Writers Theatre's 'Smart People' tackles issues of race, privilege

“Smart People” - ★ ★ ★

The four highly educated characters in Chicago playwright Lydia R. Diamond's drama “Smart People” live up to the play's title. Yet these driven urban professionals make glaring assumptions and cringe-worthy mistakes that reap plenty of havoc.

Diamond's heady 2014 play, now in its Chicago-area debut at Writers Theatre in Glencoe, goes out of its way to tackle contentious issues of race, class and privilege. It's thought-provoking and timely - especially in context to when Diamond wrote “Smart People” and where we are now politically in our nation.

But the plot mechanics necessary for Diamond to tie characters together show strain. And as a bunch, they're often unlikable in how they treat each other and those around them.

Set between 2007 and 2009 in the Ivy League college town of Cambridge, Massachusetts, “Smart People” focuses on a quartet of strivers who crave professional respect while also making time for sex and romance. The opening scene shows each of them in a state of high professional aggravation.

Doctor Jackson Moore (Julian Parker) is constantly being second-guessed over his medical decisions and “attitude,” while tenured researcher and psychologist Ginny Yang (Deanna Myers) is barraged by hasty questions during a presentation.

“Julius Caesar” stage actress Valerie Johnston (Kayla Carter) has to push against a rehearsal director who refuses to take clues from Shakespeare's text. Meanwhile, neuroscientist Brian White (Erik Hellman) can't conceal his contempt for his students and colleagues who don't agree with his hypothetical research on finding neurological roots to racism in white people.

Director Hallie Gordon and her great cast finesse Diamond's dramatic and comic material masterfully. They're unflinching in exploring the characters' more negative traits as they unwittingly or deliberately stumble over racial and class trip wires.

With “Smart People,” Diamond clearly wanted audiences to question their beliefs and assumptions during the mistakenly proclaimed “post-racial” American era that coincided with Barack Obama's presidency. Nowadays, the questions raised in the drama are uncomfortably more pointed and bittersweet.

<b>Location:</b> Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe, (847) 242-6000 or writerstheatre.org

<b>Showtimes:</b> 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 3 p.m. Saturday and select Wednesdays; 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday; through June 10

<b>Tickets:</b> $35-$80

<b>Running time:</b> Two hours, 30 minutes with an intermission

<b>Parking:</b> On the street

<b>Rating:</b> For mature audiences only; strong sexuality and language