Dirty Butterfly, a work by British playwright Debbie Tucker Green, is having its US debut courtesy of The Blind Owl and Halcyon Theatre.
This is a story about domestic violence.
Three superb actors—Genevieve VenJohnson as Amelia, Leah Raidt as Jo, and Reginald Robinson Jr. as Jason— are electric on the stage with a minimalist set meant to convey paper thin walls in a low-rent district.
Jo is the victim of domestic violence, and is generally so hateful to her two neighbors that summoning sympathy for her as a victim is more a should-a than a free flowing feeling. Amelia is trying to keep her distance and Jason, shamed by his own titillation perhaps, is on 24/7 eavesdrop.
Their accents are thick, and seem spot on.
Try as we could though, the foreign vernacular of this script was such that we spent almost all of our energies trying to follow the action. It strikes this reviewer that this is probably a great read, if you have time to google the colloquialisms to catch their drift. As a performance though, we walked away impressed by the direction (Azar Kazemi) and certainly the actors, but lost in a bit of a “huh???”
When:
Through December 10
Thursdays – Saturdays 8 PM
Sundays – 6 PM
Where:
Halcyon Theatre
3253 West Wilson
Chicago
About the Author: Amy Munice
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
