Chicago actor Kareem Bandealy is a busy man, with a bio packed with A-list acting gigs at, among other places, the Goodman, Court Theatre, Writers Theatre, and, of course, Lookingglass, where he’s an ensemble member. Still, somehow, he found time to write a play. And get it produced, at Lookingglass. And now it’s being reviewed, by me.
Of course, this has been done before—and better (see Waiting for Godot). Bandealy gives us a lighter version of theater of the absurd: milder, sweeter, and stripped of its anger and conviction and passion. Instead of staring into the void or raging at the dying of the light, Bandealy mocks an old man for chattering on about how much he likes fruit and allots nearly a third of the play to a discussion of a character sleeping in the next room whom we never meet but who may or may not be God.
Through 4/7: Wed-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat-Sun 2 and 7:30 PM; also Thu 3/7, 3/21, and 4/4, 2 PM; no 7:30 PM performance Sun 3/17 and 3/24, Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan, 312-337-0665, lookingglasstheatre.org, $40-$60.
