REVIEW

Friday, November 28, 2003

Praying Small

Playwright Clifford Morts made his Chicago debut in September with the world premiere of this funny, poignant semi-autobiographical account of a man's downward spiral into alcohol and drug addiction and his first steps toward recovery. Confronting the issue of substance abuse with unusual humor and insight, the production gained an audience partly through word of mouth among members of the community, who appreciated its absence of movie-of-the-week melodrama. Now it's reopened in slightly different form: Morts has tightened the script and added an illuminating character, an abusive alcoholic father (played by Michael Colucci, who also directs). Decent, amiable Sam Dean (Tommy Lee Johnston) drinks through his days at a six-figure job in New York with his sidekick Roman (Jamie Kelsey). Sam refuses to give up booze and drugs even for his musician wife, Susan (Marisa Sanders), but bottoms our when he gets arrested for possession of cocaine. Morts himself has take the pivotal supporting role of Greg, Sam's AA sponsor—a character he plays compellingly. Actors Workshop Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr, 312-622-1136. Through December 21: Fridays-Saturdays, 8 PM; Sundays, 3 PM. $15.

—Rebecca L. Ford

The Niles Bugle

Lerner Life Newspapers

The Lively Arts by Joe Shaw

November 20, 2003

...On Friday night a friend and I visited on of Chicago's newest small theaters, the Actors Workshop Theatre. It proved to be an intimate spot that seats about 40, with two big comfortable couches right up by the stage.

Playing there is the world premiere of "Praying Small," a semi-autobiographical work by Clifford Morts. He is also an actor with the company and turns in one of the best performances in the show as Greg, a wise old Southern good-ole-boy type who is both a recovering alcoholic and a compassionate and determined sponsor for someone who needs help.

The story centers around Sam Dean (Joshua Venditti), a handsome, talented youn man who lands a high-paying job. But he is addicted to booze and cocaine, and his hit, including his job and his wife, begins to fall apart.

The play has very strong adult language and is quite dramatic, with strong touchies of realism. But it also has humor and real-life characters with whom we can relate. In addition to the aforementioned two, there are also strong performances by Marisa Sanders as Sam's attractive singer-wife Susan and Michael Mastrocesare as Roman, Sam's hard-partying, cynical firend.

You have quite a cast when you add to the above Laura Donnelly as Sam's practical boss; Ed Johnson as an oily funeral director; Lydia Morrissey as a doctor; Eric Hoffmann and Johnny Garcia as a close-working good cop and bad cop; Wayne Morrissey as a finisky waiter; Tanya Renee Lane as a very modern lawyer; and Michael Colucci, who is also the skilled director, as Sam's drunken, mean father....

"Praying Small" may sound grim, but it isn't—it is actually uplifting, and is definitely worth seeing. It should be required for those with a friend or family member with an incipient substance abuse problem. The play runs...

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REVIEW

Friday, September 19, 2003

PRAYING SMALL, Actors Workshop Theatre. AWT inaugurates its new space with the world premiere of company member Clifford Morts's funny, touching play. Thirtysomething Sam Dean (Tommy Lee Johnston) struggles for sobriety, addressing the harsh realities of addiction with humor. His difficulties are mirrored by the hard knocks the company has suffered: the violent death of an ensemble member, Morts's painful withdrawal from the production (the material is semi-autobiographical), and the sudden departure of a lead actor. These ordeals give extra resonance to the words of Sam's AA sponsor, who says, "Sobriety doesn't make life easier, it just makes livin' it easier."

Hyperliterate Sam meets wife Susan (Marisa Sanders) in New York. For a while love is his drug of choice, but eventually he needs more. He doesn't seem to drink and drive but can't tell Susan where he's abandoned the car she needs to get to work. He loses his six-figure job because he's only available in the post-hangover, premartini interval of 11 AM to noon. He hits bottom when he's busted with cocaine, becoming vulnerable to police who are stupid with power. Johnny Garcia is incongruously funny as a Snidely Whiplash-style bad cop. Jamie Kelsey is tragic and painfully recognizable as Sam's coworker and drinking buddy Roman, who punctuates conversations with the exclamation "Shit the bed!" and falls even further and faster than Sam. And [Clif Morts] is outstanding as Greg, Sam's AA sponsor, a genial southern practitioner of tough love.

—Rebecca L. Ford

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November 7, 2003

Don’t Miss this Gem in Edgewater:
“Praying Small” Speaks to the Human Spirit

by S. Patricia Welsh

This comedic drama by playwright Clifford Morts depicts the journey of Sam Dean from worldly success and romance, to the addictions which destroy that life, to life reknitted by a new paradigm. The storytelling is non-linear rather than sequential, emphasizing Sam’s obsessive thinking about the important scenes from his life.

The tiny (intimate) theatre (40 seats—including two front-row couches) is located in the newly-renovated historic Edgewater neighborhood (the commercial buildings’ art deco facades are a visual treat). A wall of head shot photos in the theatre’s front window indicates, by color, which of the ensemble actors will be performing that day.

The actors are all sincere and compelling. Director Michael Colucci often plays Sam’s abusive father. Michael Mastrocesare gives a powerful performance as Sam’s aggressively self-deluded drinking buddy and coworker, Roman. But particular praise must be given to Morts’ performance as Sam’s twinkle-eyed, gum-chewing AA sponsor from Mississippi, Greg, who reaches into the audience’s collective soul and elicits the response, “Yes! That’s the kind of wise and loving teacher I hunger for in my own life…”

Morts writes in the program notes, “It is my sincere hope that this play deals with the horrors of alcoholism and substance abuse from a different perspective than most dramatizations of the problem. The disease is not, regardless of what many film and television treatments may indicate, cut and dried. It is an extraordinarily complicated malady…”

The audience may squirm a bit at the raw vulnerability of this material. However, it has something to teach us all about a lifetime of rage, and a future of hope (meaningful living—“praying small”).

This reviewer has enjoyed two performances and is curious to see how the play will be reworked during its current, two-week hiatus (it will reopen November 1-December 21, 2003).

“Praying Small”
The Actors Workshop Theatre
1044 W. Bryn Mawr
Chicago, IL 60660
(312) 622-1136

November 1-December 21, 2003
Fridays & Saturdays, 8PM; Sundays 3PM (running time 1:55)
$15 suggested donation (open seating—includes free snacks at intermission)

Located east of the Bryn Mawr el stop (CTA Red Line); hard-to-find street parking (you may wish to use the $7 valet parking service provided by the restaurant across the street)

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