Willams and El-Amin
August Wilson's "Radio Golf" examines the effect greed and boundless ambition have on the soul.
El-Amin and Chisolm
The impeccable staging draws you in. Outside of character Harmond Wilks' (played by actor Hassan El-Amin) spare offices, you believe there is a blighted Pittsburgh neighborhood, succumbing to the effects of suburban flight, poverty and crime. Grafitti, broken window panes, trash...Goodman has created a realistic urban neighborhood to serve as a backdrop for this important piece of work.
Chilsom as Elder Joseph Barrow
The witty dialogue, both powerful and funny, also seduces you. Fabulously played by El-Amin, Michole Briana White (Mame Wilks), James A. Williams (Roosevelt Hicks), John Earl Jelks (Sterling Johnson) and Anthony Chisholm (Elder Joseph Barlow), these characters are smart, strong and vulnerable. Though Jelks and Chilsom threaten to steal the show, no one actor stands out - they all shine.
White and El-Amin
No matter how fantastic the set and the acting, it's the message - if you're willing to hear it - that stays with you, long after the lights have come up and the cast has taken its final bow. Harmond, Mame and Roosevelt are buppies - black urban professionals - who have gotten their piece of the pie. While making dollars and deals, they've lost sight of right and wrong, willing to use others, and let themselves be used, to realize their dreams. Enter Johnson, who is every bit as intelligent as Wilks but didn't have the same opportunities and Barlow, an old man carrying the wisdom that age brings, and Wilks finds his integrity. While trying to do the right thing, he risks his marriage, his friendship, his reputation and his livelihood.
"Radio Golf" is the last play in the late playwright's August Wilson's ten-play cycle that examined the experiences of black Americans in the 20th century. Goodman Theatre is the first theater to produce all ten plays in the cycle; "Radio Golf" looks at life in the 90s.
El-Amin and Chisolm
Runs through February 25.
For more information and to purchase tickets, contact the Goodman Theatre:
170 North Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60601
312.443.3800
www.goodmantheatre.org
Jelks and El-Amin
