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REVIEWS

With John Mahoney, a late-in-life romance surprises

★★★½

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
March 16, 2014
By CHRIS JONES

When Dan, the traumatized Irish man at the center of Christian O’Reilly’s Chapatti, pictures his beloved in the afterlife, he thinks of her as alone and lonely. “Incomplete without me,” he says.

We are not, of course, privy to the emotional states of the dearly departed, nor do we know how much company they have around them. But as that very fine actor John Mahoney makes abundantly clear in this simple but surprisingly intense new play from a young Galway, Ireland-based writer of great promise, Dan really is speaking of his own depressed state and his growing sense that life is not worth living without his lifelong love.

Dan speaks for a lot of people on both sides of the Atlantic, of course, even if they are rarely heard.

In recent interviews, Mahoney told a story about how O’Reilly had handed him this unproduced script while the actor, well known in Ireland for his television work, was working at the Galway Arts Festival in Ireland. Although he doesn’t usually read such things, and famous actors get a lot of plays thrust at them, Mahoney was faced with a broken electronic device and a long trans-Atlantic flight. And that, apparently, is how Chapatti ended up being developed in Skokie and had its world premiere there this weekend, with Mahoney in the lead role. It’s then on its way back to the Galway Arts Festival, where I suspect it will be very warmly received.

It is not difficult to see what Mahoney must have seen on the page.

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REVIEWS

Two lonely souls find new reasons to live in Chapatti

RECOMMENDED

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
March 16, 2014
By HEDY WEISS

Christian O’Reilly’s play, Chapatti, is easy to summarize. It’s the story of two lonely Dubliners in late middle age whose only real emotional ties are with their memories, their disappointments and their pets. And then they meet each other.

But that would be leaving out a natty suit and tie, and best of all, that fetching, curve-enveloping red dress. It also would be neglecting mention of the fact that the unlikely pair in this charming little two-hander, now in its world premiere at Northlight Theatre (and already booked for a visit to the Galway Arts Festival in July), is being brought to life by John Mahoney and Penny Slusher, two beguiling performers whose interplay (under the fleet direction of BJ Jones) serves as nothing less than a master class in acting.

Unfolding in a deft mix of heartache, despair and gentle comedy, the story is a mix of zesty self-narration and beautifully limned scene work. And it leaves you cheering for these two characters’ hard-won moments of happiness.

Mahoney is in top form – agile, crisp, volatile and, as ever, a minimalist who can achieve maximal effects. And Slusher, a true actor’s actor in this city, is so real, so full of barely suppressed fire and self-mocking indomitability, that she has you watching her every move. Best of all, they manage to sidestep sentimentality without sacrificing the special chemistry between them that is all but irresistible.

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REVIEWS

Review: Chapatti/Northlight Theatre

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NEWCITY
March 18, 2014
By AARON HUNT

That Mahoney is an international treasure is an understatement … He has perfected the character of the elegant curmudgeon; his harumphs and noisy throat-clearings making ballet music, his twinkling eyes dancingly admitting the subterfuge. As Dan, Mahoney mixes the angrily tight-lipped edge of his performance with a melancholy kindness.

A character actress possessed of coast-to-coast range, Slusher’s ability to portray an anvil-spirit wrapped in emotional gossamer has endeared her to Chicago audiences … Slusher leads an audience like a pied piper into an intimate friendship with her characters. We laugh and cry with her, and reach for the teapot when the cups need refilling. Slusher’s work makes the fourth wall completely transparent, and her Betty is another jewel in her well-deserved crown.

In a theatrical season full of character-driven offerings, where the audience’s investment in the characters is paramount, Director BJ Jones’ production never misfires. Take a hanky and a best friend, and get to Skokie straightaway, before Mahoney and Slusher get on that plane for Ireland.

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REVIEWS

John Mahoney, Penny Slusher a well-matched duo in Chapatti

★★★

DAILY HERALD
March 19, 2014
By BARBARA VITELLO

Director BJ Jones wisely cast Mahoney and Slusher, about as well-matched a duo as you’ll find on a Chicago-area stage.

Both actors take on several minor characters in addition to their principal parts. But the showier role belongs to Mahoney. He’s good. Slusher’s better.

Every note of Slusher’s performance rings true. Her imminently likable Betty is self-aware, self-deprecating and entirely selfless. Recognizing a drowning man when she sees one, she offers him a lifeline.

That she’ll convert dog-loving Dan I have no doubt. She may even get him to like cats.

