The Milwaukee Post

18 • Milwaukee County Post • February 1, 2019 By Julie McHale Post Theater Critic MILWAUKEE — Money is certainly a complex and all-encompassing topic. It is a motivator for getting training and education, hard work, but also for stealing, cheating, gam- bling and even, in some cases, killing. We all have to pay for survival needs such as food, shelter and trans- portation, and a whole lot more. So it is a topic that is at the heart of many plays, films and TV spots, includ- ing the game shows and ads. It even has an impact on relationships, including marriage. The present production at the Milwaukee Rep deals with money in a manner that is somewhat unfamil- iar to many of us. The machinations of investors, especially in the volatile stock market, involve a lingo that is foreign to the average person. But on another level entirely, for some, money is their life. We see a lot of sleaziness going on in the latest dramatic endeavor by prestigious playwright Ayad Akhtar in his mone- tary masterpiece "Junk." Set in the high-flying finan- cial world of the 1980s, it weaves a web of insatiable greed and insidious decep- tion and grave risk-taking. The large cast of busi- nessmen, lawyers, investors, government watchdogs and workers fill the stage. I was happy to see almost half of the 20 roles filled by local actors for a change, a practice that has become rare for The Rep. The main character, junk bond king Robert Merkin, well-played by Gregory Linington, is the center of the schemes for those who are willing to take big risks to make or lose millions. I did not find his ventures particularly thrilling to watch. The fact that casinos or lottery tick- ets appeal to so many ordi- nary people who always push their luck to make the big killing, thinking it will make their life better, is telling. We also don't meet many characters in this story who are bothered by ethics or a sense of fairness or morali- ty. Possibly we see traces of it in Thomas Everson, Jr. (James Ridge) and Leo Tresler (Brian Mani), but most are driven solely by egotism, power and self- interest. The clever scenic and lighting designers, Todd Edward Ivins and Thom Weaver, respectively, creat- ed a backdrop that reflects our fast-paced lives and the affluence some are privy to in capitalistic culture. I found the play enjoy- able and educational, but also perturbing. It revealed how much power money has over all our lives, including the behind-the- scenes power mongers. It goes for an uninter- rupted two hours, so hang on for a roller-coaster ride of high finance and low- down humans. By Julie McHale Post Theater Critic MILWAUKEE — Human greed and the desire for wealth, power and prestige seems to show up every- where — business, the entertainment industry, politics, criminal ventures and academia. People want to be recognized and rewarded for their accom- plishments, acknowledged for their contributions. "Photograph 51," the story set in the 1950s when scientists were coming close to discovering the model for DNA, highlights the competition for recog- nition among several men and one lone woman, Rosalind Franklin, working in the field as a physicist and X-ray crystallographer. Rosalind has been invit- ed to work at King's College in London to partner with Maurice Wilkins. A grad student, Ray Gosling, also works in their lab. Josh Krause provides humor as well as insight into both parties in this ill-fitting scholarly pairing. Neil Brookshire as Maurice, along with Rosalind, so brilliantly portrayed by Cassandra Bissell, are the most interesting and multi- layered characters in the play. Two other competing scientists, James Watson, a rather ruthless American, and Francis Crick, his less bloodthirsty British part- ner, also figure prominent- ly into the story. A fifth male character, Don Caspar, an American Ph.D. candidate who is an ardent admirer of Franklin, also enters the story at some point and uncovers a softer side to Rosalind. Franklin comes across as an impassioned, driven worker with few social skills, a cold, calculating, intelligent woman. Unlike her male counterparts, she seems less concerned about fame and fortune than about discovering the truth. The work that Franklin succeeded in accomplish- ing was never recognized in her lifetime. Her precious, revealing Photograph 51 was shared, unbeknownst to her, by her partner Wilkins with his competi- tors Watson and Crick, and eventually these three men won the Nobel Prize in 1962, and Franklin, who died of ovarian cancer at the age of 37, was never mentioned until many years later, when the truth of her con- tributory discovery was uncovered. Sexism, conspiracy and a more human element, the complexity of human rela- tionships, are all woven into the story. It is as fasci- nating as it is perplexing, especially to women, whose accomplishments are often minimized or criticized because of gender atti- tudes. Are men so insecure that many cannot acknowl- edge that a woman could surpass them? Though some of these outmoded stereotypes are changing, it is still news when women are chosen to head up a company or have been cited as especially prominent in the scientific world. Looking back at his- tory, it's amazing that Madame Curie was given so much credit (1867-1934) for her work and even won the Nobel Prize twice, the first woman to do so. I recently read the story "The Other Einstein" about Einstein's wife, Mileva, a brilliant physicist, who aided Albert in many of his discoveries but was never credited in any of his publi- cations. Could a man of his genius status be so vulnera- ble that he couldn't share his accolades with his gift- ed wife? All six actors are note- worthy in this fascinating story, but beside the two leads, both Joe Picchetti as the kind graduate student, Don Caspar, and Josh Krause as Ryan Gosling, the self-effacing sycophant who tries to please every- one, stood out for me. Written by Anna Ziegler and directed by Suzan Fete, "Photograph 51" is utterly mesmerizing. Michael Brosilow Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents "Junk" in the Quadracci Powerhouse through Feb. 17, featuring Jonathan Wainwright and Gregory Linington. ENTERTAINMENT The Rep's production of Ayad Akhtar's drama proves educational 'Junk' a valuable glimpse at '80s financial shenanigans 'Photograph 51' a revealing look into gender roles "Junk" The play runs through Feb. 17 at the Milwaukee Rep, 108 E. Wells St., Milwaukee. Call 414- 224-9490 or visit MilwaukeeRep.com. "Photograph 51" The play runs through Feb.10 in the Studio Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway, Milwaukee. Call 414-291-7800 or visit www. r-t-w.com.

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