Steadstyle Chicago
	November 2009 Theatre Review by Joe Stead
	Mojo Mickybo Seanachai Theatre Company's current production of Owen McCafferty's "Mojo Mickybo" is less of a play and more of a chance for two high energy and creative actors to show their versatility.  And boy do they.  Robert Kauzlaric and Dan Waller turn in an amazing tour de force, slipping effortlessly from 17 different characters including the two young Belfast lads of the title with little more than the inflection of their voices, gesture or postures.  As a showcase for acting ingenuity, "Mojo" is a marvel of a thrill ride.  For my taste though, I want a little story to go along with the acting workout. McCafferty gives us little more than a boy's childhood memory, as two school age pals confront neighborhood bullies, poverty, violence and parental disillusionment while trying to live up to their screen heroes, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  Director Jeff Christian and his two highly engaging and charismatic stars prove just how far they can take a vast imagination on a small bare stage.  The Irish dialect is hard on the ears though and it's thick enough here to cut with a knife.  Fortunately Kauzlaric and Waller's performance are so physically detailed and entertaining they compensate for the dialect barrier.  They don't quite make up for the very sparse script, which would just about disappear were the performances any less vigorous. Seanachai Theatre Company presents "Mojo Mickybo" through December 6, 2009 in the studio theatre at The Artistic Home, located at 3914 N. Clark Street.  The play runs 65 minutes with no intermission.  Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m.  No performance November 26, added performance Monday, November 23 at 8:00 p.m.  Tickets are $26.  Call 773-878-3727 or visit www.seanachai.org.   About Joe Stead Joe Stead has enjoyed a lifelong passion for the theatre, which has involved acting, directing, producing, designing and reviewing for the past twenty-five years.  He served as founder, producer and Artistic Director of Curtain Up Productions in Baltimore, Maryland and Four Star Players in Tampa, Florida.  Favorite productions have included "Life With Father," "Deathtrap," "The Odd Couple," "The Miracle Worker," "Brighton Beach Memoirs," "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "Godspell".  He has also performed leading roles in "Fiddler on the Roof," "Pippin," "The Phantom of the Opera," "The Front Page," and most recently as Hucklebee in "The Fantasticks" for Waukegan Community Players.  Joe holds a degree in Commercial Art from Tampa Technical Institute.  As a critic, he has reviewed everything from Broadway to community theatre and major regional theatres throughout the United States including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, and the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, Florida.  Since 1998, he has been a proud resident of Chicago, the greatest theatre city in America.  He served for two years as Theatre Editor for College News and Central Newspapers.  He created the website Steadstyle Chicago in 2000 to showcase the city's outstanding and diverse theatre scene.  Joe was proud to serve alongside a distinguished panel of theatre professionals as a judge for two seasons of Speaking Ring Theatre's "Vitality" Festival of original short plays.  His most fulfilling role, in addition to reviewer and all-around theatre fanatic, was as director of the 2007 production of Peter Shaffer's "Equus" at Actors Workshop (now Redtwist) Theatre, which was nominated for five Joseph Jefferson Award Citations and won for Best Actor (Peter Oyloe).