Dennehy delivers double shot of drama

In a 2008 interview with the Daily Herald, Brian Dennehy described Eugene O'Neill's gaze into the human soul as unblinking.

One can say the same thing about Dennehy as small-time gambler and sometime mob errand boy Erie Smith in Robert Falls' astute production of O'Neill's "Hughie."

His performance as Erie, and as the titular character in Samuel Beckett's "Krapp's Last Tape" - the second act of this inspired double-bill at Goodman Theatre - are real, raw portrayals of solitary men consumed by the past, haunted by failure, filled with regret and desperate for someone to confirm their existence.

It's quite an achievement and a pleasure to watch.

Of the two plays, "Hughie" is the more accessible. Dennehy's Erie - who lumbers into his seedy, New York City hotel and spends the next 40-odd minutes recounting his escapades with high-rollers and chorus girls to an impassive night clerk - is an understated yet richly realized combination of loneliness, bravado and self-awareness, underscored by a desperation that can't be assuaged. But it can be eased by the rapt and sympathetic Hughie, the hotel's former clerk, for whom Erie has a grudging affection even though he pegged him for a sucker.

Hughie's recent death has sent the faded Erie - who wears a grubby suit the color of pale butter and a crimson pocket handkerchief - into a booze-fueled tailspin. Returning to his hotel (tucked under the elevated tracks, Eugene Lee's set feels so authentic, you can almost detect a musty smell), the now sober Erie meets the dispassionate new clerk. He's Charlie Hughes (an artfully insular performance by the very fine Joe Grifasi), a slim man with a slight paunch and a pallid, hangdog expression. He barely feigns interest in Erie while he waits for his shift to end.

Dennehy, who has appeared in Goodman productions of "The Iceman Cometh," "A Touch of the Poet," "Long Day's Journey Into Night" and 2009's "Desire Under the Elms," has a keen understanding of O'Neill's damaged characters that makes for a masterful performance.

Jason Robards Jr., another seminal O'Neill interpreter once said, "O'Neill demands your best, all the time, no less (than) the best you have."

Dennehy delivers.

But as good as he is in "Hughie," Dennehy's even better - mesmerizing even - in Jennifer Tarver's exceptional and humane "Krapp's Last Tape."

I saw this tandem examination of loneliness and loss two years ago at Canada's Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Those productions, also directed by Falls and Tarver, were staged in an intimate, 260-seat theater. But Goodman's large stage and more detailed sets pack as great a wallop. Maybe more, in fact. This is especially true in "Krapp's Last Tape" where Krapp's Spartan room (which suggests Erie's SRO "cell") becomes the abyss in which he's consigned himself.

A tragedy that begins as a dark comedy, the play unfolds on a set seemingly swallowed by darkness. It features an old desk that's illuminated by a single pendant light on which sits a reel-to-reel tape recorder and tins of tapes.

As the curtain rises, we see the 69-year-old Krapp (a visibly transformed Dennehy), a failed writer in declining health who's reviewing audiotapes he has made that chronicle his life and the various women he allowed to slip away from him. He's particularly consumed with the one he recorded at 39, in which his arrogant younger self describes how he rejected a woman's love to pursue his writing - which resulted in the sale of only 17 books, 11 of them at trade price to libraries.

Beckett's not everyone's cup of tea. And in fairness, as vivid as Beckett's language is and as fine a production as this is, it may take time for audiences to warm up to "Krapp's Last Tape." Stick with it, though. Dennehy's performance - especially the images of his fathomless stare as Krapp confronts infinity - is reward enough.

"Hughie" and "Krapp's Last Tape" Rating: #9733; #9733; #9733; #189;Location: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (312) 443-3820 or goodmantheatre.orgShowtimes: 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays and Thursdays; 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays through Feb. 28. No 2 p.m. show Jan. 30 or Feb. 18, no 7:30 p.m. show Feb. 28, additional 7:30 p.m. shows Feb. 9, 16 and 23Running time: About two hours with intermissionTickets: $25-$83 Parking: Nearby garages; discounted parking with validation, in the Government Center Self ParkRating: For teens and olderFalse20001200Krapp (Brian Dennehy) contemplates his life in Samuel Beckett's "Krapp's Last Tape," part of a double bill that includes Eugene O'Neill's "Hughie," running through Feb. 28 at Goodman Theatre.Courtesy of Liz LaurenFalse <!-- Start of Brightcove Player --><div style="display:none"></div><!--By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and Cfound at http://corp.brightcove.com/legal/terms_publisher.cfm.--><script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js"></script><object id="myExperience64076145001" class="BrightcoveExperience"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="width" value="300" /><param name="height" value="255" /><param name="playerID" value="18011347001" /><param name="publisherID" value="1659832549"/><param name="isVid" value="true" /><param name="@videoPlayer" value="64076145001" /></object><!-- End of Brightcove Player -->