Wed. March 16, 2011
By John Olson
The Quest Ensemble, which has taken on projects ranging from Broadway musicals to royalty-free comedies and original adaptations, has of late focused on philosophical pageants. The People's Four Seasons is their third consecutive show of this type. That string began with Evolution/Creation which boldly portrayed those competing theories of man's origins side by side without comment. Last fall, their Drum Circle Pandora merged the story of Pandora's Box with the Allegory of Plato's Cave, suggesting that the evils of mankind never jump mysteriously from a box, but have always been around. They only seem new when we become aware of them. With Four Seasons, the third time's the ... what's the opposite of "third time's the charm"?
The scenes between the father and daughter are warmly played by John Ruhaak and Debbie Ruzicka. Ruhaak's performance is moving, though most of his dialogue sounds more like a poetic narration than a dramatic script. Fair enough—perhaps the father is a retired writer or university professor. I would like to have learned more about him. Parks comes close to giving us real characters in the father and daughter, and there's one moment, when the father suggests that the daughter and her husband move in with him so he can stay in his home, that is quite touching. Had Park chosen to make his point through more specific characters and situations rather than deliberately going for generic symbols, he might have had a more engaging production.
Quest, of course, is also known for the fact that they perform for free—asking no admission, but gladly accepting donations. As such, they attract a lot of families to their shows and the small children in attendance were transfixed by the puppetry in the hour-long show. If you bring the kids and go in with that expectation—or go just to see what the inventive and risk-taking Park and Rupard are up to now—it may be worth your while. But if you haven't seen Quest before, know that their track record is of more interesting shows than this.
Four Seasons will be performed through March 27 at Quest's Blue Theater (1609 W. Gregory). Performances are every Friday and Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 2 pm Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated and reservations are highly recommended. For more information, please visit www.questensemble.org or call 312.458.0895 Ext. 3 for reservations.
Photo: Debbie Ruzicka, John Ruhaak and Justin Burns (Photo by: Jeremy Lawson
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