During Thursday’s opening of the North American premiere of Brokeback Mountain at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, my mind flashed to the chorus of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.” Adapted by Ashley Robinson from the Annie Proulx short story, this tragic tale of two lost souls swimming in the fishbowl of rural Wyoming year after year, as they run over the same old ground and find the same old fears, ultimately packs an emotional punch. But it takes a while to get there.
As we watch young ranch hands Ennis Del Mar (Harrison Ball) and Jack Twist (Jack Cameron Kay) defend a herd of sheep from wolf predation in the remote environs of Brokeback Mountain, most of us know from the iconic movie that they are destined for a romantic relationship. Unfortunately, this production doesn’t fully sell the build-up to what will become an obsessive love affair spanning decades.
Jack catches a glimpse of Ennis bathing in a stream. They banter some about Jack’s rodeo days and Ennis’ dreams of buying a ranch on which he’ll raise a family with his bride-to-be, Alma (Cordelia Dewdney). And then one cold night, they share a pup tent and the fireworks go off.
Much of the play focuses on the perilously high stakes of starting such a relationship in the West of the early 1960s. We hear about people murdered on the suspicion they were gay. We see how those who suspect Jack and Ennis are lovers shun and disparage them. Ennis in particular is terrified of the potential consequences of what was seen at that time, in that place as a nearly unthinkable transgression.
Given all that, we need to see the development of an overpowering attraction between these two people in order to believe they would make the leap to expressing their affection. It has to be a life-and-death need, because it has life-and-death implications. Right now, the play, directed by Jonathan Butterell, doesn’t deliver that. The leads create engaging, well-defined characters, but they have work to do on the set-up.
Once the relationship is established, the story is compelling. We see the sacrifices these men make to keep their love alive even as they marry women and have children. The wife we see most, Alma, refuses to turn a blind eye to Ennis’ betrayal and rises from victimhood to create a life for herself and her twins with another man (Thomas Cox, showing great range in three supporting roles) after divorcing. Dewdney’s fine portrayal does not sugarcoat the fact that she is both a wronged woman and someone who holds strong anti-gay prejudices.
Tom Pye’s set smoothly transitions between Jack and Ennis’ home on the range to various small-town locales as the single act spans many years over the course of its brisk 90 minutes. A full country-western band fronted by The Balladeer (Kat Eggleston) also provides plenty of atmosphere, sounding like a cross between early 70s Neil Young and Emmylou Harris. But while the musical interludes are pretty, they are sometimes intrusive, with lyrics spelling out the story instead of letting us glean it from the performances onstage.
Even with those flaws, this is a show worth seeing. Ennis and Jack are fine company, and their love and loss hit home. They’re caught in an impossible situation, but can’t manage to quit it. Therein lies the tragedy and the haunting beauty of a story that continues to resonate.
Brokeback Mountain runs through June 28 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
For a full roundup of reviews of this show, visit Theatre in Chicago.
Photo by Kyle Flubacker
