Theater League's Diary of a Skokie Girl at The Viad Playhouse on the Park
(out of 
)Mark S.P. Turvin
(home office) (602) 912-0117
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@goldfishpublishers.com
Reviewed 1/22/99
(out of )A few weeks ago, in my review of The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm, I railed against the Musical Revue as a form of theatre. This week, I take up arms against what I consider glorified Stand-Up Comedy, the One-Person Show. As a playwright, I've always been tempted to put my thoughts into a one-person show format, but could never get past the self-indulgent feel of this style of writing. Some writers can pull it off with interesting results, such as Beckett's experimental Krapp's Last Tape. Most, though, wind up being humorous, passive, self-centered viewpoints that cannot escape looking like high-end, somewhat more dramatic stand-up routines. Some people enjoy this, some don't. I try to give each one a chance at their own success and failure. Most haven't quite cut it from where I sit.
So, with much fear and trepidation, I entered Caryn Bark's
very Jewish, very Chicago-centric world with Diary of a
Skokie Girl. I am only half-Jewish, and have never set
foot in the city that calls itself "The Hog Butcher to the
World" (why any self-respecting Jew would live in a city
with that moniker still escapes me), and can say only this: It's
funny at times, it's touching at times, and it's always consciously
self-referential. In other words, it's still just this side of
a stand-up routine. And while it is sometimes funny, and sometimes
touching, it is also a bit exclusionary. Ms. Bark does as much
as she can to explain the Yiddish terms that she's liberally sprinkled
throughout the intermission-less hour-and-a-half, as well as the
local references she makes concerning the '60s and '70s Skokie
of her youth, but an audience member's enjoyment-level definitely
increases the closer they are to either or both of these two prevalent
subjects.
Ms. Bark's show is exactly what the name implies, a peek back
through the diary of her youth at her perceptions and obsessions
while growing up Jewish in a very Jewish suburb of Chicago. Her
comparisons to '60s television families and her own are enjoyable,
as are her more universal observations, such as those of the bridesmaid's
blues, but as the focus grows more narrow and the references more
specific, one gets the uncanny feeling of being on the outside
of some inside jokes. I feel for those non-midwestern gentiles
in the audience who are watching joke after joke fly over their
uncovered heads.
Ms. Bark is a very good story-teller, and while she might not
be as "precise" as a Spaulding Gray, or as maniacally
biting and funny as gifted one-person show veteran Jackie Mason
(whom Theater League is bringing to town in May), she will
have people rolling in the aisles when they get her jokes. It's
the "getting them" part that worries me.
For those who are members of these religious and/or geographic
groups, you are bound to enjoy this comic stroll. For those who
never lived on Lake Michigan, and/or have not enjoyed "a
'nice' brisket," you may want to wait for the funny, though
more inclusive, humor of Jackie Mason.
Production Details:
Diary of a Skokie Girl by Caryn Bark
Theater League
Viad Playhouse on the Park, Phoenix
(602) 503-5555
January 22nd - February 14th, 1999