John Mahoney, Francis Guinan return to Steppenwolf to contemplate 'The Rembrandt'
Steppenwolf Theatre Company walks a precarious tonal tightrope with the Chicago debut of “The Rembrandt.”
The time-shifting script by playwright Jessica Dickey (“The Amish Project”) often teeters toward cloying silliness with earthy humor. But the play's masterful performers - led by Steppenwolf ensemble members Francis Guinan and John Mahoney - navigate the pitfalls to reveal touching meditations on mortality and the endurance of art.
“The Rembrandt” starts out just where you'd expect to find one - in a gallery of old master paintings at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. There we meet veteran museum guard Henry (a melancholy Guinan), who interacts with the distraught art student Madeline (a low-key Karen Rodriguez), rebellious new hire Dodger (an intense Ty Olwin) and profanity-prone, pistol-packing co-worker Jonny (an affable Gabriel Ruiz).
As Henry schools Dodger on the duties of a museum “general protection officer,” Dickey steers the characters' attention toward Rembrandt's “Aristotle With the Bust of Homer.” Entranced and egged on, some of them even dare to touch the painting.
Dickey then shifts “The Rembrandt” back to 17th-century Amsterdam for a scene showing the circumstances behind the painting's creation. Guinan now plays the drunken spendthrift Rembrandt, while Rodriguez becomes his maid-turned-wife Henny and Olwin his lecturing son, Titus.
Next the likable John Mahoney comes on to soliloquize as the ancient Greek poet Homer. He vents over others' attempts to write down his great epic “The Iliad,” insisting that it should be spoken aloud and experienced communally instead of being read privately.
It's in these scenes set in ages past that Dickey's writing can get cloying, with historical facts jockeying for prominence amid the chummy dialogue. Luckily, the adept ensemble led by director Hallie Gordon largely conceals these writing seams.
Particularly touching is the final scene, which circles back to a remorseful Guinan as the museum guard Henry. He and his terminally ill poet husband, Simon (a masterfully irascible Mahoney), ponder their legacy and whether they made the most meaningful use of their precious time together.
Along with the powerful performances, “The Rembrandt” also boasts stately production design. Regina Garía's establishing sets, Jenny Mannis' period costumes and Ann G. Wrightson's evocative lighting all stylishly frame the action.
Dickey's “The Rembrandt” urges audiences to ponder how people can be touched by artists centuries after they're gone. While the historical scenes never take on the power of those set in the present day, the performers steer the drama toward an ending that is both satisfying and profound.
“The Rembrandt”
★ ★ ★
Location: Steppenwolf's Upstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago, (312) 335-1650 or
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday (Sunday evening shows end Oct. 1); 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 2 p.m. Wednesday matinees from Oct. 4-18; through Nov. 5
Tickets: $20-$104
Running time: About 90 minutes with no intermission
Parking: Area pay garages and limited metered street parking
Rating: For teens and older; profanity and scatological references