Vincent River
by Philip Ridley
Summer 2011
(Part 2 of The Exiled Trilogy)
Lacuna Artist Lofts
(2012; Stan Mansion)
directed by Melissa Lorraine
assistant directed by Elisabeth Barnick
featuring Laura Jones and Kevin V. Smith
Theatre Y entered the heart of darkness in this post-structuralist abstract rendition of contemporary British playwright Philip Ridley’s two-hander centered around a grieving mother and a teenage boy wrestling their own demons to the ground in the wake of the brutal murder of her son, Vincent River—victim of a homophobic hate crime. Staged in an industrial sized former refrigerator, painted bright white, the only props were an empty slide projector, an endless supply of empty white tea cups, and Vincent’s maroon shirt. Lorraine’s direction evoked blisteringly honest performances from Jones and Smith, heightened by jarring, discordant modern dance choreography developed in collaboration with four dancers from Chicago’s Hubbard Street Dance. The second part of Theatre Y’s Exiled Trilogy, Vincent River garnered acclaim on multiple Year End Best lists, and earned Smith the title of Best Actor of 2011 in Chicago Stage Review. Vincent River also played to a packed house in a one night only remount at Stan Mansion in 2012.
Photo Credit: Devron Enarson