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REVIEWS

Coming to terms with life in a heartfelt, wondrous way

★★★★

CHICAGO THEATER BEAT
March 24, 2014
By CATEY SULLIVAN

Cat people and dog people – they’re two distinct, irreconcilable types who tend to reciprocally look down on each other. But in Irish playwright Christian O’Reilly‘s poignant, funny and surprising Chapatti, mutts and felines pave the way for an unlikely common ground between pet owners. Directed by BJ Jones and starring Penny Slusher and John Mahoney, Chapatti is also a showcase for two of Chicago’s finest actors.

Deeply emotional but never cloying or sentimental, this world premiere follows the unexpected intersection between two late-middle age singletons, the one a lonely widow with 19 cats, the other a bereaved gentleman who lives only for his beloved dog.

With a narrative that gracefully moves from direct address to conventional dialogue in a production that alternates between stylized and realism, Chapatti is a mix of charm and intensity. Mahoney and Shlusher create characters that are complex and tremendously appealing. Slusher’s delivery of a monologue describing Betty’s difficult marriage is heartbreaking; Mahoney has a gravesite scene that is at once shocking, wrenching and enraging. Together, they have chemistry to burn – watch for the scene wherein Betty dons a figure-hugging, candy-apple red dress: She’s incandescent. Both Betty and Dan go through an emotional wringer over the course of Chapatti.

Watching them hurt, heal and ultimately come to terms with their lives and each other is truly a rich, wonderful experience.

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PREVIEWS

John Mahoney finds home onstage after Frasier

ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 12, 2014
By CARYN ROUSSEAU

John Mahoney is known to most television fans for playing Frasier Crane’s father on the long-running series Frasier, but the actor has spent much of his time in the years since the show ended pursuing roles on stage.

“You just get such better parts on stage and that’s primarily what I’ve done,” he said in an interview. “I’m almost never out of work and it’s almost always on stage.”

The Tony-winning actor’s latest stint is at Northlight Theatre in the Chicago suburb of Skokie, where he stars in Chapatti. The piece is by Irish playwright Christian O’Reilly and tells the story of a man living in Dublin with his dog named Chapatti. It runs March 7 to April 13 before going to Galway, Ireland.

The play’s director, Northlight Theatre artistic director BJ Jones, said Mahoney isn’t pretentious and describes him as “a real Chicago kind of guy.”

He’s done more than 30 productions with Steppenwolf and has performed in plays around the world. Audiences are drawn to Mahoney’s honesty and magnetism on stage, Jones said.

“I think an audience sees spiritually who John is,” Jones said. “They can sense he is a human being. They can see themselves in him. So an audience sees truth there. The kind of truth they can identify with.”

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PREVIEWS

John Mahoney back at Northlight for Chapatti

PIONEER PRESS
March 5, 2014
By CATEY SULLIVAN

A decade after his last episode on the hit sitcom Frasier, venerable actor John Mahoney, 73, can afford to be super-selective about when and where he wants to work.

Having famously portrayed Martin Crane on the well-regarded TV show from 1993 until 2004, the Oak Park resident allows that he has the luxury of being particular with his projects. Over the past year, he’s opted for roles that took him from Hollywood to Liverpool, England and finally, to Skokie, where he’ll star in Northlight Theatre’s world premiere production of playwright Christian O’Reilly’s bittersweet drama, Chapatti.

“I don’t pursue TV or film much anymore, unless it’s something I really, really want to do,” Mahoney explains shortly after returning from stints in California, where he played Betty White’s boytoy in Hot in Cleveland and from Liverpool, where he shot a guest starring spot on the acclaimed British series Foyle’s War. “I’m perfectly happy going on stage in Chicago,” he adds.

Northlight audiences reciprocate the enthusiasm. Mahoney was crucial to the box office and critical success of 2011’s The Outgoing Tide, a project that fortuitously took Mahoney, Northlight Artistic Director BJ Jones and co-star Rondi Reed to Ireland for a run at the Galway Arts Festival. That trip, Mahoney recalls, was directly responsible for his involvement in Chapatti.

“Christian [O’Reilly] slipped the script under the door of my dressing room one night,” Mahoney says. “You know, they tell actors not to read unsolicited scripts. You’re just not supposed to do that. But I had nothing to read on the plane back to Chicago, so I read it. And when we landed, I called BJ.”

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The Top 5 Things to Do in Chicago This Week

CHICAGO MAGAZINE
March 5, 2014

#1 Chapatti

Theatre: A pair of magnificent actors-John Mahoney and Penny Slusher-team up for Christian O’Reilly’s Dublin-set romance between a man, a woman, 19 cats, and the titular beast: a dog.  Read more>

Eight Great Comedies Playing in Chicago in March

CHICAGO MAGAZINE
February 27, 2014
By CATEY SULLIVAN

Critic’s Pick – Chapatti  Read more>

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