Goodman's historic drama 'Flood' awash in indignation
Righteous anger over injustice is an admirable sentiment. A desire to remedy social ills is a noble ambition. And using art, specifically theater, to express indignation, inform the public and galvanize a response has been a long-standing tradition among artists, especially in the wake of a national crisis.
But that doesn't guarantee a compelling drama. Case in point: the well-intentioned but one-dimensional "A True History of the Johnstown Flood," Rebecca Gilman's retelling of the 1889 catastrophe that claimed more than 2,200 lives after Pennsylvania's poorly constructed South Fork Dam burst following heavy rainstorms. Built to create a private lake and playground for wealthy industrialists like Andrew Carnegie, the dam ruptured, sending millions of tons of water down the Allegheny Mountains onto Johnstown's working-class residents.
Gilman has crafted singular, insightful social critiques in plays like "Spinning into Butter," "Boy Gets Girl" and "The Glory of Living." But her latest, which premiered this week at Goodman Theatre under Robert Falls' direction, fails to reach her previous high water marks.
Gilman sets admirable goals. Her fictionalized account examines class inequality and hubris of the wealthy while also considering an artist's response to social and political events. Should he or she simply entertain and mollify the masses? Or should he or she create art that instructs, provokes and inspires the masses to action? As a thinly veiled condemnation of the failed government response to Hurricane Katrina, the often didactic "Johnstown Flood" makes its position clear with all the subtlety of a category 5 storm.
Yet, Falls' production has merit. Much of it has to do with Walt Spangler's magnificent sets. Goodman is practically peerless when it comes to grand visuals. These are no exception, from the plush Pullman car occupied by Johnstown's elite; to the charming, albeit worn sets used by the traveling theater company that arrives in town on the eve of the tragedy; to the ravaged, post-flood landscape where the survivors begin their lives again. Accompanying Spangler's visuals is riveting sound design from Richard Woodbury. He pairs the thunderous sound of rushing water with the strangled cries of victims in his masterful depiction of the flood, which occurs in a blackout that enhances its impact.
The problem is, the audience has to sit through an entire act before it happens. And getting to that point means wading through extensive exposition and ill-conceived romantic subplots.
The action begins on the eve of the flood and centers on the Baxter siblings - members of a fading American theater dynasty. They have come to Johnstown to perform syrupy melodramas that dominated 19th century American stages. Oldest son and producer Richard (Cliff Chamberlain) struggles to keep the company afloat and preserve the family legacy. His rebellious brother James (Stephen Louis Grush), an aspiring playwright and Marxist convert, wants to perform realistic drama with a social conscience. Meanwhile, sweet younger sister Fanny (Heather Wood in an ill-defined role) has become infatuated with Walter (Lucas Hall), wealthy scion of a local tycoon who decides to dabble in show business while he dallies with Fanny. Rounding out the cast is Janet Ulrich Brooks and Randall Newsome who play ancillary characters, including Lithuanian immigrants, a society maven, self-interested reporter and Red Cross founder Clara Barton who arrives in Johnstown ahead of federal authorities, much like CNN's Anderson Cooper and other television correspondents managed to beat the Federal Emergency Management Agency to post-Katrina New Orleans.
The acting is solid throughout with nice-guy Chamberlain, impassioned Grush (a young actor worth watching) and the versatile Brooks (a wonderful actress getting the exposure she deserves in this production).
But ultimately this play flounders because of its inferior script, superficial characters and indulgent narrative tangents, specifically the overly-long sappy melodramas - plays with the play - that are the Baxter family's stock-in-trade. And for all his sincerity, James' fervent, post-flood call for the establishment of a theater of action and social outrage emerges as more histrionics.
Yet the second act - which adopts a more realistic theatrical style - contains several understated exchanges that make for effective scenes, including a reunion between Fanny and Walter who were separated by the floodwaters. Unfortunately, that's not enough to keep afloat "A True History of the Johnstown Flood," which limps to an unsatisfying conclusion, its potential unfulfilled.
"A True History of the Johnstown Flood" Rating: #9733; #9733; Location: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.orgShowtimes: 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday through April 18. Also 7:30 p.m. April 6; no 7:30 p.m. show April 11, no 2 p.m. show April 15Running time: About two hours, 30 minutes with intermissionTickets: $12.50-$76Parking: Paid lots nearby; reduced rates with validation at the James R. Thompson Center parking garage, 100 W. Randolph St., Chicago Rating: For adultsFalse20001468Their theater company in tatters after the flood, Fanny (Heather Wood) comforts her sick brother Richard (Cliff Chamberlain) in Rebecca Gilman's "A True History of the Johnstown Flood."Courtesy 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 type="text/javascript" src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js"></script><object id="myExperience73934440001" class="BrightcoveExperience"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="width" value="300" /><param name="height" value="205" /><param name="playerID" value="18011347001" /><param name="publisherID" value="1659832549"/><param name="isVid" value="true" /><param name="optimizedContentLoad" value="true" /><param name="@videoPlayer" value="73934440001" /></object><!--This script tag will cause the Brightcove Players defined above it to be created as soonas the line is read by the browser. If you wish to have the player instantiated only afterthe rest of the HTML is processed and the page load is complete, remove the line.--><script type="text/javascript">brightcove.createExperiences();</script><!-- End of Brightcove Player -->