Award Worthy! Linda Vista at Steppenwolf (April 11, 2017)

Wheeler is a 50-year old man who is moving into a new apartment in Linda Vista, a mostly Latinx and Vietnamese neighborhood in San Diego, from his ex-wife’s garage. As the audience takes their seats, Wheeler and his best friend, Paul, are carrying in boxes. This technique gives the story a big world. It feels like the characters have been around for a long time and the audience is just getting a glimpse into their life now. Paul and his wife invite Wheeler on a double date to meet Jules. They go to a karaoke bar where she sings Ironic by Alanis Morissette. “It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take!” This line provides a bit of foreshadowing.

Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and Tony Award Winner (the only person in history with those two awards) Tracey Letts has written another award worthy piece. It’s incredibly funny, emotional, powerful, and exciting. See him talk about it here:

The production is extremely impressive. The stage rotates to reveal different expertly designed rooms. It is used to great effect as Wheeler goes from the bar, to his front door, to his living room, and then to his bedroom as the stage spins. The music choices are excellent as well. Wheeler mentions Steely Dan as one of his favorite bands and they play a lot of their music including “Hey Nineteen”.

Get tickets for the World Premiere of Linda Vista now through May 21^st!

Quinn Delaney

See our review of Mary Page Marlowe, also written by Tracy Letts.