Family comedy looks at bond, and anger, between siblings
"Relatively Close," a zany if bitter family comedy, is a metaphor for the Iraq war.
That's what playwright James Sherman says, noting that both conflicts pit siblings against each other. Fortunately, here the bloodshed is emotional rather than literal.
His story is about three sisters and their husbands trying to spend a week together at their late parents' summer home.
Maybe Sherman has a point. As Mom always said: "If you girls can't get along, how do you expect countries to peacefully coexist?"
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The point of contention for the Levy sisters is classic: What should they do with the beach house?
It seems a quandary without compromise. Jan can see only dollar signs and wants to sell the very valuable property; Beth's vision is for an artists colony operated by her and her current husband; and Marlene wants to keep it in the family.
The brilliant scenes are when Penny Slusher's Jan and Laura T. Fisher's Beth pepper each other with rapid-fire back-and-forth accusations. The festering issues include how much of the work Jan did when their parents died and whether Beth stole Jan's high school boyfriend, Marty Cline.
From a distance it's always hard to understand how siblings - who should be so close - can feud. But it wasn't your boyfriend who preferred the younger sister. And no one knows where to stick a knife in secret wounds like a family member.
The husbands - inspired by Sherman's in-laws - aren't much more pleasant.
The frantic comedic scene where Marlene's neurotic spouse Ron, played by Daniel Cantor, tries to organize a trip to see "The Sing Along Mary Poppins" movie accurately portrays the challenges of herding folks vacationing together.
Eventually you think the sane survival method is hiding in your room like David Gonzalez' Dylan, Beth's over-medicated teenage son. After saying almost nothing except to complain about the lack of electronic toys in the house, he brings down the first-act curtain with a clever rap about "sister versus sister and brother versus brother - everybody settle down."
The complicated two-story setting with screened porch and out-of-date furniture evokes summer homes gone by.
The entire cast does a strong job of portraying overdrawn characters.
If there's a stand-out performance, the nod might go to Wendi Weber, who plays two roles.
When she's not trying to stay out of the crossfire, Weber's ultra-shy or "chutzpah challenged" Marlene successfully draws others out with her alter ego, the voluptuous and outrageously flirty ventriloquism puppet named Lily.
After dealing with familiar issues and portrayals, the play ends with an unrealistic surprise.
We still don't have a good compromise for the all-too-common challenge of dividing a precious family property.
"Relatively Close"
Three stars
Location: Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago
Times: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 5 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through July 13. No evening shows June 17 or July 1, 2 or 4. Extra matinees 2 p.m. July 2 and 9.
Running time: About 2 hours 20 minutes, including intermission.
Tickets: $20-$45
Parking: Valet at theater; discounted at nearby garages for Children's Memorial Hospital (except weekday matinees) and Lincoln Park Hospital.
Box office: (773) 871-3000 or www.VictoryGardens.org
Rating: For teens and older