Just as Fires in the Mirror has been performed without Anna Deavere Smith and The Fever has been enacted without Wallace Shawn, now, for the first time, David Hare's Via Dolorosa is being staged sans the services of its author and original star.

But time is running out. Performances starring Chicago actor Kevin Gudahl end March 5 at the Apple Tree Theatre in the Windy City. Final weekend shows are sold out, expect for March 5.

Apple Tree previews for the one-person sociopolitical monodrama began Feb. 2.

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Gudahl and director David Darlow, at Hare's urging, and with the help of Chicago arts philanthropist Hope Abelson, jetted to Israel for 10 days in early January to get a first-hand feel of the tensions and territory explored in Hare's solo show. They traced some of the steps that British writer-monologuist Hare did. Official opening was Feb. 6. This is Via's first regional production in the U.S., following Hare's Broadway stint in 1998-99.

Hare's autobiographical work concerns the playwright's experiences during a 1997 trip to Israel and the Palestinian territory. Via debuted in London in 1998 and bowed on Broadway in the spring of 1999, with Hare repeating his performance. Hare's plays include The Secret Rapture, Amy's View, The Blue Room and Plenty.

Actor Gudahl recently starred in the Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Antony and Cleopatra.

The Apple Tree is located in Highland Park, IL. For information, call (847) 432-4335.

-- By Kenneth Jones
and Robert Simonson