A recurring phenomenon in families encompassing multiple offspring is the de facto selection of one child to remain close to home and care for the parents in their old age. This task is typically assigned to a daughter, but where only sons are available, there soon emerges the boy whose future will revolve on domestic responsibilities, freeing his brothers to roam from the nest. With the passing of the clan sire and dam, however, those nurtured exclusively to service often find themselves without resources to assist them in forging an identity independent of filial attachments.
In Princess Mary Demands Your Attention, Amari Bolkonski is such a "good son," living with a widowed mother who belittles his accomplishments while clinging to idealized memories of his late father and absent brother. Amari's misery is compounded by his being gay, African-American, and prone to obsessive-compulsive behavior. His sole comforts reside in his "Uncle" Stacy, whose corner-grocery provides the surrogate nephew employment, and in the companionship of slackerly peers who affect hip-hop jargon, recount thrilling tales of dance-club sexual adventure, and bestow on the shy lad the sobriquet of "Princess Mari."
Aaron Holland claims to have based his play on "parts of" Tolstoy's exhaustive 1869 novel “War and Peace,” but you don't have to consult your SparksNotes to detect evidence of extensive cutting and patching on a text still sporting a number of unhemmed edges and loose threads. For one, the scarlet-clad cross-dressing succubus giving the play its title slinks on the fringes of the stage picture for much too long before finally speaking and clarifying her purpose in the dramatic structure. For another, despite a playbill note giving the Bolkonski's residence as Richmond, Virginia, and the years from 2000 to 2010 as the narrative's span, Holland never acknowledges the ethnographic factors contributing to Amari's isolation, nor is our attention ever directed to the racial diversity of his comrades, or the long-standing tradition of tolerance extended old queer white men in the South.
None of this fazes director Lilli-Anne Brown and the fearless cast assembled for this Bailiwick Chicago production, who navigate Holland's enigmatic metaphors and spotty transitions with an unfaltering confidence that ensures our enjoyment of their company for the two hours necessary for our protagonist to confront his crisis. The sympathy generated by Armand Fields's meek Amari; the gravity invoked by Rus Rainear's Uncle Stacy; and the charm invoked by David Kaplinsky, TJ Crawford, Omar Abbas Salem and Jeremy Sonkin (as the neighborhood fixtures) make the time pass swiftly.
