As I was walking to get some lunch, a man passed me on the street. He was talking to himself in an animated way that suggested a serious and contentious conversation with an invisible person. For some reason this all too common occurrence struck me as slightly irritating today and I wanted to tap him on the shoulder and ask, ‘Who the hell are you talking to?’

I was reading on the train tonight and missed my stop. Fortunately, mine is the second from the last stop on the northbound Red Line so I just needed to switch trains at Howard and head back south. I witnessed something that I know happens but I had never seen before. At 2am, at least half a dozen other people went from the northbound train back to the southbound train with me. They were homeless and obviously switching trains so that they could ride the train all night in order to have a safe place to sleep, away from the streets and the cold. It was heartbreaking.

Mental illness is the ageless pandemic that plagues humanity, taking on many forms. I’ve yet to figure out why it is frustrating in one incarnation and tragic in another. Such is the fluctuating, fluid and all too often fleeting notion of human compassion.

This vacillating empathy lies at the heart of Herman Melville’s strange story. Bartleby shows up one day at a legal office. He is peculiarly stoic and almost silent but the proprietor hires him as a law copyist, also known as a scrivener. Freakishly industrious at first, Bartleby wins the heart of his boss and the suspicions of his coworkers. With no provocation, after a couple weeks on the job he stops working. When pressed for a reason he simply states, “I would prefer not to.”

He inhabits the office like an almost catatonic ghost, disrupting the staff and disheartening his employer who becomes evermore irritated and simultaneously evermore deeply concerned. After weeks of Bartleby’s inexplicably looming silent strangeness, the staff presses for his dismissal. Even after Bartleby is fired, he stays in the office. Even after the business packs up and changes location, he stays in the building. Finally he is imprisoned for vagrancy and his former boss frantically tries to provide for this poor tortured soul but Bartleby refuses to eat and dies in jail.

Mary-Arrchie Theatre presents a strikingly profound Chicago premiere of R.L. Lane’s interesting, albeit cumbersome, adaptation of Bartleby The Scrivener. Director Richard Cotovsky’s precise vision of the story is magnificently rendered by the mostly exceptional ensemble and truly gifted design team.

This remarkably odd story is realized by an engaging cast. Shirley Cean Rogiers is delightfully impish as Ginger Nut, the office gofer. Carlo Lorenzo Garica adds subtle dimensions to Nippers, a perfectly miserable scrivener. Leonard Kraft steals the show as Turkey, the aged staff member of the office, always ready with an eccentric analogy or off-beat metaphor. Kraft’s ‘must see’ performance captures the hearts of the audience and exemplifies how just how much an experienced actor can add to a production. Kevin V. Smith is perfectly freakish as Bartleby. Unwavering in his oddity, he embodies the startling strangeness of this pathetic character with complete conviction and believability.

Todd Lahrman’s portrayal of Standard, the business owner who befriends Bartleby, is the most demanding role in the play as it sets the tone for all of the action. Standard’s narrative moves the story along and it is in Standard that we see the biggest personal struggle. In 1850 there was not a lot of social services in place for someone like Bartleby. His fate was left to those who he happened to come in contact with and Standard wants to help but Bartleby blocks his attempts. Bartleby extracts compassion from Standard that he never before experienced. Lahrman commendably struggles with this part. He conveys the necessary information and emotion but fails to completely engage the audience with the actual depth of his character’s transformation. Lahrman looks the part but doesn’t fully captivate in it.

Matt Reese’s minimal scenic design is alluring before the play even begins as we see the sparse office backlit from light coming through the dirty window of the office’s door. Matthew Gawryk & Nic Jones’s lighting design is subtly dramatic. Stefin Steberl’s costume design is excellent and Joe Court’s sound design rounds off the lovely cinematic atmosphere beautifully.

Living in a large city, we are faced with the strange and sad manifestations of mental illness on a daily basis. It is so common in fact that we often don’t give it a second thought. Bartleby The Scrivener is a haunting character study that inspires reexamination of how we view those less fortunate around us.

Although not entirely on the mark, this delicate and stunning production exemplifies Mary-Arrchie’s impressive staying power, lasting over two decades as a vital fixture in Chicago theater while maintaining the fearlessness and freshness of a fledgling company. If you already know Mary-Arrchie’s work, this thought-provokingly powerful production will reinforce your respect for them. If you have never seen them before, Bartleby will make you wish you had been there since their first show in 1986.

3 STARS

(”Bartleby the Scrivener” runs through April 11 at Angel Island, 735 W. Sheridan. 773-871-0442.)

Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co.

Bartleby the Scrivener production photos by Kristie Shanley

By Venus Zarris (CHICAGO STAGE REVIEW)

Famous Melville novella comes to life at Angel Island

Kudos to Mary-ArrchieTheatre and director Richard Cotovsky for producing Bartleby the Scrivener. This simple allegorical drama is deep in meaning as we struggle to discover who the enigmatic Bartleby is and why he reacts as he does. Herman Melville’s novella, in an adaptation by R. L. Lane, is set in 1853 on Wall Street in the emerging financial district of New York City.

Standard (Todd Lahrman) runs a well respected law firm. He is a mild-mannered, ethical attorney with a busy practice. He finds himself in need of another scrivener (one who copies legal documents by hand). He completes his staff of scriveners with the stoic Bartleby (Kevin V. Smith)—a quiet, unassuming and totally focused man. Bartleby copies legal documents with a laser beam like ferocity.

He is surrounded by interesting fellow scriveners. Turkey (Leonard Kraft) is the aging copier who works fine in the morning but fades after drinking too many glasses of ale at lunch. Nippers (Carlo Lorenzo Garcia) is the younger scrivener who is grumpy in the morning but effective the rest of the day. Then there is the boy Ginger Nut (Shirley Cean Rogiers) who is both a scrivener and the office schlepper. Their delicate office balance is disturbed by Bartleby’s individuality. His silent resolve quickly makes him an outsider with whom Standard both admires and loathes. Bartleby sure marches to the beat of his own drummer. When told to do something other than copy a document, Bartleby stands and stiffly states: “I would prefer not to.” No explanation—just that short polite but firm utterance. Standard and the staff are rattled. Bartleby quietly returns to his desk to do more copying.

As Bartleby’s quiet resistance increases, the office and his fellow scriveners sink into near chaos. Standard is frustrated yet admirers Bartleby despite his quirkiness. As Bartley becomes more defiant and useless, Standard grows weary yet continues to try to befriend the silent, lonely Bartley.

The play moves from farce to tragedy and back again. We never learn much about Bartley but we witness Standard’s humanity as he supports Bartley despite his self-destructiveness. Todd Lahrman anchors the play as Standard while Kevin V. Smith was brilliant as the restrained Bartley. Smith stands still with a frozen expression for minutes at a time in one of the most discipline performances I’ve witnessed in many a year. I believe Melville uses Bartley as a symbolic figure to represent man’s quiet resistance to conformity as modern business renders people into assembly work—such as scrivener perform. Friendship and tolerance toward the quirks of others are also highlighted here. There are several valid interpretations of Bartley’s behavior—see this worthy show and judge for yourself Bartley motivation. This is a gem of a show.

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Tom Williams