Theatre
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Most of us expect a heart-wrenching journey of loneliness and desperation when we look to the great Russian masters, but rarely do we get to enjoy ourselves—much less laugh out loud—along the way. "Uncle Vanya," the latest work mounted by Court Theatre at the Museum of Contemporary Art, delivers a boisterous and revitalized presentation of Anton Chekov's classic tale that both tugs the heart strings and tickles the funny bone...
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Originally published January 23, 2007, Centerstage Chicago
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Tracy Letts likes it dark. The Chicago-based playwright is best known for plumbing the depths of the human psyche with his comic-gothic thrillers "Bug" and "Killer Joe." With "August: Osage County," now in its world premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre, Letts moves his lens a bit closer to home, to his childhood state of Oklahoma. The sprawling, ambitious (three generations, 3.5 hours and two intermissions) family epic hits its mark with aplomb...
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Originally published July 24, 2007, Centerstage Chicago
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"500 Clown Macbeth" begins when members of the audience spin around in their seats, craning their necks to get a glimpse of the clowns tangled in the overhead scaffolding at the back of the stage. The clowns—not 500 people but a mere three who perform with the energy of 500—caw and bray and pop their mouths as they slither and tumble toward the stage. You don't so much figure out what is going on as you give in to it...
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Originally published July 2, 2007, Centerstage Chicago
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I saw "500 Clown Frankenstein" the same night a couple hundred high school students filed in to see the show as some sort of mass field trip—let's just say the cards were stacked against the clowns and their play based on a book written in the early 1800s. Of course, anyone who's familiar with 500 Clown won't be surprised to learn that as soon as the lights went black at the end of the performance—literally before the actors even took their bows—the entire audience had leapt to its feet in ovation...
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Originally published July 2, 2007, Centerstage Chicago.
Shakespeare it's not. But "Shear Madness," the long-running comedic whodunit currently at the Chicago Theatre, plays as fast and easy with the laughs as it does with the flamboyant characters, playful plot and nudge-nudge-wink-wink audience participation. Of course, where some will see nothing but swishing stereotypes, others will find a tongue-in-cheek jab at the lighter side of hair salons. Trashy, campy fun or stone-age stereotype? Either way, the crowds are laughing. Loudly.
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Originally published May 18, 2007, Centerstage Chicago.
It is often said that Tom Stoppard is a playwright of ideas, but under the apt direction of Charles Newell at Court Theatre, Stoppard's "Arcadia" transcends far beyond the purely cerebral. It is a dazzling, at times hilarious, production and its intellectual weight is not diminished by this production's physicality. Instead, the result is a smooth, sumptuous marriage of thought and body, page and stage. It is an apt and joyful note on which to end Court's season...
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Originally published May 18, 2007, Centerstage Chicago.
Those familiar with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Edward Albee's evisceration of self-delusion and marital co-dependency, might knowingly brace themselves as they settle in to watch the latest revival. But Anthony Page's production, which has brought the original Broadway stars to Chicago for a scant two weeks as part of a national tour, forgoes the usual endless screeching and emotional roiling audience members have endured in the 45 years since the play was first written. Instead, Page creates a subtler, leaner look at Albee's masterpiece, in which the intimate lacerations are quick but quiet. That is to say, the blows to the audience are a little softer, but the pain on stage goes no less deep...
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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...
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Originally published March 30, 2007, Centerstage Chicago
In partnering with Milan-based marionette company Colla e Figli, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater has married two of the most classic components of theater: the text of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" with beautifully materialized and skillfully maneuvered marionettes. The result, "Marionette Macbeth," which opened in Chicago and will continue on to New York, is a visually powerful production but not without glitches...
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Originally published March 21, 2007, Centerstage Chicago
"Flyin' West," directed by Ron OJ Parson at the Court Theater, has all the components of a feel-good, feminist play about embracing one's identity and empowering oneself. There's the classic trio of fiercely dedicated sisters: gun-toting Sophie, sweet-faced Fannie and woefully vulnerable Minnie, as well as the mesmerizing matriarch, Miss Leah, and the balanced male perspectives, self-loathing mulatto Frank, and the easy-tempered and always honorable Will...
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Originally published March 19, 2007, Centerstage Chicago
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