Review: Heart of Gold's AN INTERVENTION at Pierce Hall At The Historic Chicago Temple Building

The Heart of Gold Theatre presents its inaugural show in the basement Pierce Hall theater of the beautiful Historic Chicago Temple Building, a sharp production of An Intervention, directed by Aaron Henrickson and starring Artistic Director Taylor Adams. The 2014 award-winning and timeless dramatic comedy by Mike Bartlett remains ever relevant today as we explore interventions on multiple fronts. 

Our unnamed characters A (Amanda Egle) and B (Taylor Adams) have been friends for three years (with A claiming B as her best friend, a sentiment which was reluctantly accepted, though not fully reciprocated, by B). We open with them disagreeing about the government’s imminent military intervention in another Middle East country, with A vehemently opposed and even attending protests to say as such, while B fully supports the intervention, believing it’s necessary and best for everyone involved. 

Another point of contentious discussion is Hannah, who B is seeing much to A’s dismay. A pleas for B to leave the relationship, claiming that B is not the friend she thought he was. Meanwhile, B uses Hannah as a cover to avoid having real conversations with A. B also points out that A has a drinking problem, approached delicately at first but eventually devolves into combative confrontations (not helped by Hannah’s pointed remarks and attempts at her own intervention). 

Over the course of five scenes and many months, we watch these two friends bicker, fight, make tenuous amends, and then reopen wounds again about the overseas war, A’s drinking problem, and B’s relationship — all the standard points of discussion for a healthy, happy friendship. The show has a simple set, taking place in front of a curtain with minimal props (mostly wine glasses and port bottles), letting us focus solely on the substance of their debate and the intimate connection of their relationship. 

Behind her unrelenting clever retorts and double-fisting alcohol, A is masking some deep insecurities about her life. Egle balances A’s strong personality and drunk unfiltered rants with moments of vulnerable fragility. Whether it’s the unresolved trauma from a childhood classmate or other feelings of inferiority, Egle captures the nuances of how drinking and fixating on geopolitical debates can be used as a crutch for deeper, unresolved problems (with content warnings for alcohol and suicide). She pushes B away with her attacks on his position on the invasion and his relationship with Hannah, but it’s that familiar tendency of pushing a friend away as a call for help to desperately bring them closer. 

B on the other hand is the typical dull man wearing a suit jacket who likes to debate politics for debate sake. Adams plays B straight, showing concern for A’s drinking problem but little emotion besides anger. However, in the fourth scene, we learn why B is so passionate about this military intervention. Adams does a powerful job rooting us in the complicated perspectives that everyone might bring to geopolitical tensions and interpersonal relationships 

Egle and Adams are good foils for each other in temperament and energy, with A giving B more spark and fire in life while B steadies A and keeps her grounded through their fast-paced dialogue and quick-witter banter. While the military intervention overseas is simply the background for heated discussions about moral characters, it also reveals what happens when our convictions falter and boil to a head — and the costs to our friendships that remind us of what really matters. 

As with everything in life, the personal is political, and the political is personal. This friendship that was founded and built around controversial debates and intellectual discussions brings that point to the forefront and tackles what it means to be human and what we owe each other. Bartlett wrote this play about Syria in 2014, but as we in 2026 continue to watch Israel’s ongoing genocide in Palestine and reckon with the escalating US war on Iran, the show continues to be disturbingly relevant. In the face of injustices that shake us to our core and politics that deepen an ever-growing divide, how can we ever find hope? 

The answer to that can be found in theater and the arts. At its heart, An Intervention is grounded in the humanity of A and B, as well as the humanity of everyone we care about — whether they are close friends, distant acquaintances, or nameless strangers. This inaugural production from The Heart of Gold Theatre portrays this heavy topic with light humor, delicate soul, and strong performances from Egle and Adams. 

An Intervention runs through August 9 at Pierce Hall at The Historic Chicago Temple Building (77 West Washington Street). Tickets are $25 plus fees. 

Reader Reviews

To post a comment, you must register and login.

Need more Chicago Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...