Lookingglass’ ICARUS Will Melt Your Heart

Writer/director David Catlin has accomplished what few have been able to do with Greek mythology by making the ancient relevant to our times. Using a mental ward as a time continuum, the story of Icarus as presented by Lookingglass Theatre is breathtaking and heart-wrenching.

Equipped with an athletic and stage conscious cast, Mr. Catlin effortlessly retells the story of the love between a father and son and how the guilt of the loss of a child affects the mind. Via props such as suitcases to represent children and sound and lighting effects that perfectly invoke the correct ambiance, the myth unfolds with Daedalus and his son Icarus being imprisoned inside a massive labyrinth caused by results of a none to amused Poseidon. To escape, Daedalus made them each a pair of wings. Daedalus warns his son, "Don't fly too high or the sun will melt the wax on your wings and you will fall. Follow me closely. Do not set your own course." Because of his excitement of the gift of flight, Icarus forgets his father's warning and flies to close to the sun. The wax-made wings melt, and Icarus descends into the sea and drowns.

It is the metaphor of the escapism of flight that catapults Lookingglass' Icarus to the stratosphere. From the opening chimes of boarding a commercial jet to the wax sculpted wings that allow the perfectly cast Lindsey Noel Whiting as Icarus to soar, no production in recent memory has been able to accomplish such an emotional arch of storyline and character. Scenes in which various cast members fly, with audience members tossing pre-folded ‘paper airplanes' toward them are a spellbinding reminder of childhood dreams to become a Superman and glide over the burdens of humanity.

Through the genius of The Actors Gymnasium, the physicality of the ensemble is raw and elegant as the cast shifts from character to character and scene to scene. One moment we are in mental ward and the next we witness children being sacrificed to the Minotaur via an onerously up-lit pit.

This six person cast, most of whom have dual roles, are perfectly in tune with each other. Though the acting from some is not as acute as it should be for the emotional gravitas of the story, the transitions between their particular roles are spot on.

For all the wonders of flight and fancy of this particular production, it is Larry DiStasi who grounds Icarus in reality with one of the best delivered and acted monologues to be seen by any actor this season. Using grief and guilt, the unequaled joy and burden of being a parent through the centuries is made apparent through DiStasi's ‘Patient X'.

The world premier of Icarus runs through January 24, 2010 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. To purchase tickets call the box office at (312) 337-0665 or visit www.lookingglasstheatre.org