**** Reommended I didn’t expect to like Inanimate as much as I did, but it pulled me in and wouldn’t let go! This quirky little comedy has interesting and somewhat eccentric characters who live in a small town with a thriving Walmart and empty storefronts in a dying downtown. Inanimate explores something called objectum sexuality (a sexual attraction to inanimate objects), with wit and grace. 3 ½ Spotlights
Written by Nick Robideau, Inanimate premiered Off-Off-Broadway at the Flea Theatre in 2017. The Chicago premiere is directed by Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler. Joe Johnson’s set features an immediately recognizable white building trimmed in red with an ad for Dilly Bars on the door and a red pole out front.
Erica Grillo (J.G. Smith) is in love. She spends a lot of time staring up at her love, the Dairy Queen sign. She confides her deepest secrets to Dee (Aaron Latterell) – who looks a bit like Fabio and wears a transparent red plastic jacket.
Erica’s life is in the pits. She’s 30, doesn’t have a job, and lives with her sister, Trish (Jodi Gage), who gives new meaning to the word perky! Trish wants her sister to be happy, so she frequently tries to fix her up with blind dates. Erica wants no part of dating, so she tells her sister she met someone – of course she never mentions that he’s a DQ sign.
When Erica’s only real friend, Kevin (William Anthony Sebastian Rose II), who actually works at the DQ, finds out about Dee, he’s shocked but accepting. He helps her get a job at the DQ, so she can see Dee every day.
At home, Erica settles on the sofa (which slides out of a panel on the wall) to watch her sister be interviewed on the community access channel (cleverly hidden behind the DQ window shade). Trish is pushing a revitalization plan which involves tearing down all the empty storefronts and building a whole new downtown.
Khloe Janel, Erin Long and Dustin Valenta play a kind of a Greek chorus. They play Erica’s stuffed animals, the angel & devil on her shoulders, a TV host, the DQ owner, and even a pink neon hotel sign.
Determined to snap Erica out of this obsession with a sign, Trish convinces the DQ owner that her business should come down along with everything else. Soon after she fires Erica and Kevin, Dee (actually the pole) comes crashing down raising a cloud of dust.
Inanimate runs through May 4th at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont, Chicago. Parking is available in Theater Wit’s lot across the street (driveway next to Kobo Restaurant). $10 at the box office. Running time is 95 minutes, no intermission. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:00 pm; Sundays at 2:00 pm. Tickets range from $18-$55. FYI (773) 975-8150 or theaterwit.org.