Given the choice between seeing a collection of solo monologues about “Love,” and seeing a collection of solo monologues about “Sin,” most people doubtless would pick the latter.
Similarly, the potential machinations of the seven deadlies are, as a general dramatic rule, far more compelling than meditations on hearts, flowers and the perils of commitment.
Yet in “Love & Sin: A Solo Experience”–a Steppenwolf Garage showcase for local performance artists of varying levels of experience and capabilities–love trumps sin with the certainty of a Moral Majority member picketing the Las Vegas strip.
“Love,” the first of these separate but thematically interrelated solo shows (in rotating rep), is nothing short of delightful. Performed over 75 minutes by Jenny Magnus, Cheryl Trykv and Lusia Strus, it’s poignant, incisive, moving, beautifully performed and both original and distinctive in conception.
“Sin,” which feels ill-rehearsed, half-baked and paced as if someone had just thrown ice water on the fires of purgatory, vacillates for most of its 90-minute running time somewhere between mediocrity and self-indulgent drivel. There are a couple of fleeting worthwhile moments, but they are not worth the necessary self-flagellation required to watch the rest of this seemingly endless thing.
The difference in these two shows–which premiered three hours apart Saturday–is partly a matter of experience and preparation. The three pieces that make up “Love” are works by three experienced and capable writer-performers, who’ve put as much energy into the presentation as the writing. “Sin,” introduced in soporific fashion by Ian Belknap as a singularly dull Mephistopheles, feels like seven people knocked something off on their computers, didn’t (in most cases) bother with memorization and stuck it up on its feet.
Boy, it’s dull. But because some of these performers change in the coming weeks, it’s only fair to say that the sins may improve.
And yet in “Love,” which thankfully changes not, we get Magnus’ typically rich and compelling woman-and-futon meditation on gender-based control and a poignant meditation from Trykv on the way love and fantasy interact. Finally, there’s a wise and revelatory piece from Strus, who riffs on her impending marriage.
Initially, we’re lulled into thinking this is yet another piece about a former progressive who finds herself seduced by Bride Magazine.But by the end of her remarkable 20 minutes, she’s honored her parents’ marriage, explored her own neuroses and taken us on the kind of theatrical journey that could see sin go out of style.
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“Love & Sin: A Solo Experience”
Where: Steppenwolf Garage Theatre, 1624 N. Halsted St.
When: Through July 7
Call: 312-335-1650
