Steppenwolf’s The Dance of Death is Hilariously Confusing

Bonnie DeShong

Photo Credit: Michael Brosilow

Steppenwolf Theatre Company has done it again by producing an interesting, conversation-starting production. *The Dance of Death* takes place in an undefined period of time. Edgar is the Captain of a battalion, and he and his wife live in a stone tower on an isolated island. They are approaching their 25th wedding anniversary of unwedded bliss. In fact, it seems as if their marriage has been based on 25 years of resentment, arguments, betrayal, lies, and who knows what else. Even though they try to keep up appearances, they are short on funds and can’t afford the hired help.

Captain Edgar, played brilliantly by Steppenwolf Theatre Company co-founder Jeff Perry, has been in the Queen’s army for many years. He is more than a bit eccentric and is sure he is dying. Many may know Jeff from his role as Chief of Staff Cyrus Beene in the television series Scandal. I had the honor of knowing Jeff from our college days at Illinois State University’s Theatre Department.

I had the opportunity to speak with Jeff and asked him to explain the bizarre character of Captain Edgar. He told me that this is the Swedish army and there is more ceremonial work than war engagement. However, there are still all sorts of military protocol and posturing that comes with the whole thing. He went on to describe Captain Edgar as, “Oh, he’s an egoist. He’s a blowhard. He is mercurial. He’s really pretty funny. He’s pretty witty. He’s kind of a bully. He can get very vulnerable and there’s a lot of facets to the guy that I get a kick out of.”

There are several scenes in the play where Captain Edgar just stops and goes into a trance or stupor. It’s amazing because, for minutes, Jeff doesn’t blink, and it’s hilarious. It is something the audience pays attention to. I asked Jeff how he does it and keeps his character.

He responded, “Oh, I don’t know. Just practice. There are times, Bonnie, when my character is having really kind of mini strokes, as far as I can tell. You remember Mitch McConnell? Oh yeah. A couple of different times at the podium in a public setting, kind of mid-sentence, just being arrested for a while and very still, and it took the better part of a couple of minutes to come out of it. And this happens, maybe shorter duration or maybe similar to Mr. McConnell’s, but this happens to this character a few times, and we get the feeling in the narrative that my guy, Edgar, Captain Edgar, is just experiencing more and more of these episodes and what we’d call hardening of the arteries basically. And he insists on drinking a lot of whiskey and smoking a lot of cigars, and the doctors have told him to quit it, and he’s having a hard time quitting.”

Steppenwolf Ensemble Member Kathryn Erbe, as Alice, the Captain’s wife, keeps us guessing about what her true intentions are. She is much younger than the Captain and is sure she would have been a successful stage actress if she had not married him. During the course of the play, we try to figure out if she is trying to kill him, trying to make him insane, or if she cares about him at all.

Enter Kurt, Alice’s first cousin, who introduced the Captain to Alice and then shared a transgression with her. He has been assigned to the island to head the quarantine department with The Doctor, whom Edgar hates with a passion. Cliff Chamberlain, also a member of Steppenwolf Theatre’s Ensemble, is hilarious as the emotionally complicated Kurt. A lot is going on in his life that we really don’t know about, except that he can’t see his children, and he has been working on himself to change. Alice plays him like a fiddle to help in the demise of Edgar.

As I have said many times in this review, it took me a minute to catch up to what was going on, but I was laughing the whole time along the way. It is suspenseful in a way, emotional in another, and entertaining all along the way.

The Dance of Death receives 4 out of 5 winks of the EYE and runs through March 22nd at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

Until next time, keep your EYE to the sky!