Wrong Mountain
Rare Terra Theatre at
Second Stage Theatre
Chicago Reader- Somewhat Recommended
"...David Hirson's satiric fable may be too cumbersome to work well even under optimum conditions, but it needs more nuanced treatment than it gets in this Rare Terra Theatre production directed by Ian Streicher. Some roles are pushed too hard, some not hard enough. Richard Sandoval comes down on the not-hard-enough side, failing to make Henry the sacred monster he needs to be."
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Tony Adler
NewCity Chicago- Somewhat Recommended
"...Hirson’s protagonist is so arrogant that we don’t care if he finds satisfaction. The premise that inaccessible poetry is purer than theater is deeply flawed; these days, screenplays get all the attention. The ensemble is likeable enough; Douglas Vickers is a hoot as the baroque festival director. But hackneyed plot devices and long-winded monologues detract from the obvious point: art is art, whatever the form."
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Lisa Buscani
Centerstage- Not Recommended
"...I can see humor in the moments where we laugh at Henry, but can’t abide those in which we’re meant to laugh with him. In a town with many great options, The Wrong Mountain is the wrong show to see."
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Rory Leahy
Time Out Chicago- Somewhat Recommended
"...The first act of La Bête author David Hirson’s nearly three-hour play, which had a brief Broadway run in 2000, is devoted almost entirely to setup—I wonder how Henry feels about indulgent running times. But Act II reveals, here and there, beyond the detours into silly supernatural symbols (a 40-pound stomach worm whose Latin name translates to contempt for one’s own desires, for example), a delightful light comedy about the artistic process and the value of creative fulfillment. When Sandoval is given the opportunity to do anything more than sulk and cringe, he’s amusing, as is Thom Pasculli, a breath of sincerity in a cast of over-the-top archetypes."
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Dan Jakes
Stage and Cinema- Not Recommended
"...Middle-aged misogynist, pedant, and poet Henry Dennett has a chip on his shoulder and a worm in his gut—literally, a gigantic tapeworm—but in David Hirson’s astoundingly overwritten play Wrong Mountain, it’s also an overly symbolic worm whose name in Latin means “contempt for one’s own desires.” After publishing a book every year for thirty years, Dennett has had no mainstream recognition and certainly not the monetary compensation that his ex-wife’s new boyfriend—Broadway playwright Guy Halperin—boasts."
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Kristin Walters
ChicagoCritic- Not Recommended
"... Add a theatre queen-like artistic directed over played by Douglas Vickers and the concocted story moves Henry from a cynic to a true believer in theatre.Its all toomuch to stomach. This bore drones on for two and a half hours with too much speech making with an unbelievable storyline. I had several problems with Henry as a character.He uses his pain, self-loathing and academic knowledge to inflict insults with a most viciously arrogant attack upon American society and playwrightHalperin. Henry is sounlikeable that we quickly lose any empathy for him – we simply don’t care about him. Richard Sandoval has loads of trouble with many of his lines renderingsomeofhis arguments muddled. I also though Doug Vickers so over played the artsy Mauricethathis performance bordered on cartoonish. This play not only needs severs cuts but it made me wonder why Rare Terra Theatre wouldselectsuch material? Thecastworkedhard to make this play worthy but the materialand the underdeveloped charactersmerely served a foils for Hirson’s polemic."
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Tom Williams
Chicago Theater Beat- Recommended
"...Playwright David Hirson has fun with this play. He makes his own profession the butt of the joke. With intellectual wit and superiority, Hirson attacks the theatre and theatre goers as inferior. Hirson’s main character Henry, played by Richard Sandoval, is a pompous asshole. Henry is an offensive and despicable character. Sandoval plays it with booming authenticity. Even in moments of seemingly personal growth, Sandoval deliciously lets go of the moment with a prickly-prick comment."
Katy Walsh
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