Once a well-regarded fixture of the small avant-garde theater scene in Bloomington, Ill., the Breadline Theatre Group has struggled to find its niche since its move to Chicago at the start of this season. Part of the problem is the crowded off-Loop field and the lack of a permanent space that can provide a clear identity. But Breadline’s current unwieldy production of “The Cartesian Heart,” reveals that its main problems are self-inflicted.
As is typical of a company that introduced itself to the city with a poorly received version of Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt,” “The Cartesian Heart” is a complex and highly intellectual piece of theater. Inspired by the work of E.T.A Hoffman (the 18th Century German scribe who penned “The Nutcracker”) and the 19th Century Jacques Offenbach opera, “The Tales of Hoffman,” Breadline’s current metaphysical speculations surrounding love, depression and the grotesque are obviously going to struggle to find an audience during this Bulls-infested June. But then plenty of other companies cheerfully exist here almost entirely within the penumbra of the esoteric.
Breadline — obviously a theater company with lots of smart people who do not lack creative ideas — makes a laudable attempt at accessibility by setting Hoffman’s stories within the frame of urban love relationships.
Set in a coffee bar with the java-unfriendly name of “The Cartesian Heart,” the piece follows the fortunes of a twentysomething lesbian named Nicklausse (nicely played by the empathetic Lisel M. Gorell). Wracked with pain due to the demise of a relationship, she wanders into the coffee shop and finds herself reading the fantastical jottings of a writer who just happens to be sitting at a neighboring table. As she reads, the present fades away, fellow yuppies start acting like historical figures, and the woman finds herself in the middle of various Hoffmanesque narratives. As you might expect, by the end of the voyage, she’s learned that she’ll be able to get along nicely without her lost love.
The themes are very interesting and the structure of the play is potentially quite fascinating. But the production (directed by Michael Oswalt, who’s also credited with the origination of the text) has all manner of problems. The modern scenes have the forced-casual sense of improvised lines that have never been fully set. Whenever they delve into Hoffman, most of the actors seem to stiffen and deliver their lines in the stilted fashion that is somehow associated with period style. And thanks to an intrusive soundtrack, much of the dialogue is hard to hear.
It’s all rather a shame because there are some good actors in the show (especially Jessica Raab and Paul Kampf). And if Oswalt and his collaborators only took the time to focus their work and better relate the outer structure with the inner whimsy, they’d have a most provocative evening of theater. As it ends its debut season, this talented but scattered group would be well advised to work on shows that combine integrity with clarity–and they may find themselves attracting larger crowds.
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“The Cartesian Heart”
When: Through July 3
Where: Center Theatre, 1346 W. Devon St.
Phone: 773-275-4342
