© 1996 The Associated Press

Regional Theater Review: 'Slaughterhouse-Five' in Chicago
By Michael Kuchwara
AP Drama Critic

Chicago. Billy Pilgrim, the time-traveling hero of Kurt Vonnegut's anti-war novel Slaughterhouse-Five faces a most dangerous journey - from page to stage.

In ''Slaughterhouse-Five,'' it is a bumpy trip for the aptly named mental case, Billy Pilgrim. Adapter and director Eric Simonson has set himself a nearly impossible task. Vonnegut's darkly humorous novel is dramatic, but it is not overtly theatrical. Billy's split-second reveries, which span time and space, often don't take up more than a page in the novel. On stage, they become a series of choppy, confusing remembrances.

There is little time for character development. Even Billy is not much more than a cipher. Poor Rick Snyder, who plays the benign Billy, seems bewildered as the character recalls his life - from growing up in upstate New York to his involvement in World War II, particularly the firebombing of Dresden. The destruction of one of Europe's most beautiful cities is the focal point of the Vonnegut novel. Here, it seems just one of many incidents that crowd the stage.

Yet Billy's post-war existence in suburban America is steeped in caricature. The man's domestic life, with his simple-minded wife and later his nagging daughter, can't get past sitcom obvious.

Other members of the large cast have trouble making their presences known. Only Robert Breuler, who serves as the evening's genial narrator, makes much of an impression. He bridges the play's wildly divergent story lines as Billy survives a plane crash in Vermont and a UFO journey to the planet Tralfamadore.

Whatever theatricality there is in ''Slaughterhouse-Five'' comes from its marvelous physical production designed by Neil Patel and lighted by Scott Zielinski. It's dark and menacing, suggesting not only a slaughterhouse but, among other things, the boxcars that carry Billy and his cohorts through a war-torn Germany.

Steppenwolf has a history of presenting literary adaptations, most spectacularly Frank Galati's stage incarnation of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. ''Slaughterhouse-Five'' is just as ambitious, but not in the same league. Fans of the novel may find some pleasure in seeing the play as kind of a live-action souvenir. At least they will be able to fill in the blanks. Others may be scratching their heads wondering what the fuss over Vonnegut's fantasy is all about.

© 1996 The Associated Press