Ilsa Morales and Austin Rambo
Eclectic Full Contact Theatre Presents SOCK & CO Review - What’s the Point of Life if You’re Not Working for Someone Richer than You?
TLDR: Feeling like a modern version of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, except now our workers have to work twice as hard to go half as far in Eclectic’s Sock & Co. Following three retail workers as they try to not only manage the store, but also manage the chaos a portal machine brings as it sucks people in and spits random people from different time periods out. The play is absurdist and satirical that would be a good fit for those who like to put thought into their theatre-going experience.
Lenna Magdeline Wren and Ilsa Morales
Seven Hundred Dollars? That’s a Steal!
Welcome to Sock & Co.! Picture this. You and your boatloads of money are looking for expensive things to buy, even better if it’s artisan. You find Sock & Co., a luxury, handmade, designer sock brand where they customize socks to your exact size and have seasonal collections in specific colors named to inspire feelings in you. The store is everything you love about luxury shopping - minimalist displays, stark white walls, and vague motivational posters everywhere you turn. And to top it all off, each pair costs more than $700. You’ve never been happier spending your extra disposable income than here in this store!
And who is helping you out during your shopping experience? The salespeople are trained and knowledgeable about every single color and style of the 4 socks they have in their collection and can help you find the exact right one for you (not that they could ever afford these socks themselves anyway). The manager played by Ilsa Morales is drinking the kool-aid of the company and doing her best to help the new sales associate played by Lenna Magdeline Wren, succeed so that one day, Wren might be able to move up from lowly sales associate to…assistant manager!
Already in Sock & Co. we’re introduced to this world as a satire play. We recognize this retail scenario and all the people in it from the hourly workers, to the slightly out there delivery guy, to the rich owner who made millions so now he can just invest in his passion project. However, when a time machine portal is installed in their backroom, chaos is brought down upon the store and it’s up to the everyday workers to fix this mess.
Lenna Magdeline Wren, Austin Rambo, and Chloe Adamo
The Modern Commentary on Capitalism Play
Sock & Co. is like a modern day How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Where that show is all about how to get the farthest ahead by doing as little work as possible, Sock & Co. is the opposite. Everyone is working so hard and they are barely taking a step forward. It captures the plight of the modern worker where even if you are grinding day in and day out, you are still barely making enough to get by. Whereas the rich boss and his rich investor friends get richer and have “great” ideas that involve bringing in new technology that’s supposed to help productivity, but instead causes more work for all the regular employees.
And on top of that, it captures the modern plight of feeling insane when something life changing happens and everybody else keeps going on with their lives like business as usual. A woman literally disappears in the mysterious portal and everyone is more focused on the business than trying to find her. But the cast plays up all the absurdities so we’re never sinking into a capitalistic hellscape doom spiral. As new characters pop out of the portal, our three workers Ilsa Morales, Lenna Magdeline Wren, and Faris El-Kildani are on the case and keep us laughing as they deal with everyone from cavemen, to pinata enthusiasts, to fourteenth century peasants. And who knows, maybe this will prove Wren is management material afterall!
Faris El-Kildani, Lenna Magdeline Wren, and Ilsa Morales
The After Party Thoughts
Sock & Co is going to be for a very specific audience. It aims to be both absurdist and satirical by holding a mirror upside down to this world. These workers in a luxury sock store find themselves in a crisis when their lives don’t have meaning without work anymore. These are two VERY specific styles of theatre that you have to be in the mood for to be ready to unpack everything. Honestly half my thoughts here are all post-show analyses, so you’ll be mulling it over after you leave the theatre.
That being said, do I think they accomplished what they set out to do? Yes, they captured the essence of an experience we’re familiar with and turned it on its head. Did I enjoy the analysis during and after the show? Also yes. One thing I would say since this is a comedy, they could pick up the pace more to cut out some of the dead space in between jokes and really charge up the atmosphere more.
So for those that aren’t fans of either of those two types of theatre or who prefer a more straight forward type of work, then this show wouldn’t be a good match. For those that are very much anti-capitalist and pro-worker and like a little thought and engagement in their theatre, then Sock & Co. would be a great fit for you!
RECOMMENDED
Faris El-Kildani and Lenna Magdeline Wren
When
Now through November 21, 2026
Where
The Edge Theater
5451 N Broadway
Chicago, IL 60640
Runtime: 2hrs, including intermission
Tickets
$30+
Tickets can be purchased through the Eclectic Full Contact Theatre website
Photos
Courtesy of Eclectic Full Contact Theatre
Find Allie and The After Party featured on Theatre in Chicago
Bryan Breau
CAST
Chloe Adamo
Lenna Magdeline Wren
Paul Chakrin
Ilsa Morales
Austin Rambo
Faris El-Kildani
Bryan Breau
Moni M. Villalba
Nina Cajuste
Zachary Riker
Julia Yanosik Perez
Ethan Evans
Ben Linville
CREATIVE
Paige Kim Mesina (Director)
Andrew Pond (Artistic Director/Fight Choreographer)
Natividad Selgado (Artistic Director)
Daniel Houle (Producer/Production Manager)
Shayla Woolsey (Stage Manager)
Phaedra Plank (Assistant Stage Manager)
Hannah Keeler (Dramaturg)
Jeremiah Barr (Scenic Designer)
Michael Meschbach (Lighting Designer)
Kate Schnetzer (Sound Designer)
Emma Li (Costume Designer)
Mary Aurora Moore (Props Designer)