Authors: Nathan Allen and Chris Matthews. At: The House Theatre of Chicago, Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. Tickets: 773-769-3832; www.thehousetheatre.com; $25. Runs through: Oct. 21
Kingdom or republic? The royal heir is inexperienced, kind, hard-working and poor—and doesn’t know he’s a prince. The firebrand for democracy is willful, brutal, snobbish, rich and murderous. Such are the opposing camps in Part I of The Iron Stag King, a projected three-year saga mixing Harry Potter with Sam Adams and Lord of the Rings with Thomas Paine. It’s an odd shotgun wedding of Enlightenment political philosophy and fairy tale enchantments, vaguely set at the turn of the 19th century in a land still contending with wizards and magicians along with monarchists and republicans.
The best thing authors Nathan Allen (also director) and Chris Matthews do is to keep you guessing about the good guys and bad guys. Is the engaging wizard protecting the hero really good? Is the dark wizard (voiced by Tracy Letts in James Earl Jones/Darth Vader mode) who aids the villain really evil? Which one’s version of the past is true? Hey, that’s what parts II and III will reveal. The authors even leave open the question of republicanism vs. monarchy, not indicating which system will prevail in establishing a prosperous and peaceable nation. There’s much cleverness in the writing beginning with names such as orphaned farm boy hero Caspar Kent, echoing Clark Kent, and rival wizards dubbed Golden and Obsidian.
What’s not so good is that Part I is awfully talky. Granted, it takes a lot of exposition to get a three-part epic going, but it needs to be edited and arranged more skillfully. Also, it’s fine for the hero to start out ignorant of who he is and ill-prepared for his picaresque journey, but his noble qualities and instinctive heroism should emerge quickly to make him an active figure in his own story. In Part I, hero/prince Caspar remains passive far too long, acquiring no wisdom and little self-awareness, and taking his first decisive action only in the closing seconds of the play when he kills in anger. Are we witnessing the forces of goodness and darkness struggling within him, or just revenge? The authors leave it murky.
In any show by The House, the production elements and cast are engaging: puppets (by Lee Keenan), smoke, a cage-like space enclosing audience and actors, Kevin O’Donnell’s reliably exciting original music, whimsical costumes (Melissa Torchia), a nifty playbill and the plot intrigues make for a lively show … except when it bogs down in talk. The 14-member ensemble energetically plays twice that many roles, among them slyly understated Cliff Chamberlain as wizard Golden, Joey Steakley as the nasty republican, twinkish Brandon Ruiter as Caspar and Kay Kron as wizard Obsidian’s daughter, who just might grow up to marry a prince. I’m only guessing; time will tell.