Performers add life to 'Dying City'

Christopher Shinn's confounding "Dying City" left me conflicted.

Set against the backdrop of the attacks of Sept. 11 and the war in Iraq, this 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist (it lost to Tracy Letts' superior "August: Osage County") is an admirably crafted if somewhat self-conscious, and occasionally self-important examination of family dysfunction and shared loss.

But while it benefits from Shinn's convincing dialogue and his talent for parsing details and peeling back layers, "Dying City" (the title refers to Baghdad) suffers from issue overload and the failure of its characters to emotionally engage the audience. Frustrating for the cursory way in which it addresses thorny issues, the play itself inspires a kind of benign ambivalence.

Not so the production.

Next Theatre's Chicago-area premiere is solidly directed by former artistic director Jason Loewith, who moves the 80-minute play along without making it feel rushed. And it's masterfully acted by Coburn Goss and Nicole Wiesner, a truly impressive duo who make Shinn's play better than it is.

The play opens with the unexpected and unwelcome arrival of modestly successful, film actor Peter (the nicely insinuating Goss as a man determined to advance his own emotional agenda) at the New York City apartment of his sister-in-law Kelly (the quietly compelling Wiesner, who conveys with dignity her character's vulnerability).

Kelly's a therapist, still grieving the loss of her husband Craig, Peter's identical twin, who was killed a year earlier while serving in Iraq. Armed with Craig's e-mails which he's determined to share, Peter seeks closure and comfort from Kelly. But that's something the wary Kelly - estranged from her husband's family since Craig's death the previous year - is reluctant to extend. Adding to her discomfort, Peter's arrival prompts less than happy flashbacks to the final hours Kelly spent with Craig (also played by Goss, who distinguishes himself in the creation of distinct, equally credible characters) before his deployment. From this we gather the couple had a marriage less happy than it appeared.

As the narrative shifts between the past and present, we learn about the brothers' childhood; their violent Vietnam veteran father and their mother who tolerated his outbursts. We learn about Peter's infidelity, Craig's class envy and the passivity of Kelly, the woman loved (or not) by both of them. We learn each is the child of an emotionally distant father. We learn about the brothers' political leanings, their betrayals and their propensity for manipulation. And as the play progresses, the similarities between these seemingly dissimilar siblings - the gay, self-conscious Peter and the straight, demanding Craig - become more obvious. The problem is, it all feels rather perfunctory. And the wrenching revelation that concludes the play impresses not on an emotional level (as it should) but on an intellectual one, as we delight in the talent of Wiesner and Goss.

If only "Dying City" had accomplished both.

"Dying City"

2 1/2 stars out of four

Location: Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston

Times: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; through March 8

Running time: About 80 minutes, no intermission

Tickets: $23-$38

Parking: Lot adjacent to center and street parking

Box office: (847) 475-1875, ext. 2 or nexttheatre.org

Rating: For adults, contains strong language, references sexual situations