‘a Twist of Water” offers two dramas for the price of one. The first is a tale of a single father’s struggle to raise a rebellious, adopted teenager. The second is a virtual history lesson about Chicago, where this production originated. And while these two stories don’t quite make a convincing whole, the results are undeniably moving.
Caitlin Parrish’s play concerns the complicated dynamics between gay high school history teacher Noah (Stef Tovar) and his 17-year-old African-American daughter, Jira (Falashay Pearson). They’ve been at odds since the death of Noah’s partner — the man Jira calls “my father.” It gets even tougher after Noah becomes involved with a much younger colleague, Liam (Alex Hugh Brown), who happens to be Jira’s teacher.
Bereft of the parent she cared for most, Jira decides to track down her birth mother. The result gives us the play’s most powerful scene.
Less successful are Noah’s sometimes strained, if poetic, monologues about Chicago’s past, including the devastating fire of 1871 and the 1893 World’s Fair.
Director Erica Weiss draws natural performances from the ensemble. Pearson’s terrific as the troubled teen and Lili-Anne Brown shines as the woman whose encounter with the child she gave up fills her with mixed emotions.
Another great presence is Chicago itself, evoked with a model of the skyline and city landmarks projected on the walls of Stephen Carmody’s simple set. So many productions these days hail from the Windy City — but this one actually seems to have brought it along.