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'Gas' tells explosive power of change
THEATER REVIEW | Chicago station pumps gallons of cynicism, hopelessness and despair
Taken from the June 3, 2008 issue of the Chicago Sun-Times
By Hedy Weiss
As that ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus told us, change is the only constant in life. You might well hear the same thing from anyone who has worked in the auto industry in recent decades or, for that matter, the newspaper business.
Brett Neveu's play "Gas for Less," which received its world premiere Sunday at the Goodman Theatre, is all about change, too. Even the play's title hints at a neon sign from times past. And indeed, the focus of his play -- which begins slowly, grinds on in a way that seems almost inconsequential, and then finally wallops you with such force that it takes your breath away -- is how much change can hurt, how unexpected it can be, and how it can leave some of its victims in a state of deep shock, pain, explosive anger and total surprise (or willed denial). It comes with a sense of incalculable loss -- loss of pride, of history and of even a small stake in society.
The ruins that inspired Neveu's play still stand at the corner of Lincoln and Berteau in Chicago -- the tattered remains of that truly endangered species, the family-owned gas station. But Neveu's tale is largely fictional.
"Gas for Less," directed with almost stoical rigor by Dexter Bullard, is set during the wintry months of 2005 in just such a Chicago station -- a run-down place with the usual mix of magazine and newspaper stands, soft drink cooler, cigarette display, coffee maker and a television perched high above the counter where both the cashier and random customers can stop to catch a Bears game. (Tom Burch's set is akin to archeology.) The place is owned by Art Pelenkovic (Robert Breuler in top form), a big bear of a man with a rough style, soft heart, enduring accent and sure understanding that business is not what it used to be. Art has been grooming his grandson, the twentysomething Anthony (Rian Jairell in a pitch-perfect performance), to take over the business, but finds him lacking. He also would prefer that Anthony go back to school, though he's not cut out for the academic life.
The truth is, Art has no one else to blame for the downturn. So he runs down a list of the scores of responsibilities involved in operating the business (a great piece of writing and acting), and you begin to see just how complex the job can be.
You also begin to understand how hopeless any thought of a future might be. And as one pump after another malfunctions, repairs are postponed, stock and customers dwindle and delivery bills pile up, the writing on the wall becomes clear. An incident of random violence is just the final indignity.
Time past and time yet to come (or already here) are represented by three customers. There's Pat Munson (the altogether sublime Ernest Perry Jr.), an aging black man who has dropped in and kibitzed with Art for years and continues to argue about everything while explaining his own techniques for resisting change, even at his local supermarkets. The other drop-ins are Bilal Asif (played to perfection by Kareem Bandealy), a recent immigrant and fellow independent station owner befriended by Art early on, but now taking his own approach to dealing with the future, and Benji Colan Vera (an ideally subtle Nathan Alan Davis), the young Hispanic college student whose future is bound to be far more promising than Anthony's.
Neveu tells a simple story -- one that feels almost like a contemporary Edward Hopper painting. But it is full of psychic devastation. The world moves on and some are left behind. Yet attention must be paid.
Theater Review
'Gas For Less'
Recommended
When: Through June 22
Where: Goodman's Owen Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn
Tickets: $10-$38
Call: (312) 443-3800
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