Chicken by Mike Batistick
“A chicken is not just a chicken.”
This is what Floyd (Paul Felder) tells Wendell (Ethan Lipkin) at the very beginning of the show, and it foreshadows everything to come. A friend is not just a friend; a wife is not just a wife. Any way you take it, nothing and no one, are exactly what they seem.
Chicken is about cockfighting, but at the same time, the show has nothing to do with cockfighting. Written by Mike Batistick and directed by Neill Hartley, New City Stage Company’s most recent performance, Chicken, is a fierce piece of theatre that shatters the preconceptions of dysfunctional families and friendships to see the core that lies inside every relationship. Not one of the characters in this show is honest, but who, in truth, is always honest? Lina (Charolette Northeast) isn’t honest with Wendell, Wendell keeps secrets from Lina and Floyd is a walking contradiction.
Of course, this “big, weird family” is more than just the sum of all their lies. They love and hate. They cheat and steal. They’re hardly perfect, but they’re a reflection of society. The audience cannot stop rooting for them for them to succeed because they’re really rooting for themselves.
Over the course of the show, we see each character fighting with their own demons, much like in the cockfights for which the characters participate. The cockfights become just a pretense for the battles each character faces. Each character succumbs to his or her own weaknesses, no one learning and no one overcoming. Essentially, at the end of the show, every character has failed, but at the same time, they’re all given a new beginning.
This dark comedy will make you laugh but at the same time make you wonder why you can’t seem to smile. Excellent acting dominates this show and Paul Felder shines through, effectively stealing the show. A creative use of space and a beautifully worn out set further provide the show an uncomfortable, yet homey atmosphere, one that is apparent before the lights ever go up. Although it was undoubtedly a challenging piece of theatre to produce, New City Stage Company has done a superb job of rising to the challenge.
New City Stage Company presents Chicken, written by Mike Batistick and directed by Neill Hartley. April 9th-26th at the Second Stage at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom Street. Tickets $16-$20. 215-563-7500, www.newcitystage.org.
