The Yellow Rose Theatre is one of Chicago’s newer venues, having launched in 2020 during Covid, with a company that demonstrates a passion for their work. Located at The Vault, an entertainment space at 607 W. Fulton, it is just a couple blocks east of the trendy Fulton Market District, in the restored Fulton Jefferson Building. An unusual split-level design that lends itself to conventional and immersive theater. 

Yellow Rose numbers 10 ensemble members, and an equal number of guest actors and playwrights, including Francis Brady, whose “Justicia” is nearing the end of its run. Tickets include access to an open bar and finger food, and audience members may mingle and gnosh before each performance and during intermissions—giving the shows a unique flair and sense of communality with the productions.(We saw "TV Land" there in May.)

Directed by Kieran O’Connor, Brady’s “Justicia,” while a bit uneven, has the heart of a solid play. A courtroom drama, it centers on the travails of a small town litigator Pappa (Rick Yacobnis) whose daughter (Katherine Wetterman) has left her own successful practice in Chicago to join his struggling firm—struggling because he takes on underdog cases regardless of the client’s ability to pay. He has relied on a line of credit from the local bank where the loan officer has a heart and has kept him afloat.

The first act opens in a courtroom hearing presided over by a Judge (Jorge Salas) as the plaintiff Ron (Joseph Arvo Levander) argues that he was wrongfully discharged and demands as a remedy that he be reinstated. The employer’s defense counsel (Madeline Diego) offers a modest cash settlement, but her client doesn’t want Ron back, deeming him no longer able to handle the jackhammer used in his work.

That summary is not difficult to extract from the action, but the presentation of this story was hampered by a number of things, beginning with the lack of a set, which caused the judge to sit below and look up at the lawyers arguing the case.

Pappa laces his arguments with Shakespere quotes, which might be okay but seem largely unrelated to the matters at hand. And for a public immersed in courtroom procedurals on streaming channels, the informality and departure from expected court protocols works against the believability. Lots of exposition and character building takes place in subsequent scenes, with the appearance of the daughter’s budding love-interest (Sophia Vitello), and father-daughter talks. But the first act is rather a muddle.

The second act puts the play on a more solid footing, opening with a new, young Bank Officer (Joe Bushell) who is all business as Poppa arrives to plead for an extension on the line of credit. The Bank Officer parries handily Poppa’s arguments that the bank should continue to fund this “practice with a heart.”

Bushell’s performance is the most solid of the cast, he’s a real pro and redeems the script somehow, suggesting the writing is a reach for the other performers, or that Brady is good at writing bank officer characters.

Lavender plays Ron very well, but is given little to work with, fated to repeat “I want my job back” endlessly. Levander’s voice and action convey the anguish of a late middle aged worker made redundant. He finally says “I want to work,” and “I want a paycheck”— in other words, be a useful and productive citizen. Brady could give us, and the character, more to say about his anguish.

Pappa is going through that same generational challenge as his daughter works to straighten out the firm’s finances, and takes on Jim's case to rescue it after Pappa, in an ill-advised move, has Ron demonstrate his ability with the jackhammer before the judge. (Unfortunately he drops it.)

So if you’re game to see it, “Justicia” runs November 9 and 11 at Yellow Rose Theatre. I’m going back to the venue to see The Yellow Rose’s “Thank God It’s Monday” or “T.G.I.M.” running November 10 and 11, a series of comic shorts in an immersive show. Both shows include eats and drinks. Tickets are at yellowrosetheatre.com