Takeaways: 'Jack of Hearts'
Further thoughts on Milwaukee Entertainment Group's "Jack of Hearts":
“The Gunslinger”: Gatesman’s mash-up of apocalyptic dystopia and an old-time American West recalls Stephen King’s “The Gunslinger,” first and darkest volume of his epic Dark Tower series. Set in an alternative universe in which one can hear “Hey Jude” playing in a primitive frontier town, King’s tale revolves around Roland. Like Jack, Roland is pining for a lost love, single-mindedly focused on his goal of saving the world, and ruthless to a fault in its pursuit, carried out against the backdrop of a ravaged West very much like the West that’s called The Wastes in Gatesman’s play. Yes: the third volume of King’s series is entitled “The Wastelands.” And yes: there are also parallels with the fifth volume in King’s series (“Wolves of the Calla”), in which Roland emboldens a cowed and isolated town to stand up against evil.
“Hamlet”: “Jack” also calls to mind “Hamlet,” and not just because Perkins’ clown is named Yorick. The battle between Jack and his father suggests Hamlet’s struggles with both Hamlet Senior and Claudius (themselves occasionally double cast); there are also parallels between a vaguely incestuous mother figure (played by Kim Emer) and Gertrude, and between Paul’s character and Ophelia (a role, incidentally, in which Paul would excel; here’s hoping she gets the chance to play it before she ages out).
Falling Bodies: The carnage in “Jack” also suggests “Hamlet,” although I can’t ever recall seeing any production of “Hamlet” with fight choreography as painfully bad as what’s currently on stage at the Brumder. The close quarters in this snug space don’t help; neither does the hokey sound design, which is never less convincing than when it gives us recorded gunshots as a substitute for stage guns being fired.
Josh Perkins: One scene with a dead body at the beginning of Act II, in which Perkins’ Yorick tries to hustle such a body off stage, involves some inspired physical humor, reminiscent of a first-rate vaudeville routine and accompanied by well written and zany patter. That patter is ostensibly about diet and nutrition, but Perkins leverages this into a life’s philosophy. So it goes with Perkins all night; taken in the aggregate, his crazy, over-the-top routines – each of them played for all it’s worth – become a resounding affirmation of life. Their effect is cumulative; I frankly found the character of Yorick annoying on first acquaintance, but I couldn’t get enough of him by night’s end.
April Paul: In my year-end theater summary for 2015, I noted the “quantum leap forward” that I’d seen from this actor, who I’ve had my eye on since her days as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. She’s picked up where she left off in 2016, with a major role in Forward Theater’s excellent production of “The Flick” and her integral role here as a cross between the ingénue she once was and the femme fatale she’s since become. Next up for Paul is her Renaissance Theaterworks stage debut this coming January, as a meth-addicted mother at the center of a custody dispute in Rebecca Gilman's “Luna Gale.” You can purchase tickets at www.r-t-w.com/luna-gale.html.
