Susan Sontag, in her seminal essays published in the early seventies in “On Photography,” observed that “ultimately, having an experience becomes identical with taking a photograph of it…”. And this was long before digital cameras, camera phones, photos on Facebook, sharing photos with Flickr—before photos everywhere, all the time. If life, now more than ever, is merely a series of photo ops, the promise of The Neo-Futurists’ “I Am A Camera,” especially given its populist title, seemed especially timely. (As far as  I can tell, this production has nothing to do with the John van Druten play of the same name, which was made into a film and later was the basis for “Cabaret.”)

Vintage family photos flash on slides projected on a screen while patrons take seats in the theater, conveying a simple but powerful promise. I have no idea who these people are, but somehow they evoke my life, my family, a “Family of Man” reminder of all our basic similarities. This opening montage also clues us in that we’re not going to be exploring the meanings and ramifications of today’s pervasive photo-culture, alas. In fact, almost nothing in this show could not have been done at the time of Sontag’s book.

Instead we’re treated to a series of sketches that are like performance-art bits, wherein the show’s writers and performers, Caitlin Stainken and Jeremy Sher, amble through a narrative-free exploration of mildy interesting ideas, most of which overstay their welcome and some, like the “living photogram” shadow play, really overstay their welcome. Music soundtracks much of the show in place of dialogue. In the first bit, Sher enters the theater and smiles for the “camera,” to the powerful strains of Mission to Burma’s “This Is Not A Photograph.” As the song plays in its entirety and his smile becomes increasingly forced, we are reminded of the artifice, especially as it regards emotions, that lies behind so many of our visual “records.” Got it. When Stainken needlessly repeats the whole exercise, it foreshadows the need for some heavy editing. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

In the climax of the Steppenwolf revival of David Mamet’s “American Buffalo,” a polyester-clad, red-faced Tracy Letts tears up the stage, literally, by trashing the contents of a Chicago antique store circa 1975 so violently that audience members actually duck. But Letts’ current work as an actor, however intense and convincing, is nothing compared to the way that he is currently tearing up stages around town as a playwright.

Where else but in Chicago can you see the work of a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright in no less than three fascinatingly different guises during the same week of a dreary February?  There’s the Mamet Steppenwolf revival where you can experience Letts “in the flesh,” as it were, in the work of another playwright who has profoundly influenced him; an explosive performance of Letts’ first play “Killer Joe” in a no-holds barred production at the intimate Profiles Theatre; and the national touring production of Letts’ epic masterpiece, “August: Osage County,” the work that has brought him such unprecedented and award-winning attention and acclaim.

For those of us who missed the original Steppenwolf premiere back during the summer of 2007—which is when the play is set—or in its later incarnations on Broadway and on London’s West End and who therefore may wonder what all of the fuss was about and whether or not a play could possibly live up to all of the hype, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Read the rest of this entry »

As I enter my sixth year of Chicago stage criticism, I find it harder to distinguish raw talent when it’s marred by bad material. Because no matter how much passion and commitment is pumped into a mediocre play, the evening usually becomes a case of watching performers working tirelessly, but to tiresome effect.  The hard work on display at the Viaduct Theater is courtesy of The Consortium Project, a brand new Chicago ensemble comprised mostly of Florida State University Theater graduates, and the so-so drama is the 1970 stage version of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by playwright Dale Wasserman, and based upon Ken Kesey’s 1960s novel of the same name.

