Review by James Wilkinson

 

The Tour – Written by Alice Abracen. Directed by Lelaina Vogel. Scenic Design: Duncan Kennedy. Lighting Design: Kat Zhou. Fight Choreography: Matt Dray. Costume Design: Evelyn Quinn. Sound Design: Brittany Lawrence. Dialect Coaching: Daniel Thomas Blackwell. The Tour is presented by The Underlings’ Theatre Co. at Chelsea Theater Works May 4-12, 2018

 

The conventional wisdom that good things come in small packages was created for situations like this. The Underlings’ Theatre Co.’s production of Alice Abracen’s The Tour clocks in at a brief seventy minute run time, but it manages to pack a hell of a punch. The show closes out the young theater company’s first season and to my mind is the strongest of the three shows that they’ve offered. There’s an admirable sense of ambition to the work as it tries (and I think mostly succeeds) to speak to the present political moment in the world. That it manages to makes its points without grandstanding or lecturing the audience is nothing short of incredible (I cannot count the number of other plays that fall victim to that particular trap). Instead it presents its audience members with a beautiful little knot of problem for them to figure out for themselves after they’ve left the theater.

Read more “The Underlings Close Strong with a Crackling ‘Tour’”