Goodman Theatre has been social-consciousness central this spring. Intentionally or not, the most recent shows at its two spaces form an American diptych, exploring the seductions of capitalism and the responsibilities of communities in the second half of the 20th century.
Soups doesn’t have anything like Sign‘s verbal or dramatic sophistication. A lot of Gilman’s strategies are standard issue for this kind of earnest, issues-oriented play, quite literally set around a kitchen table. There’s a crusty, quirky, truth-telling old friend of the family—a kind of grandma manqué—named JoAnne, whose job it is to say all the stuff the others are too polite or confused to mention, and a teenage daughter, Kelly (yes, it’s a total K-name family), who’s reassuringly stable even as she experiences a traumatic rite of passage in the discovery that her parents are human. Kim and Kat are decent, loving, hardworking, well-regarded, neighborly folks (he helps a disabled pal, she puts together the fund-raising cookbook that gives the play its title) shadowed by a familiar anguish: Kat’s pregnancy forced them into marriage and a small-town, cheese-centered fate sans college, travel, sexual adventures, and whatever other exciting things you can think of. Kim’s choices throughout the play are explained, sometimes all too simply, by his foreclosed options.
Robert Falls’s staging places that imperfect case in the best possible light. Cora Vander Broek is a great mix of everyday practicality and fun as Kat, Lindsay Stock of precocity and foolishness as Kelly, and Ann Whitney of principle and plain old querulousness as JoAnne. Cliff Chamberlain‘s Kim is beautifully orchestrated between the low-affect weariness of his workaday angst, the defensiveness with which he approaches hope, and the bouts of playfulness that remind us he’s still young. As Elaine and a union steward/friend named Kyle, Angela Reed and Ty Olwin make excellent tests to put in Kim’s way. v
Through 6/19: Wed-Thu 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 2 and 8 PM, Sun 2 PM, Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn, 312-443-3800, goodmantheatre.org, $13-$33.
