20th Play - Smokefall - Noah Haidle

I remember when this play was on at the Goodman, and I wanted to see it. I didn’t, of course, boo, even though it was remounted in 2014. Anyway, a colleague of mine used it for a class and that’s how I got the script - FASCINATING, and devastating at times. Also funny!

Summary: “Magical realism collides with manic vaudeville in a family drama unlike any you’ve ever seen. Fetuses swap philosophy while awaiting their birth, a daughter eats dirt and doesn’t speak, a father is about to drive away and never return, and there’s an apple tree growing through the walls of the house. Whipping from astonishing tenderness to profound humor and back again, SMOKEFALL explores the lives of a family in a lyrical treatise on the fragility of life and the power of love.” From Dramatists Play Service.

Laura’s thoughts in brief: I love magical realism!!!! And the fantasticality of this play very much appealed to me. I loved that we learned more about the characters from Footnote (a character who shared things about them like a narrator) than they told us themselves. This seemed … realistic to me, as we frequently DON’T know what’s going on inside people because they don’t tell us. I thought the interactions in the first act between the family members were funny, honest, and sometimes powerfully sad. This is not really a happy family. The second act, which is the funniest act of the three, is a conversation between Violet (the mother in Act I)’s two unborn twins. Yes, a conversation direct from the womb - weird and funny! They each have DISTINCT personalities, they are philosophical and sometimes childish, quoting Foucault and singing “Send in the Clowns” from Sondheim. That scene ends with a twist that SHOCKED me. Act III was a bit less interesting in my opinion, taking place many years down the road and centering on one of the twins in his dotage (played by the actor playing the Colonel, the grandfather, in Act I) and his grown son, basically talking about how their lives had turned out similarly and … pretty awful. There were some moments of humor, but this act was less fun. We miss the characters from Act I, and even the fetuses. Johnny (the twin) was full of mischief and fun as a fetus, but dark, depressing and (frankly) kind of annoying as an old man. The play ends with some hope, but not much. The “circle of life” in a family, as presented by Haidle, is not a happy one. I enjoyed reading the first two acts of this play, but not so much the third. I wish I’d seen the show. Despite this, I really respect the crafting of it; it’s funny, philosophical and intellectual. Maybe actors could bring that third act to life better than it read to me.

See CONTENT DISCLOSURES below (don’t look if you don’t want spoilers)

READ MORE! Here’s what others had to say about productions:

https://variety.com/2013/legit/reviews/legit-review-smokefall-1200334530/

https://www.timeout.com/chicago/theater/smokefall-at-goodman-theatre-theater-review

https://www.timeout.com/chicago/theater/smokefall

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/theater/review-smokefall-about-several-generations-of-an-eccentric-family.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9k0.l22r.IR8LfTm1Vy1d&smid=url-share

See CONTENT DISCLOSURES below (don’t look if you don’t want spoilers)

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CONTENT DISCLOSURES: Self-harm, infant death, suicide