a quiet grump. I would never categorized him as a recovering hippie without the other characters constantly & consistently labeling him as such; it seemed like a forced side note of his character rather than the defining characteristic. He gave an adequate, grey-scaled performance but lacked the necessary infusion of color.
Karl Potthoff portrayed Luther in a confident & semi-intimidating manner, but moment of climactic anger was somewhat lukewarm. As his right-hand man Kevin, Dereck Garner lacked character-defining intimidation factor; he was styled with a Lifetime movie’s interpretation of a slimy Chicago vibe (it’s hard to be afraid of a guy with a Celtic neck tattoo).
Susan Monts-Bologna played Lady, a role that reminded me (maybe too much) of the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd. Her role was written with heart-piercing crazy talk spiked with strange wisdom that she delivered impeccably with an (intentional) dissociated humor & a strong, sad, weathered face. She is a great actress whose talents crafted some of this production’s most poignant moments. Millie Hurley played Randy, the local cop. She was just great & one of the highlights of this production.
As Franco Wicks, Preston Tate, Jr. entered the production with a much-needed degree of energy & life while providing a necessary foil for Art’s character. His role provides a breathe of fresh air & (literal) fresh coat of paint to the donut shop. He tripped over the text, but was charming enough for it to be overlooked. Tate created a character whose past you could envision (literally since he grew up at Wilson & Sheridan, blocks away from both the theatre & my neighborhood). His character highlighted the themes of debt & rising above one’s past (even when one’s past is not necessarily negative but harmful to one’s present & future states). He was focused on the present & the future, but let go of the past. In executing this mentality, he infused the mentality of creating family where you can find it & finding poetry in the mundane. Franco’s goal was to write the Great American Novel, which will be called America Will Be. The title (and last line of the play) is from Langston Hughes‘ poem Let America Be America Again:
