**** Highly Recommended Steppenwolf Theatre opens their season with a fascinating family drama, Mr. Wolf. Rajiv Joseph’s play is about a family dealing the return of a 15-year-old daughter who was kidnapped as a toddler. Can she develop a relationship with these strangers? Can the adults work through all their hostility toward each other and work together? Was the kidnapper a mild-mannered astronomy professor or a total whack job? The answers to these questions kept me spellbound til the end. 4 Spotlights
The adults in the cast, Kate Arrington, Tim Hopper, Caroline Neff and Namir Smallwood, all delivered perfectly nuanced performances. The real star, however, was Emilie Maureen Hanson, who was phenomenal – especially when she was rattling off complicated explanations of astronomical phenomena. Kudos to Director K. Todd Freeman for a fine production.
A man, Mr. Wolf (Hopper), comes home – or is it? A barefoot girl (Hanson) surrounded by piles of books is drawing on the floor. When he remarks on her drawing, she goes into a complicated explanation of an astronomical phenomenon. He tells her he bought her a coat and shoes, then asks her permission to kill himself.
Michael (Smallwood) and his wife Julie (Neff), who met at a grief support group (her daughter died of cancer), are joyful yet apprehensive since they got the news. Mostly they’re worried about how to handle a teen who doesn’t know them.
Then the doorbell rings and Michael’s ex-wife (Arrington) marches into the room, suitcase and all. Even though she divorced Michael then, she somehow expects an instant family reunion, even suggesting that Michael move to Toronto (where she moved after the divorce) and they can be a family again.
Meanwhile, bewildered girl rests in a hospital room as a doctor (Hopper) examines her. She thinks he might be Mr. Wolf. Then a policeman (Hopper) tells her that her father is coming to pick her up. She wonders if he’s Mr. Wolf.
The reunion doesn’t go well, as Theresa doesn’t recognize her parents and she refuses to be hugged. It’s clear that she doesn’t trust anyone, falling back on astronomical facts whenever she feels uneasy. When the policeman returns to ask questions about Mr. Wolf that the true horrors she endured are revealed.
Mr. Wolf runs through November 2nd in the Downstairs Theatre at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted Street, Chicago. Self-parking is available in the Steppenwolf Garage, accessible parking in the lot north of Front Bar. Valet parking is also available.
Running time is approximately 85 minutes, no intermission. Performances are Tuesdays through Fridays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays at 3:00 & 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3:00 pm. No 7:30 pm performances on Thursday, October 2nd, Wednesday, October 8th, Thursday, October 9th, Tuesday, October 14th and Tuesday, October 28th (Veteran’s Night). The will be an additional 2:00 pm matinee on Wednesday, October 22nd.
Accessible performances: Audio-described & touch tour, Sunday, October 12th at 3:00 pm (1:30 pm touch tour); Open-captioned, Saturday, October 4th at 3:00 pm and Thursday, October 23rd at 7:30 pm; ASL-interpreted, Friday, October 17th at 7:30 pm.
Tickets range from $20-128.50. FYI (312) 335-1650 or www.steppenwolf.org.