The play brings to life Randle McMurphy, a paragon of individuality and free will that is emblematic of the spirit of the 1960s. Evading prison (for statutory rape) by voluntarily submitting himself to a mental asylum for rehabilitation, McMurphy’s “Jock Christ” (as the late Pauline Kael wonderfully nicknamed the character in her review of the 1975 Milos Forman film version) raises hell and ultimately sacrifices himself in an attempt to inspire his fellow inmates—a motley crew of emotionally and psychologically crippled men—to rise up against the tyrannical and oppressive Nurse Ratched (Tracy Wray), herself emblematic of totalitarian power structures. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

Each year Duets For My Valentine pulls together an eclectic mix of dancers and companies from across the city to woo young lovers for one night at the historic Park West. The styles range from breakdance to ballet (and in the case of companies like Chicago Dance Crash, both at once) so both parties on the date are bound to be enthralled, if not by serial fuetes, then by windmills. This year’s lineup includes the aforementioned Dance Crash, Joel Hall Dancers, Chicago Tap Theatre, Breakdance Chicago, Elements Contemporary Ballet, Crooks Crew, Corpo Dance Company, Same Planet Different World, DanceWorks Chicago, dancer/choreographer Jeffrey Hancock, and Framework Dance Chicago. After the show, the audience is invited to put down their wine glass and take the stage to do a bit of dancing themselves. (Sharon Hoyer)

“Duets For My Valentine” plays at Park West, 322 W. Armitage, (773)929-1322. Saturday, February 13, 8pm. $25.

This show exemplifies the limitations of what even the most gifted directors and actors can accomplish with an outdated playscript; Fugard’s 1960’s South African anti-apartheid play is quintessential political art that doesn’t stand the test of time. “The Island” refers to the infamous Robben Island prison (that held Nelson Mandela, among others), where two cellmates perform hard labor during the day and rehearse “Antigone” at night for a prison talent show. The parallels between the two stories (Antigone, of course, is sentenced to life) is just as heavy-handed as the dialogue, which is full of frankly hackneyed lines about liberation: when one learns he has only a matter of months left on his sentence and counts the days on his fingers, the other shouts “I’m jealous of your freedom—I also want to count!” The show ends with their short DIY production of the Sophocles, which is both funny and surprisingly compelling, but the first ninety minutes of the show really drag from predictability. Very few lines hit home, despite masterful acting by La Shawn Banks and Kamal Angelo Bolden, who manage to draw out the comedy of the production while lending it a sense of nobility. It’s a shame that the writing simply doesn’t stand up to the thought that’s obviously gone into this production; even the set, minimalist and reticent, says more about the power of invention and imagination as instruments of freedom than the play itself. Director James Bohnen adds  interest by highlighting the sisyphian and mind-numbing nature of their work in a gorgeous drawn-out first scene of each digging holes in the sand that the other fills in with a wheelbarrow, so that we feel as much relief as the characters when the whistle blows. (Monica Westin)

At The Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln, (773)404-7336. Through March 7.

How do you make a satire about a satire?  That meta question goes unanswered—disappointingly so—in Second City’s new show “Rush Limbaugh! The Musical!”  There is so much lacking here, it’s hard to know where to begin.

Say what you will about the man, Limbaugh’s entertainment instincts are impeccable; he knows how to put on a show. Personally, I would have loved to see Second City parse what it is exactly that makes Limbaugh tick as a pop-cultural entity. Creators Ed Furman and T.J. Shanoff (with director Matt Hovde) choose a different tack, portraying Limbaugh as a cigar-puffing, money-obsessed boob—which would be fine if it weren’t so predictable.

Let’s back up a moment.  Just about everything Limbaugh says or does has the whiff of satire and farce to it, and it’s never entirely clear how much is carnival barking and how much is true-blue sentiment. But to simply paint the guy as egotistical, racist, venal, sexist and hypocritical, well that’s as reductive as it gets. These are all the usual beefs against the guy, and it’s the obvious route. How do you puncture Limbaugh’s persona—and his wildly successful history of bloviation-as-political-discourse—in a new way?  Frankly I don’t have the answer, but I’m not the one creating a show, either. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

Polish playwright Slawomir Mrozek’s “The Emigrants” looks at two Polish emigrants in impoverished exile in 1980s Paris. Their world is divided into that which costs and that which is free. As they soon discover, everything costs.

