Jackalope Theatre Company: The Smuggler Review
Andrew Burden Swanson
Jackalope Theatre Company Presents THE SMUGGLER Review - We Listen And We Don’t Judge
TLDR: An Irish immigrant married to an American woman with a cop brother finds himself entangled in an under-the-table labor company and petty thievery to make ends meet in this one-man, 75 minute intimate show.
Andrew Burden Swanson
Jackalope Invites Us In For A Drink
We walk into the usually large performance space of Jackalope Theatre and we’re greeted by a smaller black box. We walk up a ramp and through a doorway to be immediately transported into a dimly lit bar. It’s maybe fifteen feet by fifteen feet with audience seats lining the three outside walls. Back against the wall facing the seats is a bar. Two stools sit in front of it, a tap and bar accessories rest on top with a full pint of beer off to the side waiting to be sipped.
From the back door marked “Employees Only,” a man enters wearing a coat and hat. He stops and takes a sip from the beer before removing his coat and telling us about the tale we’re going to hear. He continues sipping his beer, pausing to artfully fling his hat to the coat rack. He introduces himself, Tim Finnegan, played by Andrew Burden Swanson. He’s an Irish man who immigrated to the US and is married, so he has his Green Card, he makes sure to also tell us.
Andrew Burden Swanson
Down, Down, Down We Go
Over the next hour and change in The Smuggler, we’re treated to a tale of how this man needed to support his family after losing his job and failing to make ends meet as a writer. Swanson paints a picture of days spent at the bar, drinking and wondering how he can get his wife and son out of their current rental shack and buy them a house.
As other characters come in, he transforms his mannerisms and accents to create them. He leans over the bar as his bartender friend Jimmy. He stands with his chest puffed out and hands on a make believe police vest when his brother-in-law comes in to scold him with a heavy East coast accent. He delicately holds an espresso cup, swirling a spoon in it as the mob boss.
It’s a good balance of humor and punctuating the serious bits. He tells us about the car accident that is still a black cloud looming over the small town and how the people involved caused a rift in the community. But then we chuckle at his story of climbing down the basement stairs, miming the journey as he climbs atop the bar and slowly makes his way down the barstools to then being attacked by a giant rat.
Tim falls deeper and deeper into these alternative lines of work - transporting undocumented laborers to construction sites and stealing when he can - and brings us deeper and deeper into the story and leaves us wondering how far would you be willing to go and at what cost?
Andrew Burden Swanson
The After Party Thoughts
It’s coincidental seeing two plays about immigration and dealing with citizenship status (check out our recent review of Jaja’s African Hair Braiding here for reference) one right after another. They strike the same themes of feeling like an outsider, but here in The Smuggler we get a different story of how even someone who theoretically should be accepted into a community by his marriage, is still on the outs. And so we get taken on this roller coaster of a journey. Swanson draws us in to understand where this character is coming from and asks us the question, what would you do in his shoes? I felt the impact of the story and this new and different perspective. The only drawback I had was it was sometimes hard to follow as we move back and forth between his commentary and then acting out the story of what happened.
It’s also ironic seeing both these plays after Trump announces raids here in Chicago because it feels like we need to keep pushing these stories to fight against this prejudice against immigrants. We saw the perspective of West African women in New York and now here’s a story of a white man who arguably has done everything “right” and is a US citizen but still faces stereotypes and prejudice. So one thing remains important as we saw in The Smuggler, keeping humanity and compassion at the forefront of all these stories and not let the dehumanization of people take hold.
End soapbox rant and on with our matchmaker final thoughts - for those of you who aren’t fans of one man shows that involve family drama and themes of immigration, poverty, and ethics, this wouldn’t be a good fit for you. However, if you do like stories like this and enjoy feeling the ups and downs of a man’s internal conflicts told with a dramatic flair, The Smuggler would be a good fit for you.
RECOMMENDED
Andrew Burden Swanson
When
Now through January 25, 2025
Where
Jackalope Theatre in Broadway Armory
5917 N Broadway St.
Chicago, IL 60660
Runtime: 75 minutes, no intermission
Tickets
$15+
Tickets can be purchased through the Jackalope Theatre website
Photos
Joel Maisonet
CAST
Andrew Burden Swanson (Tim Finnegan)
CREATIVE
Ronán Noone (Playwright)
Gus Menary (Director)
Amal Salem (Stage Manager)
Ryan Emens (Scenic/props designer)
Ben Stacy (Production manager)
Claire Sangster (Lighting designer)
Isaac J. Pineda (Costume designer)
Michael Huey (Sound designer)
Sammi Grant (Dialect coach)
Jake Friend Design (Graphic Art)