Steppenwolf's 'Fundamentals' examines conflict between ambition, integrity
Boiled down to its fundamentals, “The Fundamentals” is about the lengths to which people will go to achieve their goals, and the compromises they're willing to make along the way.
Ambition vs. integrity. The conflict plays out in Erika Sheffer's serviceable, clearsighted workplace drama in its world premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre. It's a familiar conflict, which Sheffer underscores with the equally familiar tropes of class and race. And it plays out among five employees of a luxury, boutique hotel in New York City, whose guests - while not all one-percenters - most certainly reside in the top 10.
Alana Arenas, an actress of great depth and unfailing honesty, plays hotel maid Millie, a model employee. She's eager to move up in the ranks, but has failed in her bid for an opening on the front desk. Instead, manager Eliza (Audrey Francis) hires fresh-faced Stellan (Caroline Neff), an aspiring actress new to the city. To temper Millie's disappointment, Eliza names her “housekeeping liaison,” a title everyone recognizes as meaningless.
The title is one of a few “Dilbert”-esque nods to corporate culture, which Sheffer initially skewers in slickly produced training videos highlighting the corporation's “fundamental” principles and later in an employee role-playing exercise that goes off the rails in a very funny way.
Every one of the Bakerville hotel employees - blue- and white-collar alike - is under the gun. Eliza, whose strict, stylish demeanor fails to mask her insecurity, feels pressure from upper management to improve the hotel's profitability. Millie's boss Abe (the ever-authentic Alan Wilder) is a 60-year-old bachelor supporting an invalid mother and a freeloading roommate. An essentially decent man, Abe - like Millie - is the closest “The Fundamentals” comes to a moral center. But even he isn't above occasionally swiping hotel supplies. Millie's husband, Lorenzo (Armando Riesco), a recovering gambling addict whose debts have left the family financially strapped, does more than pocket toiletries. It turns out Lorenzo has been stealing items from guests and selling them to finance his new venture: gold-encrusted toothpicks for one-percenters.
Director Yasen Peyankov's affection for Sheffer's characters is evident and his ensemble is first-class.
Ultimately, though, every character in this play is compromised in some way. Even Millie sets Stellan up with a free room when the girl finds herself between apartments and finds out firsthand that no good deed goes unpunished.
The longtime co-workers use knowledge of each other's indiscretions for leverage: to advance their own interests, impose their will or cover their own backsides.
The ability to cover one's butt is an essential workplace skill, and not just among the rank and file. Everyone knows it's a dog-eat-dog world. If you want to survive, you have to swallow the chow, no matter how distasteful.
The question isn't can you swallow it, but can you keep it down?
“The Fundamentals”
★ ★ ★
Location: 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago, (312) 335-1650 or
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday through Dec. 23. Also 2 p.m. Dec. 7, 14 and 21. No 7:30 p.m. show Nov. 24 or Dec. 11
Running time: About two hours, 15 minutes with intermission
Tickets: $20-$89
Parking: $11 in the garage adjacent to the theater. Some metered street parking available
Rating: For teens and older; contains strong language and mature subject matter