Guinan, Anderson flex acting skills in 'Guide for the Perplexed'

Gurnee native Kevin Anderson's professional acting career began at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theater in 1982. So having Anderson back for the world premiere of "A Guide for the Perplexed" by Joel Drake Johnson ("The Fall to Earth," "Four Rooms") is a happy reunion.

Anderson returns after working steadily in Hollywood, on Broadway and in London (and becoming a Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member). Adding extra excitement for "A Guide for the Perplexed" is the Victory Gardens debut of Steppenwolf ensemble member Francis Guinan of Elmhurst.

Anderson and Guinan both definitely deliver on expectations for some great stage acting under the direction of associate artistic director Sandy Shinner. Unfortunately, the vehicle that they're starring in doesn't live up to its own potential.

"A Guide for the Perplexed" focuses on Doug (Anderson), an ex-con newly out of prison who reluctantly moves in with his sister Sheila's family. Since Sheila (Meg Thalken) is conveniently away on business in New York, Doug is left to deal with his wary and unemployed brother-in-law, Phillip (Guinan), and his brainy high school-aged nephew, Andrew (Bubba Weiler).

Despite the orderly appearance of stylish furniture and pricey electronics (on a handsome turntable set of a swanky den and patio by designer Jeff Bauer), this Glencoe home is in serious emotional disarray. Andrew confides to Doug how he is enduring homophobic bullying at school, and why his parents' marriage is on the rocks (Phillip was forced out of work due to white collar crime accusations).

"A Guide for the Perplexed" certainly starts off promisingly enough. Guinan and Anderson get plenty to sink their teeth into character - and comedy-wise as they warily size each other up while Phillip lays down the house rules during an over-exhaustive tour.

Anderson convincingly shows how Doug has unsuccessfully drifted through life and failed to live up to family expectations. Anderson's depiction of Doug's discomfort is mirrored in Guinan's halting stiffness in showing Phillip's personal humiliation of becoming a homebody after holding such a high-powered business position.

The physical timing between Guinan and Anderson is also spot on, especially as they evoke titters of laughs while they make the fold-out-couch bed and feed the extremely delicate tropical fish.

Weiler also impresses with his acting as the petulant Andrew who is so smart that he can instantly translate English into Hebrew. Using Doug as a sounding board to share secrets and test some boundaries, Weiler convincingly gets across Andrew's anger of always being labeled a "good and smart kid" by his parents and peers.

But the play goes seriously off course in the second act. Instead of keeping the drama self-contained in the family, Johnson opens it up to include Doug's prison correspondence friend Betty (Cynthia Baker), a Cincinnati-based investment banker who arrives bearing expensive gifts.

This tangential scene may offer up another side of Doug as a sensitive poet of sorts, but it shifts attention away from the familial fireworks that we keep on expecting to happen. Johnson also doesn't provide a clear "what's in it for me" motivation for Betty's generosity, which gives Baker little chance to develop a fully rounded character.

And since Thalken's stage time as Sheila is limited entirely to arguments over the phone, all she gets to do is a lot of questioning and looking pained in pools of light separate from everyone else. The hoped-for confrontations between Sheila and her family once she gets home never materialize-a perplexing lost dramatic opportunity.

Johnson's overall structure for "A Guide for the Perplexed" doesn't fully satisfy, especially as he rushes in too much as the play rushes to its finish. But Johnson does provide some wonderful scenes for his unhappy characters, especially the super-talented trio of Anderson, Guinan and Weiler.

"A Guide for the Perplexed" isn't the perfect play to Mark Anderson's Victory Gardens homecoming, nor Guinan's impressive debut. But it does offer this dynamic acting duo plenty to play off, which will be enough for some.

"A Guide for the Perplexed"Rating: #9733; #9733; #189;Location: Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 871-3000 or victorygardens.orgShowtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 8:30 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, 2 p.m. Aug. 4 and 11; through Sunday, Aug. 15.Running time: Two hours and 15 minutes with intermissionTickets: $20-$50Parking: Metered street parking and nearby pay garagesRating: Profanity and adult issuesFalse1024681Ex-convict Doug (Kevin Anderson, background) argues with his nephew, Andrew (Bubba Weiler), in Joel Drake Johnson's world premiere play "A Guide for the Perplexed" at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago. False