(Chris Jones’s article appeared in the Chicago Tribune, 10/23.)
The last several Brett Neveu plays — and this Chicago-spawned, Los Angeles-based scribe is nothing if not prolific — have been set in some nebulous, minimalist, metaphorical universe. They didn't land anywhere in particular, at least not beyond the writer's imagination and the viewer's mind.
But "The Opponent," the latest Neveu play, is specific, all right. It's set in a gym in Lafayette, La. If there were any doubts about that, there is a huge boxing ring stuffed into the tiny Old Town confines of A Red Orchid Theatre.