‘The Long Christmas Dinner’ offers food for thought | Arts & Entertainment

I went to the opening of TUTA Theatre’s production of Thornton Wilder’s “The Long Christmas Dinner” at the Bramble Arts Loft for three main reasons.

In no particular order, The Bramble Arts Loft in Andersonville is a new performance space, so I wanted to check it out. TUTA, which was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1995, has been in Chicago since 2002, but I’ve never seen any of their shows. And while Wilder is well-known for “Our Town” and “The Skin of Our Teeth,” as well as the novel “The Bridge of San Luis Rey” (all three works won Pulitzer Prizes), “The Long Christmas Dinner,” which premiered in November of 1931 in New Haven, Connecticut, isn’t staged all that often.

A fourth reason was icing on the cake (or glaze on the Christmas pudding): a Hyde Park connection. In 1929, Robert Maynard Hutchins, the new president of the University of Chicago, offered his long-time friend Wilder the opportunity to teach part-time, starting in the fall quarter of 1930 with a seminar in creative writing and a lecture course in comparative literature.

According to the Wilder website (thorntonwilder.com), the author leapt at the chance, not only because he loved teaching but for several financial reasons, among them the fact that much of the million-plus he’d earned for “Bridge” went toward the new family home he had built in Hamden, Connecticut.

Apparently, his teaching style was very theatrical, and his classes often were standing-room only. Wilder also relished being a celebrity on the local scene and continued part-time at the U. of C. through 1936, with a cameo return in the summer of 1941.

The house in Hamden may be the inspiration for the one in “The Long Christmas Dinner.” Though we only see the formal dining room and two doorways in Keith Parham’s scenic design, the home is described as being brand-new at the beginning of the 75-minute play and quite old and in need of renovation by the end, roughly 90 years later.

In between, Wilder chronicles four generations of the Bayard family solely through Christmas turkey dinners during which the rituals remain pretty much the same and all that changes is who is at the table. Initially, Mother Bayard (Joan Merlo), her son Roderick (Matt Miles) and his new wife Lucia (Alexis Primus) are enjoying their first Christmas in their new home. Before long, they’re joined by children Charles (Huy Nguyen) and Genevieve (Charlie Irving), as well as relatives such as Uncle Branden (Wain Parham) and Ermengarde (Merlo). Years pass, Charles marries Leonora (Seoyoung Park) and a new round of children includes Sam (Parham), Roderick II (Miles) and Lucia II (Primus).

Repeated tropes range from someone commenting on the loveliness of the Christmas morning sermon to the presentation of each new baby in a basket by a nurse. There also are deaths — an infant, a young soldier, the elders, each of whom makes an exit accompanied by a change in the lighting (also by Keith Parham). A sense of the world outside comes from characters recounting their experiences and reports of changes like the factories that have sprung up around the house.

Exploring themes that will recur in his more famous plays, Wilder poignantly and sometimes humorously shows us ordinary (albeit affluent) people coping with the joys and sorrows of life while often failing to appreciate the important moments as they pass, a feature emphasized by the accelerated passage of time.

TUTA’s production, directed by co-artistic director Jacqueline Stone, is well-acted, but I think it would have been better to embrace a specific time frame. Instead, there seems to be an effort to be for anytime or all time. Rachel Sypniewski’s costumes, for example, are all over the place, and each character’s clothing stays the same no matter what year it is supposed to be.

The set, too, is confusing in that respect. The crystal chandelier hanging over the table is beautiful but also very modern in design, unlike the rest of the furnishings. The stemware is thoroughly traditional but far from the full service, so the cordial glasses are repeatedly used for wine. The food and drink are all imaginary, and the overall effect is far from ideal.

Some of the lighting cues and Willow James’ sound design add to the confusion. At times, a lot of noise seems to be coming from the “kitchen,” and I couldn’t figure out if it was supposed to be the cooks hard at work or factory machinery outside. TUTA understandably has limited resources, but they could have been put to more creative use.

As for the Bramble Arts Loft, it’s spacious, comfortably furnished and appealingly funky with a small cafe and an open cabaret space. The only drawback is the inadequacy of the washrooms. One has three stalls (one of which is wheelchair-accessible); the other one stall and two urinals.

The Beatrice is the larger of the two theaters and seats about 100 people on three sides of a rectangle, though I imagine it can be reconfigured as needed.

All in all, the venue is a welcome addition to the city’s theater scene.