There’s not much of a track record in recent history of truly conservative plays. From the 20th century on, theatre has shown up far more often in opposition to the policies of governments. Fugard, Havel, Brecht were all more interested in challenging the status quo than supporting it. Even great American playwrights like Miller, Williams and Shepard—generally not thought of as political—come down on the side of individual iconoclasts rather than society’s norms and rules. I have even had arguments about what a conservative play would look like.

Of course, if you go back to the Greeks, you can see some examples, particularly from Aeschylus and Sophocles, although Euripides and Aristophanes challenged the status quo. Shakespeare had a strong conservative streak as well, writing as he did in a time when theatre had better please a royal patron.

But nowadays it’s unusual to even see a conservative character onstage who isn’t set up as the antagonist, or at least as an obstacle to the play’s forward movement. Generally politicians, businessmen and church leaders are not sympathetic centers of the story, but conniving, self-interested defenders of a status quo that favors them.

That’s the most refreshing thing about New Colony’s 11:11, now appearing in the new studio space at the Biograph Theatre. With one exception, every character in the play is unapologetically Christian. And by Christian, in this case I definitely mean the sort of Christian where they’ve been saved. There’s no doubt that their churches, at least, oppose abortion, gay marriage and fall firmly into what we now describe politically as the Christian Right.

It’s the beginning of another summer camp session at Camp Methuselah Pines, and Kip, who owns and runs the camp, has gathered his counselors together on the eve of campers arriving. This night is traditionally a chance for counselors—most of whom were campers once upon a time themselves—to get reacquainted, get things ready for the kids and have a good time. The wild card this year is the arrival of Jack, the new lifeguard (and a woman) who has never been to the camp before. When her “Aleve” gets shared out unbeknownst to her and turns out to be Ecstasy, things come to a crisis that gives these young people the chance to open up about their own doubts, challenges and cherished beliefs.

While many of these characters struggle with their faith, they do so assuming that faith is valuable and their struggle is to keep it, rather than be rid of it. Even Jack, who describes herself as an atheist, has a background in a conservative church that still clearly informs her choices. And, lest 11:11 sound too much like an after-school-special drama, Evan Linder and Tara Sissom’s script spends most of its time as a comedy. The young cast has built a remarkable rapport, owning the text as though they were improvising the material, and their genuineness keeps any comment on their characters and their beliefs at bay.

Director’s Meg Johns’ cast makes 11:11 worth watching. She keeps things moving. The serviceable set evokes the bare wood walls any camp goer of any faith will probably remember well. While the play is clearly most comfortable as a comedy about young people seeking to resolve their faith and the world in which they live—rather than a drama on the same subject—it also spends most of its time there and might provide a non-judgmental insight for modern-day theatre’s typically liberal audience, into the mindset of conservative Christian youth in this country.

11:11, New Colony

Chris Jones, Tribune—“[T]here’s no question that this is the equal, if not the better of, a good portion of the writing on television. You find yourself caught up in the dilemmas of these college kids, even if you feel like you’ve seen them before. And Sissom and Linder know how to keep things honest (mostly, anyway) and funny. The emotional content could (and should) be much more intense, but the core is there in strong performances from the likes of Wes Needham, Kevin Strangler, Sissom herself and, best of all, Whit Nelson.”

Tony Adler, Reader—“Especially as performed by New Colony’s amazingly sharp and intimate cast, the first half of this new play—about Christian summer-camp counselors who take Ecstasy thinking it’s Aleve—is hilarious. The second half dulls out some as the counselors, crashing, get all earnest and plaintive and start confessing to spiritual doubts, personal animosities, and—predictably—the sort of sexual feelings that can keep a guy out of fundamentalist heaven. But the most impressive thing about the show, funny or dull, is the respect it evinces for the characters.”

Melissa Albert, Time Out—“This sweet and featherweight play takes a textured approach to the familiar sitcom trope of a bunch of squares accidentally ingesting a mind-altering drug. The unwitting rollers of 11:11 (the name refers to a Bible verse) are a pack of Christian counselors on the eve of another “best summer ever” at Camp Methuselah, where they swallow Ecstasy tabs smuggled in by the camp’s new lifeguard in an Aleve bottle. Yes, making out under the influence ensues, as do dramatic revelations and wacky strobe-lit dances. But the cast, playing it in eight different shades of earnest, beautifully portrays the questing, hormonal curiosity of young adulthood, leavened with buoyant comic timing."

The Analytical Engine, Circle Theatre

Nina Metz, Tribune—“Directed by Bob Knuth (who recently helmed Little Women at Circle with considerably stronger results), about half of the cast is pretty good, including the playwright himself (who portrays one of Hippolyta’s suitors), and Denita Linnertz, who wipes the floor as Lady Ada Lovelace, an actual historical figure (and the only child of poet Lord Byron) who did indeed work on plans for an early computer. Towering over the rest of the cast (men included), Linnertz is a confident breath of fresh air and believable acting.”

Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“[Playwright Jon] Steinhagen’s play (a winner of the 2008-09 Julie Harris Playwrighting Award) is now in a sparklingly acted, handsomely designed debut production at Forest Park’s Circle Theatre . And while it is not always the most subtle exercise in storytelling (its plotting can be overly mechanical, and its second act could use some solid reworking), it winningly mixes historical fact with fanciful fiction and lively wordplay. And it serves as a reminder that the heart invariably has a mind of its own, and that no scientific or mathematical analysis can accurately predict the chemistry of human attraction.”

