Stage: Heroes

Greenhouse Theater Center

Chicago

(773) 404-7336

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For an old soldier, “the fight to retain some sense of dignity, self-worth, and independence in old age” can be one of life’s most “daunting battles,” said Hedy Weiss in the Chicago Sun-Times. Such is the lesson learned by the three World War I veterans in French playwright Gérard Sibleyras’ tragicomedy Heroes. Stuck in a retirement home as the 1950s draw to a close, Henri, Gustave, and Philippe are proud former warriors no longer capable of carrying out a mission as simple as capturing a local hilltop for an afternoon picnic. But they discover the “very different sort of heroism” needed to face mortality. Translator Tom Stoppard has packed the play with witty and fiercely funny “verbal flourishes,” here delivered to near-perfection by a trio of very fine Chicago actors.

Heroes “is one of those ­gentle but clever little plays that tap into something profound while seeming to merely dance around the edges of life,” said Chris Jones in the Chicago Tribune. As the three aging lions, Mike Nussbaum, David Darlow, and Roderick Peeples are each finely tuned to the play’s subtleties. Watching these characters “kick back at the prospect of being put out to pasture” is bittersweet. Darlow and Nussbaum offer “rich and unstinting portraits” of Gustave, the “aging aristocrat,” and Henri, the “man of modest means,” respectively. Only Peeples seems a bit young for his role as Philippe, the “gruffest” of the three. You’d be hard-pressed to find a trio who can tell the Grim Reaper they’re “still busy” this convincingly.