Walter Griffin (a powerful performance by Ian Barford) is an inventor, of sorts. Years before, he made history by building a flying machine using a lawn chair and balloons. He yearns to recapture his moment of fame and is bent on coming up with another way to reach the clouds.
Griffin expresses that most jobs are just jobs, "cleaning up someone else's garbage," but if one can find that "something special" in life, then he should reach for it.
His wife Helen (deftly handled by Lauren Katz) works hard to support her family while Griffin attempts to make his dream come true—but just how long can one live in an unreal world?
While Griffin is living a Walter Mitty life, his wife tells him that he must get a jobshe cannot do it alone. But he insists he is waiting for his next "opportunity." Their son Mikey (a brilliant performance by Jake Cohen) is a high school sophomore with very few friends and desires only to see his family be a family. On the first day back at school after the summer break, Mikey meets Maria, a 15-year-old pregnant transfer student (Rachel Brosnahan, with a solid performance, but somewhat hard to hear), and the two lonely kids become special friends.
Mikey starts ringing up larger than expected sales. He has found something that he is truly good at. Soon making thousands of dollars, Mikey knows the money will help his family, but falling in love with Maria, he decides to help her with the baby and gives her his commission check.
As it turns out, each Griffin family member loses something as Carpenter’s story is full of surprises.
The other character in the story is Philippe Petit, a tightrope walker who is on the news and has himself "stopped the world" with one of his feats. Petit (expertly handled by Lookingglass Theatre regular Tony Hernandez) serves as Walter Griffin’s idol, a symbol who appears from time to time and impacts the story.
Director Anna D. Shapiro uses the stage well, but is somewhat hindered by the marvelous looking set by Dan Ostling, who has created a basement work area and a wonderful kitchen. Because they are box sets, though, the sound quality doesn’t carry. This is a shame as Ms. Carpenter's words are strong.
The original music by David Singer is marvelous and Rachel Rockwell's choreography (mostly for Mr. Hernandez) is striking. UP ends with a bittersweet moment as Walter prepares to take flight with his new para-sail idea, and Petit tells him that he can do anything if he truly wants it. Despite all that has taken place, we are left with a very UP feeling that the Griffin family will survive as we are taken back to that special day for Walter when Helen and her mother strapped him into his lawn chair and dropped the ballasts for his takeoff. As he soars to the clouds and disappears from sight, the lights go out and we feel the thrill of one man's dream becoming a reality.
UP
The Steppenwolf Theatre
1650 N. Halsted Street
Tickets: 312-335-1650 or www.steppenwolf.org
Running Time: 2 hours with intermission
Closes: August 23
Alan Bresloff writes about theater in and around Chicago.
