A Slow Air review- superior acting by Steep Theatre Company

The Chicago premiere of David Harrower’s A Slow Air is currently in production by Steep Theatre Company, flawlessly directed by Robin Witt, at The Edge Off Broadway, 1133 W. Catalpa, Chicago, through March 1, 2025. This is acting at a very high level, go see this play! 

The playwright has crafted and the actors- Peter Moore as Athol and Kendra Thulin as Morna- have embraced and grown into 2 characters who are the distilled essence of their culture and ethos. Of course, it’s also a story- the tale of a brother and sister who have separated and come back together through their joint and separate love of a child. More than this, it’s a piece of artwork, a demonstration of the power of interpretive language- verbally and bodily.

 Athol lives in Houston, Renfrewshire, Scotland, about 2 hours by bus from Edinburgh, where Morna lives. He’s a married childless builder, always on the hunt for new contracts and sensitive to snubs. She’s a single mum and a housecleaner for “the quality”, with an eye for the lads, a thirst for the pubs, and a deep love for her son. She prefers U2, he digs Simple Minds.

Their current story and their joint past are told in strips of monologue, accented, nuanced, drawing you in with the offhand descriptions they offer, revealing their slights, their dreams, their alternate approaches to love born of the same ma and da. He cares what others’ think; she flaunts her brief and hard-won individuality. He is daunted by knowledge that 2 of the perpetrator’s of the 2007 Glasgow airport terrorist car-bombing attack lived in his neighborhood. She invades her employee’s rich townhouse.  He doesn’t drink, she relishes the poteen. He’s buttoned to the neck emotionally, she lets it all hang out.  Still, they are of the same basic stuff, of essential decency, of a deep dour nature, bred to accept their fate, even as they curse about the unfair advantages of some.

The stage is painted prison green yet bare, the lighting dim and careful, the sounds eerie and spare, the costumes simple and single. The only accoutrements are the words, and the superior acting producing a jointure between the audience and the principals that is deep and riveting. This drawing-in of the viewers is composed of much more than just the written words come to life. The intonations of sadness, just this side of despair, layered into the Scottish burrs, the lifts of Moore’s eyebrows, the shrugging of Thulin’s shoulders, are expressive and profound. Although the 2 on the stage do not even glance at each other, they are marked for life, bound for life, and bind us all together, spectator and performer, into a hope for their future happiness together.  

Kudos to the production team: Sotirios Liveditis, Scenic Designer, for the all-purpose close-in space; Eric Watkins, Lighting Designer, for the spotlit stars; Christopher Kriz, original music composer and Sound Designer, for the ambience; Aly Arnidel, Costume Designer, for the casual togs.

All photos by Joseph Chretien-Golden

For information and tickets to all the unique and special shows of Steep Theatre Company, go to www.steeptheatre.com