Remember that notice in the Reader‘s Fall Arts special last week? The one advising you to read every word because there’s going to be a test? No? Well, maybe we forgot to run it. But here’s the first question anyway: Which emerging American playwright has not just one but two shows running right now at important off-Loop venues?
Death Tax is set in a health care facility—an ideal locus, when you think about it, for a hard look at fact, fiction, and the fiction of fact. Rich old Maxine occupies an adjustable bed there and is generally thought to be on her way out. Even she measures her remaining time in weeks. But exactly how many weeks is the crucial question. Maxine knows that her grown daughter stands to inherit a lot more money if mom kicks before the tax laws change on January 1. As cynical as she is shrewd, Maxine has therefore surmised that the daughter is bribing nurse Tina to do little things here and there to ensure that death arrives before the New Year. Maxine counters by promising Tina even more to keep her alive. Tina, meanwhile, has her own set of fictions to tell herself and others—as does her supervisor, Todd, whose naked loneliness is one of the few incontrovertible realities of Death Tax.
Played by Marc Grapey—strangely but effectively, as a kind of smart hood—Hooke is piece of work on a par with Isaac. Hnath uses his interaction with the younger scientist to get at some piquant ironies of history, especially those having to do with how history is spun.
Isaac’s Eye Through 12/7: Tue-Wed 7:30 PM, Thu-Fri 8 PM, Sat 4 and 8 PM, Sun 2 and 6 PM Writers Theatre at Books on Vernon 664 Vernon, Glencoe 847-242-6000writerstheatre.org $35-$75