Jack Helbig, Reader—“Set in the 1850s, The Analytical Engine concerns a fictional inventor, Hippolyta, who uses Babbage’s machine to find her ideal future husband. Complications ensue, of course, but none that push the story above the sit-com level or keep the paper-thin characters from overstaying their welcome. It doesn’t help that those characters do way too much talking—Steinhagen is in love with exposition—and that much of the comedy falls flat. The production does contain several strong performances, including Steinhagen’s own turn as Hippolyta’s likable but flawed suitor.”

Caitlin Montanye Parrish, Time Out—“The cast has tremendous fun with a simple and formulaic script, particularly author Steinhagen as the lovelorn Eppa. He’s an endearing Eeyore, complementary to the Tigger-ish Austin. Elizabeth Wislar’s costumes are spot-on Victorian, growing increasingly, awesomely Scarlett O’Hara deranged. A token British aristocrat (Linnertz’s Lady Lovelace) jokes that one of her huge, curtains-ish dresses barely fits in the room; Wislar’s taken that line and run with it to dizzying heights. Knuth’s production has a great sense of humor about itself, as enjoyable and unchallenging as candy.”

I Am a Camera, The Neo-Futurists

Nina Metz, Tribune—“I found it hard to connect with a few of Allen’s thought experiments and montages, but he has cast a pair of warm, accessible performers who are very much in tune with the open-hearted Neo-Futurist aesthetic. They are coy about their romantic status, and I suspect that is half the point. How do you perceive their relationship, especially as depicted in these photographs? Sher in particular has a natural sense of humor, and when Stainken asked him a question by simply holding up a photo of the two in a sexual embrace, he quipped: ‘We had entirely different perceptions about what camping meant.’”

Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“The two actor-writers are likable, and just vulnerable enough to keep you interested. A segment of travel photos becomes an intriguing little statement about how travelers do (and do not) fit into ‘exotic landscapes.’ And there are a few simple but playful projection tricks to enjoy as well. But there’s also quite a bit of dead space in the show, and nothing particularly revelatory about the nature of photography.”

Kerry Reid, Reader—“Underdeveloped but dotted with winsome flashes of insight, Greg Allen’s meditation on photography and identity is warmhearted in a minor-key way. Jeremy Sher and Caitlin Stainken reveal personal information and share anecdotes about work, romance, and family life, using a variety of photographic images to illustrate. At one point, they sit at a table, with an assortment of photos of themselves in various postures, and improvise responses to each other’s questions by pointing out an appropriate picture. It’s enjoyable, but I found myself hoping for a little more tension and conflict after a while, or at least a palpable sense of the existential regret that looking at old photos can sometimes engender.”

Kris Vire, Time Out—“Stainken and Sher are casually engaging, and much of what draws us in is their chemistry and a question that goes unanswered, about the nature of their real-life relationship. But while Allen and the performers find plenty of nifty uses of photography, we can’t say they achieve much insight into the nature of our relationship with the medium. Much of the show, set to a soundtrack of camera-themed tunes by the likes of Sufjan Stevens and Death Cab for Cutie, feels like vamping to fill out the hour: A sequence in which the actors use sheets of paper to catch small pieces of projected photos is a lovely image, but it goes on for three songs.”

The Skin of Our Teeth, The Artistic Home

Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“The cast is full of winning turns, with Eustace Allen as the droll Stage Manager, Stacie Doublin as a most amusing fortune teller, backed by Helen Young, Luis Crespo, Matt Welton, Grace Goble and Kristin Anderson. They are all outfitted in Aly Renee Greaves’ expertly character-defining costumes, with everything from dinosaur and wooly mammoth suits to those aprons and cardigans that enable humans to survive by the skin of their teeth.”

Albert Williams, Reader—“Director Jeff Christian has sure-handedly guided a 12-member cast through drastic shifts in tone, from cartoonish freneticism to somber gravity, aided by designers Joseph Riley (set), Julian Pike (lights), Alyson Greaves (costumes), and Mikhail Fiksel and Miles Polaski (sound). The ensemble deftly negotiate what are in essence dual roles: they play both their characters and themselves—actors who gradually gain courage and strength by performing the play.”

Kris Vire, Time Out—“The out-of-time aspect makes the play’s 1942 outlook hard to swallow, particularly in its sexual politics: Patriarch George Antrobus goes to the office to invent the alphabet and the wheel, while wife Maggie invents cooking and sewing. Wilder also sets up a Madonna-Whore dichotomy between Maggie and attempted seductress Sabina. Director Christian doesn’t quite strike the tone needed to make this tricky script viable, though there are moments (as in Stacie Doublin’s terrific monologue as a fortune teller). And Maria Stephens isn’t commanding enough as Sabina, rushing through her lines; she’s no match for Kathy Scambiatterra’s authoritative Maggie.”

Jonathan Abarbanel, Windy City—“Fortunately, director Jeff Christian is not buried by the play. He and the Artistic Home succeed admirably where many others have failed. First, Christian uses simple staging devices and the audience’s imagination to create the play’s shifting landscapes, climates and disasters so the need for special effects doesn’t overwhelm the production. Next, Christian and cohorts strike just the right balance between farcical and satiric elements in acts I and II and the solemnity of Act III. Christian lets his actors be big where needed for comic effect, then pulls them back precisely on schedule. Finally, the production avoids any whiff of cynicism over Wilder’s cautionary but optimistic elegy to the resilience and innate goodness of Mankind”

Quote of the Fortnight:

“Expectations were especially high for the world premiere of Brett C. Leonard’s The Long Red Road at the Goodman, thanks to the Chicago directing debut of Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, and the casting of rising British film and stage star Tom Hardy in a leading role written for him. And I am pleased to say that the set and lighting design meet those expectations”—Brian Hieggelke reviewing the Goodman’s production of The Long Red Road in New City.