‘Swing State’ review: Chicago’s Goodman Theatre’s house on the modern prairie enthralls

A world-premiere play written by a Pulitzer Prize finalist has a quartet of excellent actors under the direction of the Goodman Theatre’s Artistic Director Robert Falls. Characters in the summer of 2021 deal with everything from COVID to crime to grief to the environment to moments of laughter. For “Swing State,” all these planets have aligned to create an outstanding experience for Chicago area – and, most likely, Broadway – theatergoers.

Trust me, this play will be a strong Tony Award contender in the not-too-distant future.

The phrase “swing state” makes most people think of politics – a U.S. state where two major political parties have similar levels of support, making it a key battleground, especially in a presidential race. Wisconsin has been seen as such a state based on recent elections. While rural Wisconsin is the setting of “Swing State” – the latest collaboration between the Goodman and its most-often-produced living playwright, Rebecca Gilman – the plot is not political. Instead, we see the influence of the past on four complex characters. Each one has experienced loss in recent years.

For Peg (Mary Beth Fisher), whose home on the edge of some 40 acres of Wisconsin prairie is the show’s setting, her loss is still palpable: the passing of her husband Jim from a heart attack a year earlier. Peg is now considering her own mortality and the future of the prairie acres she and Jim loved so much.

Ryan (Bubba Weiler) is a young man who barely got through three years in prison, but is trying to straighten out his life. The friendship and support of Jim and Peg have made a world of difference. He’s a truck driver who lives at the neighboring farm.

Sheriff Kris (Kirsten Fitzgerald) lost her son to a drug overdose. The fact that she loses her patience isn’t surprising.

The sheriff’s niece by marriage, Dani (Anne E. Thompson), is a good-hearted sheriff’s deputy who went through the heartbreak of a divorce. Her sweet disposition makes her a natural for the first half of any good cop/bad cop interrogation.

As the play opens, thanks to set designer Todd Rosenthal and associate set designer Sotirios Livaditis, we see an extremely realistic interior of a farmhouse: everything from a well-stocked kitchen (right down to appliances, pantry, knives, original Pyrex bowls) to a dining table and living room (rocker, recliner, tons of books).

Peg is making zucchini bread, and one of her earliest lines of dialogue – “What’s the next step?” – could apply to the discussion she’s about to have with Ryan when he arrives for some warmed-up soup late at night: She’s planning to leave 48 acres of prairie to a local conservation group, but she wants to bequeath the house and the surrounding three acres to him.

Ryan doesn’t want to think at all about the possibility of Peg’s death, but it’s clear that Peg has given this a lot of thought, so her meeting with an attorney to finalize the will is set to go ahead the next morning. She asks Ryan to not share this information with anyone in order to avoid gossip.

A week or so later, Sheriff Kris and Deputy Dani are at the farmhouse because Peg reported some items missing – and apparently stolen – from her barn. She’s not sure when the items went missing, but says they’re mostly antique tools as well as a rifle. When Sheriff Kris jumps to the conclusion that Ryan is the likely culprit, Peg comes to Ryan’s defense, but the sheriff isn’t dissuaded and puts Ryan at the top of her suspect list.

The mystery of the missing items is intriguing, but the heart-to-heart conversations about things that are important to each of these four people (imitations of the beautiful sounds of different bird species, the diminishing number of bats worldwide, depression, burying ashes, the details of Peg and Ryan’s first meeting decades earlier) are truly moving, helping the audience empathize with each of them, even Sheriff Kris.

I won’t divulge any more of the plot of Gilman’s play – but the spot-on performances by Fisher, Weiler, Fitzgerald and Thompson are worthy of praise (Rachael Jimenez and Lauren Port, thumbs up for your casting), as is Eric Southern’s lighting design, which makes the time for each scene clear as day (no pun intended) before the utterance of any dialogue.

There’s also a generous dose of humor (such as an aside by the sheriff about “Little House on the Prairie” – “Michael Landon was always walking around in suspenders and no shirt. I loved that show.”). There’s also foul language: More than one character uses profanity on occasion, but it’s not constant.

In summary, the only thing I don’t like about “Swing State” is the title, because it could deter politics-averse theatergoers from seeing the play when – in reality – it’s a rare piece of storytelling that you’ll be talking about for days afterward.

• Paul Lockwood is a singer, local theater actor (including the new adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” coming to the Woodstock Opera House), Grace Lutheran Church (Woodstock) and Toastmasters member, theater reviewer, podcaster, columnist, business proposal writer, and past president of TownSquare Players. He’s lived in Woodstock for more than 21 years.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Swing State”

WHERE: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago

WHEN: Through Nov. 13

INFORMATION: goodmantheatre.org/SwingState, 312-443-3800