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The House's latest production about a community tragedy oozes with gusto and verve.

Friday Mar 30, 2007.     By Kate Rockwood

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With a title like "The Sparrow," there are a half-dozen cutesy ways one could say House Theatre's latest production soars, but let's keep it clear and crisp: "The Sparrow" rocks, and if it's the one play you see this spring, you'll have no regrets. This refreshing, vivacious bit of homespun theater recently transferred its run from the Viaduct to the sparse, cozy space at the Steppenwolf Garage Theatre.

"The Sparrow" centers around a rural Midwest community that has lost an entire class in a school bus accident, a story line that calls to mind the 1997 film "The Sweet Hereafter" (though the play mainly succeeds in shaking free from any "based on" obligations). It opens years after the bus was hit by a train, when the one surviving class member, Emily Book (played with spot-on timing and physical grace by Carolyn Defrin), returns to the small hamlet. The classic tale of a high school outcast gets a welcome twist Emily as reveals her telekinetic powers—and her culpability in the earlier accident is called into question. Sure, the bookish newcomer can fly through the air to rescue the head cheerleader, but did she also push the school bus onto the train tracks?

Written by Chris Mathews and Jake Minto and conceived and directed by Nathan Allen, "The Sparrow" is an aesthetically integrated production that oozes with gusto and verve. Skilled performances (particularly by Cliff Chamberlain, as the teacher who's also a heartthrob, and Kat McDonnell, who beautifully tempers the splash of some scenes with desperation-laced grief) are paired with notable costuming by Ana Kuzmanic, a score by Kevin O'Donnell and a fair dose of dance.

From straight-up physical expression (Defrin's lengthy and lanky dance solo when her classmates initially accept her) to a masterfully stylized game of basketball to classroom choreography that blends Frank Sinatra with dissected fetal pigs (don't worry, you'll love it), "The Sparrow" isn't afraid to "sing the body electric" as one Whitman-heavy scene underscores. The result is a play that's as physically exuberant as it is visually arresting. And though some edges were a bit rough (the muddled subplot about the overachieving cheerleader and the hot, young teach), they didn't dampen the sensation that "The Sparrow" is a welcome breath of fresh air on Chicago's theater scene.

"The Sparrow" runs through April 21 at the Steppenwolf Merle Reskin Garage Theatre. Tickets cost $25, but the show is sold out.