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Messy plot, platitudes cloud rarely produced Hansberry drama at Goodman

In 1959, Chicago playwright Lorraine Hansberry's masterwork, “A Raisin in the Sun,” became the first drama by an African-American woman produced on Broadway.

She followed it up five years later with “The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window.” Set during the early 1960s, the ambitious but flawed play centers on a group of left-leaning, disillusioned Bohemians in New York's Greenwich Village. It opened on Broadway in October 1964 to mixed reviews and closed about three months later, on the day the 34-year-old writer succumbed to pancreatic cancer. A 1972 revival fizzled after two weeks.

Audiences have not embraced this infrequently produced play. And director Anne Kauffman's resolute, well-intentioned revival at Chicago's Goodman Theatre reveals why.

The slight plot centers on a fledgling alternative newspaper publisher (the titular Sidney), his fractured marriage and his decision to support a so-called reform candidate for political office. Still, this messy, zealous play feels overstuffed thanks to the myriad issues - including race, class, social issues, drugs and sexuality - which Hansberry's characters address over the course of a very long two hours and 50 minutes.

The action mostly consists of articulate, often witty debates between the characters, who express Big Ideas with writerly eloquence. Sometimes, the dialogue soars. At other times - particularly with the cringe-inducing racist comments - it sputters.

That's true of the story as well. “The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window” never really coheres into a solid narrative. Characters show up, then disappear for long stretches, in one case permanently. Lacking dimension, they exist mainly to express a point of view, which leaves some of the actors adrift. As a result, “The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window” comes across as a series of vignettes in search of a story. It's passionate and earnest, but theatrically unsatisfying.

Iris (Diane Davis) and Sidney (Chris Stack) enjoy a carefree moment together in director Anne Kauffman's revival of "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window" at Goodman Theatre. Courtesy of Liz Lauren

Hansberry was a gifted, expressive writer whose early death left her promise unfulfilled. But no amount of nostalgia or affection for one of Chicago's favorite daughters can make up for the play's flaws, which a good editor could have helped repair - perhaps over a couple of drafts.

Chris Stack plays the complex, ambiguous Sidney, a rumpled intellectual and lapsed activist whose apartment - which he shares with his wife, Iris (Diane Davis) - is a haven for fellow intellectuals, artists and recovering idealists.

We meet Sidney embarking on a new venture as the publisher of a weekly alternative newspaper. Iris, an aspiring actress, is dubious. Sidney's pal Alton (fine work by Travis A. Knight) supports him.

Alton, an African-American who appears Caucasian, dates Iris' younger sister Gloria (Kristen Magee), who unbeknown to Alton works as a call girl. Iris' older sister Mavis (the exceptional Miriam Silverman), an upper-middle class square and not-so-subtle bigot, disapproves of the affair.

Upper middle-class matron Mavis (Miriam Silverman), right, visits her Bohemian sister Iris (Diane Davis), second from left, Iris' husband, Sidney (Chris Stack), second from right and their playwright neighbor David (Grant James Varjas), left, in Goodman Theatre's "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window." Courtesy of Liz Lauren

Also orbiting around the couple are upstairs neighbor David (Grant James Varjas), a gay absurdist playwright, and abstract artist Max (Aurora native Phillip Edward Van Lear). Lastly, there is aspiring politico Wally (the always-solid Guy Van Swearingen), a self-styled reformer whose commitment to fight city hall turns out to be short-lived.

In a statement that could have come from this year's presumptive Republican presidential nominee, he admonishes Sidney to “negotiate or get out of the race.” That statement and others reveal Hansberry's keen insight into art, politics and social justice. But the lack of a coherent narrative diminishes their power and reduces them to platitudes.

“The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window,” however, does contain some potent moments.

Silverman's deftly delivered second act monologue, in which Mavis confesses her intention to stay married to her philandering husband, is a quietly revealing moment into the insight of a character initially introduced as a stereotype. Silverman, who earns the biggest laughs with her “everybody is his own hipster” dig at Sidney, exited the stage accompanied by applause. It was well-deserved.

Aspiring politician Wally (Guy Van Swearingen), second from right, asks Sidney (Chris Stack) for his support, which activist Alton (Travis A. Knight), left, and artist Max (Phillip Edward Van Lear), right, urge, in Goodman Theatre's revival of Lorraine Hansberry's "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window." Courtesy of Liz Lauren

Knight earns kudos for Alton's poignant recollection of his proud, train porter father and his practical household domestic mother, who took her employer's castoffs to sustain her family. His recollection of the indignities his parents suffered explains why he behaves as he does.

Lastly, there is the imposing set by the canny Kevin Depinet. It sandwiches the Brustein's cluttered apartment between steel scaffolding that reveals the building's skeletal foundation and what appears to be a rooftop renovation in progress. To me, it seemed a striking metaphor for the foundation and future of the important issues Hansberry's characters advocate.

“The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window”

★ ★

Location: 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, (312) 443-3800 or

goodmantheatre.org

Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday through June 5. Also 7:30 p.m. May 24 and 2 p.m. May 19 and 26 and June 2. No 2 p.m. show Saturday, May 14. No 7:30 p.m. show Sunday, May 15 or 29

Tickets: $25-$75

Running time: About two hours, 50 minutes with intermission

Parking: $22 (with Goodman validation) at the Government Center Self Park at Clark and Lake streets

Rating: For adults: contains strong language, mature subject matter, sexual content

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