Vigils is the world premiere of a play that emerged from the Goodman Theatre’s 2005 New Stages Series. Running at the Goodman through Nov. 12, Vigils tells the story of a widow who has the soul of her dead husband trapped in a box at the foot of her bed.
In an interesting bit of casting, the soul and the body of the dead husband are played by two different people. As the soul begs to be released from this world and contemplates his fate in the hereafter, the body is doomed to march mindlessly through the same memories over and over again.
Because this is the Goodman, one of Chicago’s premiere theaters, one would expect the set design to be state of the art. This is certainly the case: Vigils looks great. Using elements of video projection, sound, and other high-tech gadgetry, the production design team of Walt Spangler, Jason Lyons, Michael Bodeen, Rob Milburn and John Boesche create scenes of intensity amidst the tranquility of the play’s single location.
The night of the world-premiere press opening, the cast seemed a bit off. Several times people stammered the beginnings of lines, and on at least one occasion someone said the wrong line completely.
The script is an interesting blend of the funny and the serious, providing some good laughs in the first half. Regrettably, this balance tapers off in the second half, and the play becomes almost completely serious. Running one hour and 20 minutes with no intermission, Vigils at times felt more like a glorified episode of Six Feet Under than a world premiere play.
Veteran stage and television actor Marc Grapey puts in the play’s strongest performance as the soul, and Johanna Day is amusing as the tortured widow, trying to decide weather to let go of the past and embrace the future.
The play deals interestingly with the themes of the relationship between the living and the dead, as well as the strange relationship we all have with memories and the past. One of the most interesting things about the play is its fluid time structure. The progression of the play is non-linear, and as the play unfolds we view various important events over and over, from different perspectives.
All the right elements exist for Vigils to be an exceptional play. On the night of the world premiere, however, these elements did not come together to make a cohesive whole. The play was, above all, an interesting experience, and it is possible that with time all the elements will come together to provide a truly great theater-going experience, if only one were to watch and wait.
Tickets for Vigils are $10 and $35 and can be purchased online at goodmantheatre.org, at the Goodman box office at 170 N. Dearborn, or charged by phone by calling 312.443.3820.