Valerie Gorman, Michael Stejskal, and Andrea Uppling Photo by Lauren Berman

Four Places drops us right into the mundane but fraught situation of initiating a difficult family conversation between two adult children, Ellen (Andrea Uppling) and Warren (Michael Stejskal), and their mother Peggy (Valerie Gorman). The play takes place across four everyday locations which transform–as the familial situation increasingly unravels–from familiar and innocuous to charged and entrapping.

Following this format, Johnson's drama deftly builds intrigue and tension as the characters move from one place to another. And under the direction of Lauren Berman, the cast adroitly charges each location with the intense anxiety of wondering which way a slow-moving tornado will turn. We know disaster awaits, but the excellent pacing and expert performances keep us glued to the unfolding drama within the family.

The play opens with Warren and Ellen driving Peggy to her favorite spot for lunch. Andrea Uppling and Michael Stejskal skillfully saturate the scene with a sense of impending doom humming underneath the small talk of an awkward car ride. Valerie Gorman presents a masterclass of character work as Peggy. She is unassuming, delightfully out-of-touch, and unafraid to speak her mind. In short, she is our Everymother. And Gorman ensures that her bond with the audience has cured before expertly revealing its cracks through Peggy's increasingly monstrous behaviors.

At the restaurant, the awkward family interactions ratchet up when Warren learns that their server, Barb (Amber Dow)–who dotes heavily on Peggy–is the daughter of the woman with whom Ellen and Warren's father had an affair. Dow infuses humor into the play and initially serves to mirror the incredulity we feel about Warren and Ellen's attitudes toward their mother.

Barb's presence prompts an uncomfortable survey of recollections from the past about their father's infidelity and Peggy's knowledge of the situation. And though we never meet Peggy's husband–Ellen and Warren's father–he is present in the strained sinews among all three characters. Johnson's dialogue drips with anxiety and anticipation. Despite spending much of the scene at a table eating lunch, Gorman, Uppling, and Stejskal dexterously guide us through the ups and downs of their charged dialogue, ensuring that each new bite of information is wrapped in frayed nerves and exasperated exhaustion. Topping it all off, Barb punctuates each beat to ensure that Peggy always has a fresh rum and cola.

Alcohol further fuels the rising tensions as the play progresses. With each successive rum and cola, Peggy becomes increasingly suspicious of her children's intentions. At the same time, she confirms the tenuous state of the situation at home. Navigating her husband's end-stage alcoholism has deteriorated into threats and violence. The tornado has turned and it's heading directly for Peggy. The luncheon is an intervention on the part of Ellen and Warren, who wish to separate their parents and break the spiral of devastation they fuel for each other.

Gorman's performance keeps us captivated, squeezing empathy from our emptying reserves as Peggy attempts to maintain some control over the situation by re-directing the conversation with trips to the bathroom. But even in that place of momentary respite, she cannot escape the encroaching realization that she is no longer capable of managing her own wellbeing, let alone the wellbeing of her family.

Upon returning to the table, Peggy manically attempts to exert with a bullying fervor what little parental authority she has left over Ellen and Warren. She grows increasingly hostile, belittling them with jabs about their personal faults and professional failures. Eventually–perhaps inevitably–she forces an end to the proceedings by spilling water across the table. And as they cycle back through the waiting room and to the car, Peggy is met with the reality that her life is no longer wholly in her own hands.

4 Chairs Theatre deserves a lot of praise for producing a play that, on its face, feels like it would be nothing more than another dinner-table drama. But in the hands of this cast and crew, Four Places reaches deep into the anxieties of aging amidst damaged family bonds. Near the end of the play, Ellen tells Warren of the relief she felt when her husband passed away from cancer. Joel Drake Johnson captures in that moment the progression of age as a disease which infects us all, bringing with it the deterioration of familiar and familial bonds. But, eventually–and, yes, inevitably–those bonds will no longer hold, bringing with their breaking a feeling of relief.

Four Places, produced by 4 Chairs Theatre, runs through November 2, 2025, at the Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 N Clark St., Chicago IL. Performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3:00pm. For ticket and information, please visit www.4chairstheatre.org.