Theatre & Stage reviews by SalsaChicago.com critic Al Bresloff

Cayetanos Circus (thru April 11, 13, 18 & 19)

The Bailiwick Theatre is having a World Premiere of Robert Klein Engler's play "Cayetano's Circus", a story about a teacher who has lost his job at a university and goes back to New Orleans (where he attended college) to get away and work on his book. Richard Harberg (played by the talented Michael Rashid), at the insistence of the maid in his rooming house (the very funny Michelle X. Taylor) pushes him to take a job as a Spanish tutor to earn some money. His new employer , the wealthy Bernard Aguilar (Mr. Salsa, Miguel Mendez in his first live performance is far better than expected) wants his son to be able to speak his language before he dies and is willing to do whatever it takes to make up for the wasted years in rearing his son without a mother. His wife (played as narrator/ghost by Kennetha Harrington) was the love of his life and after her death in an auto accident, Bernard sent Phillipe (Erez Shek) to Europe to study. The tutor is thrown into a situation that he is unsure of. He must stick to what he was hired to do, but is faced with a love and affection that needs to be addressed.

There are many twists and turns in this plot, and while some are a little hard to follow (the transitions are hard to work with on a small stage) the story is about love- now and past, the search for one's identity and a little revenge.

While many of the characters in the story are Gay, this is not a Gay play - this is in fact a story about people, who they are, who they were and what they can be. As in most new works, coming from a readers workshop to the stage can be difficult, Floyd A, May's direction may have been stifled by working on the small stage that is offered at Bailiwick, but with the exception of some set changes a bit to long, the show was smoothly performed and the story held the interest of the audience. I for one would have made a few changes so that the transitions were smoother and while I understand Mr. Engler's ending, thought there were some other options that would have made more sense to the majority of audience members.

"Cayetano's Circus" is a brief run with three performances - Wednesday, April 13th, Monday, April 18th and Tuesday, April 19.

For tickets (which by the way are only $10- a bargain for live theater) call 773-883-1090. The Bailiwick Theatre is located at 1229 West Belmont.