'Fake Lake' entertains and educates
Rarely has an artistic team expressed righteous indignation as disarmingly as playwright/actor Sharon Greene and director Halena Kays express it in the Neo-Futurists' engaging production of Greene's "Fake Lake."
In less able hands, this philosophical coming-of-age drama - equal parts history lesson and cautionary tale - might have been just another earnest, pro-environment protest by well-meaning thespians. But Greene's informative (thanks to some clever visual aids) and entertaining (thanks to some fun choreography and a winning cast) play makes its point without compromising the drama.
In her autobiographical aquatic dramedy, Greene sets her young alter ego's quarter-life crisis against an environmental disaster that commenced 42 years ago with the damming of the Colorado River and the building of Utah's Glen Canyon Dam, which provides water and electric power to the western states. The flooded canyon became Lake Powell, the country's second-largest man-made reservoir after Lake Mead and a popular vacation spot.
The lake serves as the setting for Greene's smart, vividly written meditation on personal responsibility and identity inventively staged by Kays in the indoor pool at Chicago's Welles Park. "True within the substantive limitations of subject experience," it centers around the playwright's alter ego, a discontented 20-something college grad (played by Greene) who quits her job at a sporting goods store and heads to Colorado. There, some similarly disaffected and slightly smug acquaintances invite her on a camping trip to Lake Powell, which consists of excessive drinking and boogie boarding punctuated by the occasional philosophical musing and a couple of not entirely successful couplings. The characters are hyper-aware, hyper-articulate, slightly smug and vaguely disappointed young adults.
There's Greene's smart, perceptive protagonist and Luke Hatton's Towel Guy, who's actually more thoughtful than his ski bum stereotype. Rani Waterman plays the naive and giggly Intern who's interested in Ryan Walter's careless Bugle Boy "who had been given everything in his life and made so little of it." Lastly, there's the terrific Lauren Sharpe, quietly mesmerizing as the long-suffering Office Gal in love with Walter's spoiled rich kid.
Greene juxtaposes the campers' irresponsible behavior (excessive drinking, indiscriminate sex) with the reckless actions of the U.S. government (unwittingly destroying one ecosystem to save another) to reveal the unintended and life-altering consequences of both.
While their dismissive and patronizing names suggest otherwise, Greene's characters have some depth (for nature lovers, they seem rather casual about the footprints they leave behind). Greene's a good writer. Her description of a mountain range as "voluptuous women lying on their backs" and the titular fake lake as a "Chernobyl of jaw-dropping beauty" reflect a playwright who knows how to turn a phrase, which makes up for those few times when "Fake Lake" succumbs to preachiness and self-importance.
Overall though, this play's a winner. Kays has crafted some lovely moments (the way she suggests starlight is simply dreamy) as well as some highly comic ones. The charmingly goofy water ballet, choreographed by M.K. Victorson and performed by Kays' maniacally grinning and very able quintet, is just delightful.
At the end of the day, anyone can rant. Outrage is easy. It takes skill to channel outrage into art. Greene does just that with "Fake Lake" which educates, but more importantly, entertains.
"Fake Lake"
Three stars (out of four)
Location: Welles Park swimming pool, 2333 W. Sunnyside, Chicago
Times: 8 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays through Sept. 19
Running time: About 80 minutes, no intermission
Tickets: $15
Box office: (773) 275-5255
Rating: For adults, includes strong language, sexual situations