‘Ceres’ a High-Octane Probe Into Chicago’s Slippery Investment Banker Slope

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly versionE-mail page to friendE-mail page to friendPDF versionPDF version
No votes yet

CHICAGO – Tucked surreptitiously at the way-way-way-off-Loop location of the Prop Thtr – Chicago’s oldest-surviving non-equity theater in the area – the signature that is “Ceres” is its high-octane energy. The cast act in harmony much in the same way as the “X-Men” character Juggernaut: once their momentum is synthesized, it can’t be stopped.

The theme is carried consistently from the instant “Ceres” lights up all the way through its curtain call. All throughout the middle, The Factory Theater troupe allows theatergoers to feel like privileged voyeurs in the lions’ den of high-volatility investment brokers who crook all their rules, loyalties and ethics in order to make the coveted sale.

Gretchen Carter as Ivy in the Chicago production of Ceres
Gretchen Carter as Ivy in the Chicago production of “Ceres”.
Photo credit: The Factory Theater

The 1992 film “Glengarry Glen Ross” – perhaps the quintessential exploration of sales in cinema – is shrewdly referenced in “Ceres” to imply partial inspiration. Beyond the Al Pacino machination examination, Chicago writer Heather Tyler acknowledges having drawn a direct muse from “sitting in a room stuffed with attorneys and answering some questions one Thanksgiving”.

Set against the milieu of the Windy City’s financial district and honed specifically on the suspect actions of a furtive assemblage called Unit 57, the ensuing outpouring explores the explosiveness, backbiting camaraderie and infidelity often triggered by the towering profit demands of corporate governance.

Chicago director Angelina Martinez – who took on this play with full realization that right and wrong often aren’t blatantly black or white – sets in motion the dangerous “grey area” with a Chicago cast of nine stage actors and a dozen more film actors. A film is presented in tandem with what’s live on stage and is creatively projected onto the stage’s far wall.

While the film crew had a decidedly more grave air about them, the stage crew sometimes fell victim to zealously delivering their lines while neglecting to feel them and understand their intentions.

While film sound was sometimes a screechy issue on preview night, the production will likely iron out that kink. The title “Ceres” has questionable relevance about a planet that never was and perhaps would have been better served as a variation of “Money Talks,” “Get Outta My Way, Sucka” or “Swindling is the Life For Me – Or is It?”.

While auxiliary topical research would have been a credibility improvement and supplementary lasting lessons from the story as a whole would have left us more fulfilled, Gretchen Carter’s Ivy character importantly and ultimately probes the double-edged ethics sword inherent in this profession – amid a probe, in fact, into her unit’s overall profiteering practices – and leaves us with the message to question the beast even if it’s lavishly feeding the cow.

“Ceres” runs through April 26 at the Prop Thtr at 3502 N. Elston in Chicago. 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays; 7 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets cost $20.

© 2008 Adam Fendelman, HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com editor-in-chief Adam Fendelman

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

User Login

Free Giveaway Mailing

TV, DVD, BLU-RAY & THEATER REVIEWS

  • Manhunt

    CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.

Advertisement



HollywoodChicago.com on Twitter

archive

HollywoodChicago.com Top Ten Discussions
referendum
tracker