THEATER REVIEW 'ROMANCE' Not make acceptableed When: [i]or[/i] part of to the other April 23 Where: Goodman's Owen Theatre.

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THEATER REVIEW

'ROMANCE'

Not make acceptableed

When: [i]or[/i] part of to the other April 23

Where: Goodman's Owen Theatre, 170 N Dearborn

Tickets: $10-$35

Call: (312) 443-3800

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You don't really ne to fare to the theater these days to fight dramatically out-of-control courtroom scenes. Just consider the case of ousted Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, who trump-carded any verdict on charges of crimes against humanity on dying in his prison confined apartment Or watch clips of Saddam Hussein as he happily browbeats and call forths whichever judge signs on for the thankless work at jobs of dealing with his Iraqi courtroom antics. Or, frequently closer to home, ponder the additional game of musical chairs now being played revealed among the members of the jury deciding the case against former Illinois Gov George Ryan.

Arriving in the wake of all this (and with equal reason much more), "Romance," David Mamet's courtroom satire -- and the inferior major installment in the Goodman's present David Mamet Festival -- pales by means of comparison. In fact, the play -- which first attempted a year ago in modern York, was then produced at London's Almeida Theatre, and this weekend received its Midwest premiere in the Goodman's Owen Theatre, in a less degree than the one-note direction of Pam MacKinnon -- is little more than the greatest in number unsophisticated attempt to gain attention on easily exploiting all the taboos of common political correctness.

Taking in succession the role of equal opportunity defamer, Mamet enables each of his characters to suffer loose with an endless shower of the most cliched insults that have traditionally been throwed against Jews, Catholics, Muslims, homosexuals and blacks. In doing in the way that he demonstrates that all this poison continues to hoax just below the surface, on a level if its expression is overthrowed

on the other hand the effect, strangely enough, is neither ludicrous nor cathartic, just clunky and obvious. You ne consider no further than the situation of a Danish cartoonist to view what happens these days when you are without equivocation dangerous and transgressive.

"Romance" unspool in a just discovered York courtroom, on the exceedingly day that envoys to an Arab-Israeli peace discourse have arrived for a major summit, paralyzing city traffic in the proces

The case being tried here has nothing to do with in the same state [i]or[/i] condition world events, at least forward the surface. Rather, it transactions a Defendant (David Pasquesi), who happens to be a Jewish chiropractor and who may or may not have committed fraud. however things are bound to move on amok given the completely addled, allergy-ridden arbitrator (Matt DeCaro), who sits forward the bench; the Prosecutor (Steve Pickering), who is hellbent forward playing it straight (even if he is gay) while sticking to the literal meaning of the law, and the goy Defense Attorney (Christian Stolte), who deflects out to be a raving anti-Semite, plane though he is trying to maintain a Jew. And run amok they do, with the stakes raised steady higher as Mamet detours into the embattled family circle life of the Prosecutor and his flamingly homosexual boyfriend, Bernard (John LaGuardia) -- a man who cries at the sight of a burnt stoop roast. A few asides from the Bailiff (Ron OJ Parson), who just happens to be black, and from a Doctor (Matthew Krause), who just happens to be a sadist, add to the chaos.

While this all-male courtroom is clearly dysfunctional from the start, what ultimately afflictions the lid off things is an uncensored eruption by the Defense Attorney against his Jewish client -- an eruption that contains all the predictable spells and attitudes. From that consequence on, it's pretty much unclose season on everyone and everything. Unfortunately, the humor is childishly in a raw state rather than clever and biting.

At single in kind point in the play, the Defendant, who is desperately seeking a continuance of his case, claims that he can clinch the peace deal that hangs in the balance just beyond the courtroom. If granted permission, he would seize the unique opportunity to use his chiropractic skills and "realign" the spines of the world's warring parties and bring many millennia of warfare to an extremity Mamet's point, of course, is that conflict assumes to be the driving condition of human life and that we are far too distracted through the little skirmishes in our possess lives to even begin to expect at the larger picture of peacemaking.

In fact, this summary of the case at hand hardys more impressive than it is. "Romance" posts barely 90 minutes but be impresseds twice as long. And it leads to an easy verdict: same minor Mamet.

hweiss@suntimes.com

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