Stacy Keach marks Chicago return in Goodman Theatre's 'Pamplona'
Any student who has stared at a blank computer screen the night before the essay is due, any employee who's struggled with the quarterly report, any critic who has toiled over a review as deadline approaches comprehends the anxiety Ernest Hemingway feels in "Pamplona."
Hemingway is the lone character in Jim McGrath's "Pamplona." The Goodman Theatre premiere of the 90-minute play was delayed 14 months after star Stacy Keach suffered a mild heart attack during the show's May 2017 opening night.
On the surface, "Pamplona," which takes place in October 1959, a few months after Hemingway's 60th birthday, is a standard-issue bio-drama about a man who remains among America's most revered and influential writers.
The place is Pamplona, Spain, where Hemingway (robustly played by Keach) is holed up in an augustly faded hotel room (designed by Kevin Depinet), struggling with an assignment for Life magazine.
It isn't going well. The article, which he hasn't started, is late and Hemingway has already spent his $50,000 advance. His fourth wife, Mary, has returned to the U.S., leaving him alone, ailing, desperate for a drink and determined - or somewhat determined - not to take one. Worst of all, he has writer's block.
So he spends the time reminiscing. While images from the past flicker on the walls, courtesy of Adam Flemming's projections and Jesse Klug's clarifying lighting, Hemingway sorts through memories of fellow writers, wives and lovers, as well as his parents and his troubled relationship with them. He also recalls his exploits during two world wars and a fascination with bullfighting that brought him to Spain.
The result is a Cliff's Notes version of Hemingway's life, right down to the inspiration behind such novels as "The Sun Also Rises," "A Farewell to Arms" and "The Old Man and the Sea."
"You have to observe life, digest it and create your own version," says the author. He is alternately contrite, defiant, paranoid (he feared the FBI, which targeted him for his Cuba ties) and impassioned, especially when he talks about the art and craft of writing.
For my money, that's where "Pamplona" is at its best. What I found most compelling about director Robert Falls' production wasn't how concisely it told Hemingway's story, but how accurately it depicted a writer's struggle: the arduous, frustrating search for the most telling image or the perfect word and the unbridled joy that comes from finding it.
<b>"Pamplona"</b> ½ (2½ stars)
Location: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (312) 443-3800 or <a href="http://goodmantheatre.org">goodmantheatre.org</a>
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday through Aug. 19
Tickets: $30-$93
Running time: About 90 minutes, no intermission
Parking: $22 with Goodman validation at the Government Self Park at Lake and Clark streets
Rating: For teens and older; adult language, mature subject matter, mentions of suicide