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Regional Reviews: Washington, D.C. The Second City Presents: Nothing to Lose (But Our Chains) Also see Susan's reviews of Twelfth Night, Annie, Crazy for You, and Nina Simone: Four Women
Munk is now respected as a performer and author, but—as he recounts with the help of four other company members—he didn't take an easy road to get there. The performance follows the story of his life: his upbringing with a single mother, who raised him herself rather than allowing wealthy family friends to adopt him; coping with a difficult father and stepfather; becoming a drug dealer in his teens; getting involved in an incident that landed him in prison for six years; discovering after his release that selling cars can be just as unethical as selling drugs; developing political consciousness after visiting the protests in Ferguson, Missouri; finding salvation in live performance. It's a hell of a story, told honestly with a lot of humor and self-forgiveness. "The choices you make affect more lives than your own," says Odinaka Ezeokoli, who represents Munk's conscience, while McKenzie Chinn, Angela Alise, and Calvin Evans wander in and out as his parents and other figures in his life. Today Munk has settled into domestic life with a wife and baby, but he emphasizes that he wouldn't be where he is now had he not gone through what he went through earlier in life. Director Anthony LeBlanc has staged the performance on a dark-walled, utilitarian set designed by Colin K. Bills, with nondescript costumes by Robert Croghan. Spectacle isn't the issue here, truth is.
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company |
