Fact and faith collide in well-cast 'Fake'
Inspired by one of the greatest scientific hoaxes of all time and underscored by the enduring fact vs. faith conundrum, Eric Simonson's "Fake" is a philosophical debate wrapped around an old-fashioned whodunit.
Tipping its hat to Tom Stoppard and to Agatha Christie, "Fake" is a commendable, erudite play. And Steppenwolf Theatre's world premiere, under the direction of ensemble member Simonson, is a sound, wisely cast, well-acted bit of theater.
But for all that, "Fake" - a fictionalized account of the Piltdown man hoax - is a play whose ambition exceeds its execution.
Simonson roots his play in the perpetration and revelation of the infamous Piltdown ruse (whose architect has never been confirmed). In 1912, paleontologists claimed parts of a skull found in a quarry in southeast England belonged to the first hominid, the so-called "missing link" between chimpanzees and modern man. Some 40 years later, scientists debunked the find and revealed the fossil as a fake manufactured from a human cranium and the jaw of an orangutan.
Populating the play with real-life figures and fictional characters, Simonson sets the action in 1914 Sussex several years after the fossil's discovery, and in 1953 London, just before the fraud is revealed. "Fake" opens at the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Francis Guinan), author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Doyle, played with ingratiating cynicism by Guinan, doubts the skull's authenticity and solicits the fictional crusading journalist Rebecca Eastman (Kate Arrington, who brings a certain restlessness to the role) to uncover the truth. To that end, Doyle invites to dinner Piltdown man's most ardent champions, each of whom he suspects of perpetrating the fraud. The guests include: wealthy, amateur archeologist Charles Dawson (the underused but ever dynamic Larry Yando) who claims to have discovered Piltdown man in a Sussex quarry; British Museum official Arthur Woodward (Alan Wilder, solid in an underwritten role); and the philosopher-priest and aspiring paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (the earnest Coburn Goss), who sees the skull as advancing his theory of man's spiritual evolution.
Subsequent scenes unfold in 1953, as a young UCLA paleontologist and all around go-getter Doug Arnt (Goss) and his Oxford counterpart Jonathon Cole (an achingly simple performance by Guinan) prepare to confirm the hoax. The men find themselves in a love triangle involving Jonathon's young, Lithuanian fiancé Katarina (Arrington, in a deft combination of strength and vulnerability), a World War II refugee who - like every member of a surviving species - learned to adapt to her new environment.
While assigning the actors dual roles is an obvious yet effective way of highlighting their disparities, Simonson fails to fully develop his characters. Dawson, for example, certainly has more to him than Simonson provides. I'd argue that the dual narratives don't fully coalesce and the modern-day love triangle feels contrived. And for the most part, the modern scenes in this time-shifting drama pale in comparison to the period scenes, which make for a good, old-fashioned yarn. Yet the acting is first-rate throughout, with the gifted Guinan as compelling as ever as Jonathon, whose personal pain outweighs his professional acclaim.
"Fake"
Rating: 3 stars
Location: Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays; 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Nov. 8. Sunday evening performances through Oct. 18 only; 2 p.m. shows Oct. 21, 28 and Nov. 4
Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes with intermission
Tickets: $20-$70
Parking: $9 in lot adjacent to theater
Box office: (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org
Rating: For teens and older