On the brink of a world war, a mysterious plague starts killing everyone older than 45. A young doctor finds a cure, but what is the cost he is willing to ask the afflicted to pay?
"...Wiesner's treatment of The White Plague is what the term "problem play" was created to describe, being something that's hard to give a unified treatment to. But over the course of the performance, the narrowing of focus and greater allowance of emotion feels natural and welcome. Ĉapek is a literary treasure whose works American audiences rarely get to see. This adaptation is a treat; a transformation of Oedipus for the 1930s that still resonates." Read Full Review
Jacob Davis
Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended
"...As Chicago stages turn to Dickens and Tchaikovsky, you can find darker but equally fun fare in Trap Door Theatre’s high-flying production, The White Plague. This imaginative, high-energy show brings us the black-gowned denizens of a futuristic nation in the throes of a plague, with rising fascism and an imminent war as backdrop." Read Full Review
Bill Esler
Chicago On Stage - Recommended
"...Trap Door Theatre, known for its avant-garde presentations of material that is, for the most part, significantly out of the mainstream, has once again put its highly idiosyncratic stamp on a rarely seen play. It's probably safe to say that early 20th Century Czech writer Karel Capek's anti-fascist White Plague has never been produced quite like this, and that's one of the things that keeps people coming back to see this company's shows: they are always inventively directed and staged, and never anything less than fascinating." Read Full Review