My experience with the plays of Chicago writer Jon Steinhagen has been mixed. He can be such a funny writer, and he has a real instinct for throwing groups of lousy-but-endearing idiots together and letting them mix it up a bit (his “Aces” and “Successors” being the strongest in this vein).
He also likes to switch things up stylistically, as well he should, but I’ve been far less fond of these efforts. His newest, “Devil’s Day Off” (directed by frequent collaborator Ronan Marra), falls into the latter category. You can see what he was going for: a snapshot of our city on a hot summer day (and a desperate, limpid night) when the power goes out and everyone loses their cool, literally and figuratively.
I spent just one miserable summer in Chicago without the benefit of air conditioning and I know well the twisted things it can do to your psyche; I once found myself unable to sleep at 3 a.m., deeply depressed and sweating all over the couch as I numbly watched “Deliverance.”
But Steinhagen’s format here (a multitude of brief, drive-by scenes of mundane domestic discord) never really clicks into gear. You don’t get to know these people as individual characters worth caring about, nor is the writing strong enough to carry you through regardless.
Through Nov. 22 at Signal Ensemble Theatre, 1802 W. Berenice Ave.; tickets are $23 at 773-698-7389 or signalensemble.com
