UPTOWN — “If You Split a Second,” is a two-actor drama about crime, punishment and how one bad decision can devastate a life in the blink of an eye.
The play penned by Chicago playwright Dana Lynn Formby starts its one-month run at Pegasus Players on May 2.
The drama centers on Mick Johnson, a man who surrenders to his own rage at a crucial moment and makes a split-second decision that costs him his career, his family and his freedom — leaving him with nothing but time and a prison cell.
Johnson “recounts his decisions and watches the life of family unfold through another man’s eyes,” according to the theater. The play stars Dylan McGorty and Stephanie Chavara, who transition between multiple characters throughout, with McGorty in the lead role as Johnson and Chavara playing all the female characters.
The theme of the production — and the theme of Pegasus Players’ 2013 season (which could be its last at 4520 N. Beacon St.) — is “choices,” according to the theater.
Pegasus Players Artistic Director Ilesa Duncan said in a release that “looking at a man caught in the prison system,” was a fitting way to explore the theme. Duncan is also the director for “If You Split a Second.”
Playwright Formby said in writing the play she was “interested in the idea that often times socioeconomic truths help create an environment in which children repeat their parents' mistakes.”
"They have a very difficult time escaping the repetition of the same struggles their folks had.”
For more information about “If You Split a Second,” and to buy tickets, click here.
