May 17
Photo: Tim Morozzo
RECOMMENDED
Few works of theater have the adrenaline-fueled urgency of “Roadkill.” But it’s not the familiar rush of exhilaration; it’s the primal clamor for survival that pulsates so fervently in this hopeless crypt. During this brusque, profoundly upsetting performance, the heartbeat quickens to prepare for a gutsy sprint away from your captors. Directed and conceived by Cora Bissett with a text by Stef Smith, “Roadkill” is truly that invasive. Sex trafficking, the subject of this British import, is typically resigned to the police blotter, in one ear and out the other. Knowing of the world’s emotional detachment to a rampant international crime with victims so forlornly voiceless, this team has dragged us screaming into an immersive space to tell their story, that of a young life destroyed by child prostitution. Late in this sickening tale, I found myself saying, “Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” in a hushed tone on repeat.
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May 15
Photo: Michael Brosilow
RECOMMENDED
Full disclosure: I, Lisa Buscani, am the 1982 Ohio State Duet Acting Champion, a card-carrying, pin-wearing member of the National Forensic League. Hold your applause. I took it seriously, almost as seriously as the three high-school students featured in the American Theater Company’s reboot, outcasts desperate for a voice, a forum “where the adults are forced to listen.” The piece brings back great memories and makes salient points about the rough road of adolescence. Read the rest of this entry »
May 10
Photo: Matthew Gregory Hollis
RECOMMENDED
One hopes the producers and creative team of the deeply problematic “Big Fish,” which recently completed its pre-Broadway tryout here in Chicago, caught a preview of “Ivywild: The True Tall Tales of Bathhouse John,” a new play by Jay Torrence at the Chopin Theatre, before jetting back to Broadway.
You see, a core problem with the wishy-washy new musical with songs by by Andrew Lippa was that the main character’s tall tales—which give the show all of its theatricality—weren’t so tall; they were puny and mistakenly literal. As realized by Susan Stroman, giants, witches, floods and daffodils were rendered feeble and near-magic-less by the traditional musical theater razzmatazz.
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May 07
RECOMMENDED
People who live in the kind of twisted families only Tennessee Williams could write must look at Neil Simon families and think, “well, that sounds nice.” While neither type of family is exactly better off, the Jeromes at the center of “Brighton Beach Memoirs” have a plucky sense of optimism. Despite dire circumstances akin to “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “The Glass Menagerie,” the family in this play never projects the bleakness of their situation, and that feels a little unrealistic by comparison. Raven Theatre dusts off this tried-and-true classic to finish out its thirtieth season. Read the rest of this entry »
May 06
Photo by Johnny Knight
RECOMMENDED
There’s no tragedy like a Greek tragedy; outsized bad decisions from deeply flawed characters, combined with unknown information make for eye-popping, head-spinning catastrophe. And parts of Sheila Callaghan’s “Lascivious Something” live up to that age-old tradition; other parts just seem to lack purpose.
Expatriate August (Joe McCauley) is living with his young wife Daphne (Simone Roos) in Greece during the nascent Reagan era. A former activist, August has transferred his attentions from firebrand politics to transforming his wife’s vineyard near their small inn. Unexpectedly, they receive a visit from August’s ex-lover Liza (Georgann Charuhas), looking to return something to August. Read the rest of this entry »
May 06
RECOMMENDED
Following six years in the complex relationship between an established writer/professor and her aspiring protégée, Donald Margulies’ “Collected Stories” is a study in mentor/mentee dynamics that is both philosophical and touching, broadly recognizable and specific. Most of us have had at least one mentor, and some of us have even had the honor of being one. “Collected Stories” examines the sometimes contradictory emotions that being on either side of the equation can evoke. Read the rest of this entry »
May 04
Photo: Kevin Viol
RECOMMENDED
Rick Cluchey’s performance in Samuel Beckett’s “Krapp’s Last Tape” is a surreal exploit that goes far beyond docile entertainment and way past profundity; it’s living history. Previously performed in Chicago by the seventy-nine-year-old actor at the Goodman Theatre in 1980, this production was originally directed by Beckett himself in 1977. No, you did not misread or misunderstand. The playwright, among the most culturally significant of the twentieth century, himself guided and physically staged Cluchey’s take on Krapp. Beckett directed several productions of his own plays, but Cluchey’s is special in that it continues to thrive, and was born of an exceptionally led life. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr 30
Photo: Jeremiah Barr
RECOMMENDED
Writing a play of divisive issues is no small feat. Some critics will decry the work as preachy, manipulative and disguising the playwright’s political agenda, while others might find that the issues take precedence over the characters. It’s terrain that’s not only rocky but also littered with a war’s-worth of buried land-mines.
Those lurking dangers are what make playwright Geoffrey Nauffts’ “Next Fall” so darn impressive. The Tony-nominated play, receiving a Chicago premiere by AstonRep, puts the spotlight on hospital visitation rights for a gay couple with a marked age difference in which one man is an agnostic and the other is a devout Christian. A two-act drama or late-night comedy show sketch, you ask? “Next Fall” is a little bit of both, which is why the adroitly built play—how shocking it is that no larger theater programmed it yet—eludes those many traps and pitfalls.
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Apr 29
RECOMMENDED
Photo: Michael Brosilow
A blizzard rages outside of an Indian restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio. Weather being nature’s indicator of theatrical tumult yet to come, the wind howls maliciously. Unlike Tennessee Williams’ plays of heat, Rajiv Joseph’s “The Lake Effect,” which opened on Saturday at Silk Road Rising, is a play of ice. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr 29
Photo: Johnny Knight
RECOMMENDED
Playwright Nina Raine is very good at investigating tangents. Her characters have mean fun with each other, exploring gender differences, mocking each other’s vocational directions, stirring up painful romantic recollection and discussing the interconnectedness of memory. Everything’s fun and smart and overtly bitchy, but the whole show doesn’t gel into a coherent comment about its subjects. Except maybe that they don’t like each other very much. Read the rest of this entry »
