THE BIG FUNK
“Our fear is thick,” Shanley tells us through one of his characters in The Big Funk. “It’s casting a shadow like a thunderhead.” And before we can pull ourselves out of this funk we’ve got to admit we’re in it. “Look at your fear,” Shanley advises. “See the funk. See the funk we’re in. Look at nothing else. It’s our fear that’s created the thunderhead.”
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Shanley is a pretty familiar name on the theater circuit, but his works are probably a lot more familiar to theater professionals than to audiences. That’s because his monologues are among the most frequently used by actors at auditions, a fact suggesting he may be more talented at writing speeches than at crafting plays. Which is not to say that Shanley’s The Big Funk isn’t enjoyable. It has touching and funny moments, especially in the exceedingly well acted Chicago premiere it’s receiving from Strawdog Theatre Company. Shanley has an ear for turns of phrase, and he introduces us to some intriguing, mildly original characters, but in his eagerness to speechify he robs them of their appeal and depth. In the end his play is less the educational romp he intended than an overexplained civics lesson.
Shanley’s intentions are certainly good, but strip away all the well-meaning philosophy and there’s not much of a play here–just a jerky progression of scenes and monologues connected by the playwright’s desire to tell us what ails our society and prescribe a cure, which amounts to little more than what we’ve heard dozens of times before. And, to be truthful, his philosophy is a little disingenuous. If Shanley truly intends us to “seize the day” and live life to the fullest, we probably won’t sit through many more of his plays. For someone who’s so concerned with the passivity of modern man, Shanley has created a world that’s surprisingly stagnant and uninventive. Personally, I’d rather be shown Shanley’s vision of a perfect society than have him introduce me to a naked guy who’s going to lecture me for a half hour about what’s wrong with mine.
