Garage Rep at Steppenwolf : A Victorian murderer, robots and a waiting room for heaven
THEATER REVIEW: Garage Rep at Steppenwolf Theatre, with “The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen” ★★★½ (by The Strange Tree Group); “Heddatron” ★★★ (above, by Sideshow Theatre Company); and “Sonnets for an Old Century” ★★ (by UrbanTheater Company). Presented in rotating repertory through April 24 in the Garage Theatre, 1624 N. Halsted St.; tickets $20 at 312-335-1650 and www.steppenwolf.org
“The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen”
At the top of “The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen,” a rather splendid little gothic thriller from Emily Schwartz and the aptly named Strange Tree Group, the rouge-loving character of Cora Crippen warbles that old Victorian sing-along classic, “Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow-Wow (Bow-Wow).” As cheerily performed by Kate Nawrocki in a bath tub, it is at once funny, entertaining and perfectly horrifying. And it helps you understand why the notorious Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen would be inclined to poison and then dismember his profoundly irritating wife.
Aside from supposedly being the first criminal to be captured with the help of wireless communication — he was apprehended by Scotland Yard after a ship's captain tipped off Mr. Marconi as to his whereabouts — Dr. Crippen of Coldwater, Mich., was an interesting chap in any number of ways. After first landing in London, he developed a thing for an English typist named Ethel Le Neve (Delia Baseman), the same woman who starts off this show by tapping out the melody line to that song on her manual keys. When Ethel found herself preggers — or at least that was what she said — old Doc Crippen felt like he had no choice but to off Cora, the unforgiving missus.