Paramount's 'Bull: a love story' shows promise, but needs streamlining
"Bull: a love story" -
In December 2020, Paramount Theatre established the Inception Project, a new play development program to support Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and other marginalized playwrights.
The following month, the Aurora theater hosted virtual readings of two plays selected for the program. One was "Bull: a love story," Nancy García Loza's drama about a man who returns to his Chicago neighborhood after serving a 10-year prison sentence for selling drugs.
Last week, less than two years after that initial reading, "Bull: a love story" premiered at the Copley Theatre to conclude the impressive inaugural season of Paramount's BOLD series. The production also marks the first suburban production included in Destinos, 5th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival.
An ex-con's struggle to restart his life and the anger and resentment his incarceration caused his family are subjects worth exploring. Loza's attempt is admirable, but some revisions are in order. The play needs streamlining, which means cutting out filler. Case in point: The scene in Act II where Bull, the titular character, builds a picnic table. Inexplicably accompanied by projections of vintage Chicago TV commercials and radio spots, the scene goes on entirely too long, slowing to a crawl an already lengthy second act.
That's not the only scene that needs editing. While I can appreciate Loza providing a showcase for each actor, not every supporting character merits a soul-bearing monologue, especially when that monologue is tangential to the main plot. It feels contrived. Moreover it distracts from the emotional core of the play, which is one man's love - romantic, paternal, sibling and platonic - for the people in his life. Which brings us to the emotional stakes, which aren't very high. Loza needs to raise them so that when those moments meant to be highly charged occur, they ring true.
Still, "Bull" has promise. Loza's writing is vivid, idiomatic and filled with local references that confirm the playwright's Chicago bona fides. Director Laura Alcala Baker's production also benefits from Eddie Martinez's sincere, self-aware performance in the titular role.
Martinez - who has been involved with this play since its initial online reading - plays the 30-something ex-con with a combination of stoicism and humility that comes from doing the crime and doing the time.
Released from custody and determined to rebuild the relationships that crumbled during his incarceration, Bull returns to Lakeview to reconnect with his 12-year-old daughter Emme (Jocelyn Zamudio) and her mother Sol (Kelsey Elyse Rodriguez), his former girlfriend.
Declining an invitation to live with Sadie (Alexandra Casillas), his fiercely loyal, plain-speaking, motorcycle-riding sister, Bull instead moves into the detached garage of the home he and Sol once shared. Clearly, Bull hopes for a reconciliation, although the presence of her live-in boyfriend seems to preclude that possibility. Andrew Perez plays the boyfriend, as well as several other roles, including Bull's probation officer and his younger brother G, a troubled young man with a criminal past.
Rounding out the cast is Sammy A. Publes, who provides comic relief as the easygoing Tio, a handyman and home remodeler who gives Bull a job.
As the final production in the BOLD series, "Bull: a love story" fell short. Still, it reflects Paramount's commitment to new works, and that's a welcome addition to the Aurora theater's season.
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Location: Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, (630) 896-6666, paramountaurora.com
Showtimes: 1:30 and 7 p.m. Wednesday; 7 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 5:30 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 20
Running time: About 2 hours, 20 minutes, with intermission
Tickets: $67-$74 ($35 with promo code "Destinos")
Parking: Limited street parking, paid lots nearby
Rating: For mature audiences, contains adult language
COVID-19 precautions: Masks recommended