Viable Theater Company Presents FEATHERSTONE, Now thru 11/23

Hard on the heels of three magnificent original plays ("The Observatory", "Venus Envy" and "Killing Angela"), the Viable Theater Company presents its fourth piece of riveting and challenging theater in as many years: the acerbic comedy, "Featherstone."

Set completely in the therapy office of the titular character and unveiled in real time, "Featherstone" is Albee's "Virginia Woolf" meets Fox's "House MD" by way of Ayckbourn's "The Norman Conquests." A disenchanted married couple (company member Steve Carter Ruppel and Adrienne Gunn) seeks the counsel of a psychologist who himself is disenchanted with people being disenchanted. "So you two are married?" Dr. Featherstone (company member Vincent Truman) asks at the beginning of the session. "Well, yes, sorry. My condolences. Sometimes these things happen."

During the course of the seventy-minute play, the foul-mouthed Dr. Featherstone initiates increasingly volatile games and lines of inquiry in order to peel back the well-established layers of his patients' lack of patience with each other. While these events are transpiring, Dr. Featherstone has to deal with the fact that his own layers of comfort - the electricity, the internet, the phones - are being systematically turned off due to lack of payment, all of which are reported dutifully by his African American adopted son, Michael (Phil DeVone).

"Featherstone" was written by Vincent Truman, whose writing has increasingly garnered the attention of critics and audiences alike. "The Observatory" was recommended as one of the top 20 independent shows of 2011; "Killing Angela" was lauded as a stunning drama of complexity, with it shifting of the characters between protagonist and antagonist; the feminist-leaning "Venus Envy" became known as much for the passionate talkback sessions that followed each performance as the material itself. "Featherstone" and its relentless assault on learned behavior being assumed as fact - an American pasttime at least as prevalent as football, baseball and hating certain politicians - carries on the high-level tradition in Truman's writing, which was honed during five years as head writer for the sketch comedy group Suspicious Clowns.

"Featherstone" runs Fridays through Sundays, between tonight, November 7 and November 23, at 8pm at The Charnel House, 3421 West Fullerton Avenue, in Chicago's Logan Square Neighborhood. Sunday performances are Understudy Feature Performances, starring Catherine Dvorak as the bitter Dr. Featherstone, with Brendan Blaine, Carolyn Reynolds and Kevin Patterson supporting.

Tickets are $15 in advance via www.vincenttruman.net. Tickets purchased at the door are cash only.