Chicago Sun-Times - March 17, 2006

Curtain Call: Albany Park play hits close to home

By Mary Houlihan

The Albany Park Theater Project is always looking for interesting true-life stories on which to base its critically acclaimed productions. Its last show, "Saffron," was inspired by the oral histories of owners and customers of the Noon-O-Kabab Restaurant in Albany Park, a gathering place for recent immigrants. It was a remarkable creation filled with truth and beauty. For its new show, "God's Work," APTP found inspiration within its own ranks. The company is made up of teenagers and young adults ranging in age from 14 to 23 who work under the direction of founders David Feiner and Laura Wiley. Inspiration came from one of these young theater artists (Feiner declined to give her name) who told the company, which works as a collaborative unit, her harrowing, yet remarkable, story of life lived under a tyrannical father.

"She is one of the most resilient and generous and kind people that I've ever met," said Feiner of the young woman, who is now a junior in high school. "She had never shared her story with her friends but she was comfortable with the way APTP operated. Over 10 hours, her story unfolded."

One of 16 children (11 in the play) of Romanian-immigrant parents, she and her siblings suffered daily abuse from a religious tyrant father who considered himself an extension of God. He was not a drunk hurtling abuses but rather a calculated bully creating on a daily basis incessant tortures for the children. At the age of 9, she was taken out of her parents' home to live with an aunt and uncle, who unbeknown to her had taken her in for a short time as an infant.

"They had saved her pictures, toys and clothes," said Feiner. "Suddenly, she had a memory that none of her siblings had of a time when she was loved and nurtured. It was an important element of her healing."

The APTP process is not a quick one; "God's Work" has been incubating for more than two years. The company is known for its riveting and imaginative storytelling, which is embellished with creative choreography and music. Each member brings ideas to a given scene, which is fleshed out in a series of exercises and improv games. Over the process, the scenes are pulled together into a cohesive whole.

One powerful scene in "God's Work" involves a daily ritual forced on the children. After school each day, their father forced them to memorize an inordinate number of Bible verses. A feverish pitch would set in as the terrified children tried to master the words or face punishment.

The question was how to represent the children's inner turmoil onstage. Days and days were spent on this until one company member came up with the idea of reciting verses as he was somersaulting around the stage. A more choreographed version of the idea made it into the final version of the play; all 11 actors somersault around the stage at the same time.

"It translated into a powerful scene filled with high energy and fear," Feiner said.

"God's Work" opens tonight and continues through April 9 at the Eugene Field Cultural Center, 5100 N. Ridgeway. For tickets ($5-$15), call (773) 866-0875.