PicksInSix Review: SHAW vs. TUNNEY - Grippo Stage Company
Knockout Performances Fuel “SHAW vs. TUNNEY”
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton
Yes, it was very unlikely. It’s also quite profound, this unique relationship that is the bedrock of “SHAW vs. TUNNEY,” the fascinating new play by Douglas Post, that’s now playing at Theater Wit through July 8. Mr. Post based his play on the unique biography “The Prizefighter and the Playwright” by Jay R. Tunney, the son of former heavyweight champion Gene Tunney. It's a challenging, thick work of great research and layered emotion, as time passes, beginning in the spring of 1928. And it entails some explanation.
It is both a surprisingly bombastic piece that also imparts a subtle exchange between two famous men 40 years apart in age – Tunney, the champ, who longs for a different kind of acceptance by the world; and the great Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, who shares his intense interest in the classics and turns out to be a huge boxing fan. Who knew? Shaw encourages young Tunney to refer to him as “GBS” in their growing dialogue. In turn, Shaw calls his new friend by his entire name, “Gene Tunney,” during the play. The verbal battles and fun between the two provide revelations about both men. No stone is left unturned, for sure.
And there is yet a third influence at work here – Tunney’s wife Polly, who openly owns in her pseudo-narrative with the audience a kind of dual role in her husband’s life. She is both the loyal, encouraging wife who understands her husband’s desire to know those who can intellectually feed him and serves as a teacher of sorts who, because of her example and sacrifice, shows Gene how to love within their marriage. We see that come to fruition when, during their honeymoon and beyond on the island of Brioni in the Adriatic Sea, Shaw is actually invited to join the Tunneys to continue this beguiling triumvirate. Polly becomes desperately ill with what we discover as acute appendicitis and, well, anything more borders on giving the story’s surprise away. Suffice it to say that what we see is indeed a teacher/student scenario of such rarity that we are left with huge ideas to chew on for conversation. This ultimately is the best thing about Mr. Post’s script, a revival of the art of pure conversation that inspires and stimulates, where people can disagree – and here, it’s a loud and forceful display – while remaining in good stead.
This is arguably the best work this writer has ever seen from Chicago veteran Richard Henzel as Shaw; so many creative layers of his own presented in a philosophic ball, at once malleable and strong. It would have been easy to see Shaw as monolithic and unbending in such a give-and-take, but Mr. Henzel’s natural humor blends comfortably with Shaw’s own inherent bent. As Tunney, Sam Pearson presents an unpretentious vulnerability and openness – in the character, almost to a fault – as we follow his pursuit of a higher plane of life.
The high point is his tender, open monologue to Polly, professing the love he has learned from her while she lays quite ill, while thunder and rain lay understated like war sounds beneath the action. Maddie Sachs is a new and appealing actor, showing a versatility in jumping back and forth between character and narrator that is smooth and believable in what could have been a difficult tool to share. She makes Polly sincere and genuine.
Grippo Stage Company producer Charles Grippo and director Nick Sandys, in deft and quiet touches, both deserve much credit for bringing Mr. Post’s play to the spotlight. They both recognize that the play itself is the star of the evening. It has the potential to go beyond an audience who knows the historical standing of the characters and earns its language-eloquent unveiling. It just might be one of those “little engine that could” presentations that captures a growing audience for “SHAW vs. TUNNEY” during its world premiere run at Theater Wit.
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | RONALD KEATON received an Equity Jeff Award for the performance of his one-man show CHURCHILL. www.solochicagotheatre.com Coming soon, his new solo play “Echo Holler.” www.echoholler.com
PHOTO CREDIT | Anthony Robert LaPenna
GRIPPO STAGE COMPANY
WORLD PREMIERE
SHAW vs. TUNNEY
THEATER WIT
1229 W Belmont Ave Chicago
through July 8
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