Intellectual AA (Joe Mack) is a political refugee who immerses himself in the mind games and doublespeak he inflicts on XX (Goran Milev), his practical workhorse of a roommate who’s abroad to save up cash for his dream home. The two bait each other until AA threatens to make it impossible for XX to ever return home. The fallout from his threat changes their lives.

Mack is up to the character’s wordplay but needs to internalize his emotions; Milev captures his character’s intent but his diction suffers in the heat of the moment. These are quibbles; the two still manage to capture the paralysis of poverty and the yearning for what they can’t have. (Lisa Buscani)

Moving Stories Theatre’s “The Emigrants” plays at The Artistic Home Theatre, 3914 N. Clark Street, (312)213-6236. Through February 21.

RECOMMENDED

Once again River North gives ticket buyers their money’s worth in its annual V-Day engagement, packing the program with two world premieres, two pieces that premiered last fall and four popular works from the company’s repertory. Brand new works include a driving three-way dance battle by, coincidentally enough, New York choreographer Robert Battle, and a look into the tension between group creativity and individual expression by commissioned choreographer Lauri Stallings. Frank Chaves, River North’s artistic director, restages “Forbidden Boundaries,” his intensely personal, athletically rigorous premiere from last fall that seeks quite literally to strip away the protective layers of self-doubt and inhibition keeping us from success. Romantic, valentines-y pieces on the program include Chaves’ stormy duet “Sentir em Nos,” set to the über-sexy vocals of Andrea Bocelli, and Battle’s “Ella,” a physical scat that sets pace with formidable vocal dancing of Ms. Fitzgerald’s “Air Mail Special.” (Sharon Hoyer)

At the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph, (312)334-7777. February 12 and 13, 8pm. $30-$65.

RECOMMENDED

Jesse is a videogame-playing rocket of a kid. But when Jesse’s exuberance disrupts his class and is followed by an ADHD diagnosis, his parents face a bewildering array of bad options. Drugs? Behavior modification? Unappetizing diet changes? Nothing seems to work.

Lisa Loomer’s meta-theatrical script captures the conundrum of modern parents living in a technologically advanced society at hyper speed. Donna Jay Fulks is appealing as the mother with the best intentions but no clue; Kevin Rich’s in-denial father is heartbreaking as he tries to protect and help his child. The multi-cast ensemble shines; Alan Wilder’s many “expert” roles are frustrating and amusing; OCD neighbor Dina Facklis steals the scene every time she steps onstage.

Andre LaSalle’s flat-screen-dominated set utilizes Mike Tutaj’s video design to effectively enhance the environment and narrate the story. P.J. Paparelli’s direction maintains the impossible pacing of a family we can all identify with. (Lisa Buscani)

At American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron, (773)409-4125, through February 28.

RECOMMENDED

Beau O’Reilly masterminds the especially invigorating fringe Rhinoceros Fest this year, which is curated and produced by his Curious Theatre Branch. He also adds to its diversity of the festival with this show comprised of two readings, one his—”Keith and Anna and Boriley”—and one that changes every week (week three featured Cecilie O’Reilly, a brilliant voice-coach reading, along with Marie Gillespie in an Annie Proulx story that didn’t quite fit with the actors’ own poems performed before and after). Beau O’Reilly’s true-story monologue, delivered Spalding Gray-style, is an occasionally very funny, sometimes quite cliched story of sex, drugs and a self-destructive love triangle in the mid-seventies. The story isn’t original, but what refreshes is O’Reilly’s masterful, modulated delivery, which is by turns droll deadpan, idiomatic chatting and some moments of pure (if at times incomprehensible) poetry—”she wore those dance hall lights like she was made of velcro,” O’Reilly declares of his lover Anna, and while one might be at a loss as to what he means, it’s revitalizing to sit in a room with a true storyteller and not really care. It’s the intimacy that Rhino’s all about. (Monica Westin)

At Prop Theatre, 3502 N. Elston, (773)539-7838. Through February 14.