Dark take on Dickens by 'CSI' star from suburbs
No theatrical fireworks accompanied William Petersen's homecoming.
The Evanston-born, Chicago-seasoned actor's return to the city where he began his career wasn't marked by a showy performance in an explosive drama. Rather, he gives a subtly articulated turn in Steppenwolf Theatre's production of "Dublin Carol," Irish playwright Conor McPherson's loose riff on Charles Dickens' holiday classic, in which an aging alcoholic gets a chance to make amends, but where redemption is by no means assured.
A masterful chronicler of isolation, grief and regret - expressed by characters whose choices have landed them at the bottom of a whiskey bottle - McPherson's empathetic yet unsentimental play about a flawed man's failed relationships and self-imposed loneliness doesn't exactly brim with holiday cheer. In fact, death underscores this melancholy tale that unfolds on Christmas Eve, in the backroom of the Dublin funeral home - a suitably faded, not quite cozy set by Kevin Depinet, where a tabletop tree, haphazardly strung lights and a bit of garland comprise the yuletide decor.
The room serves as refuge for the solitary, self-aware John (a candid, eloquent Petersen, star of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"), a middle-aged alcoholic who chose booze over his family and suffered the consequences without self-pity. Not sober, but not quite the drunk he was, he works as an undertaker for unseen savior Noel, a benevolent mortician who has a habit of rescuing men battered by life who sought solace in drink.
With Noel in the hospital for tests, his nephew Mark (a guileless Stephen Louis Grush, the best thing about Steppenwolf's 2007 production of "Good Boys and True") shows up to help out. John, who's recovering from a hangover and feeling chatty, confides in the pleasantly disinterested, somewhat adrift young man, telling him candidly about his failed marriage and booze-fueled decline.
Later his estranged daughter Mary (a nicely understated Nicole Wiesner, who plays the role with a weary grace), a woman who long ago resigned herself to disappointment, arrives to inform him that her dying mother - the wife he abandoned - wants to see him one last time.
"Dublin Carol" is about sustaining a human connection, about grounding oneself through relationships with others. Petersen grounds this production, which is directed with subtlety and deliberation by ensemble member and Tony Award nominee Amy Morton. Petersen's muted, inherently truthful performance is acting's equivalent of a meat-and-potatoes dinner. It's filling, unpretentious and wholly satisfying, the perfect complement to McPherson's intimate tale of a man who has no intimates.
Petersen could have made his return to Chicago a big to-do. Instead, he delivers a delicate turn offering substance over sizzle in a town that knows the difference.
"Dublin Carol"
Rating: 3 stars
Location: Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 Halsted St., Chicago
Times: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays to Sundays; 3 p.m. Saturdays through Dec. 28
Running time: About 80 minutes, no intermission
Tickets: $50-$70
Parking: $9 in the Steppenwolf lot
Box office: (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org
Rating: For high school and older, contains strong language
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=1&type=video&item=219">Clip from 'Dublin Carol' </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>