Madeline Long, Pat King, Danielle O'Farrell, John Taflan and Tom McGrath/Photo by John W. Sisson, Jr.

“Frankenstein” was such an extraordinary work for its time—indeed, though a Gothic novel, it is often considered to have virtually created the genre of science fiction—that there has been considerable skepticism over the years about how an unknown, unpublished 19-year-old girl could have come up with such a bizarre, twisted and forward-looking story all on her own.

Mary Shelley herself would stick to the explanation that the tale had come to her in a single nightmare, but the scenario that prompted her to actually take pen to paper can be directly traced to an unusual literary “contest” of sorts that took place on the night of June 16, 1816, where a group of writers and their friends that had gathered at a Swiss villa—including Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (soon after to marry Shelley), Claire Clairmont and Byron’s physician, John William Polidori—were read stories aloud by Byron, after which Byron proposed that each member of the group try to write a ghost story. Read the rest of this entry »

Kimberly Logan/Photo: Johnny Knight

With “The Last Daughter of Oedipus,” Babes with Blades blithely contradict this well-known undergraduate theater-history fact: violence in Greek tragedy occurs offstage. Functioning as a sort of epilogue to Sophocles’ “Oedipus” trilogy, Jennifer L. Mickelson’s new play finds every excuse it can for sword-swinging and ass-kicking clamor. Ismene, sole survivor of the house of Oedipus, learns in a dream visitation from her dead mother and sister that the tragedies that befell her family were due to an old curse. With her loyal servant Zeva, Ismene sets out to discover the origin of the curse and restore honor to her family name. Any shortcomings in the script might be forgiven, were it not for the failings in the area of the company’s bread and butter—stage combat. Very often, fight scenes that come out of left field lack dramatic tension, and too many sequences resemble battle-royale-style rumbles, the stage packed with players yet with none of them warranting focus. I’ll admit to being taken aback by the play’s harrowing, revelatory final scene, but the path to that point is an often confusing and tedious one. (Neal Ryan Shaw)

Babes with Blades at the Lincoln Square Theatre, 4754 North Leavitt, (773)904-0391, through September 25.

Cristian Gorostieta/Photo: Aurelia Fisher

RECOMMENDED

As a living, breathing, historical record of where queer youth culture was in the early part of the twenty-first century, About Face Theatre’s “Queertopia” is an important show. Subtitled “The Anti-Violence Project,” this eighty-minute, collage-structured, professionally produced and youth-performed oral history project boasts opening moments of real theatrical magic, courtesy of director Sara Kerastas, choreographers Patrick Andrews and Donnell Williams, and costume designer Jillian Gryzlak. Grant Sabin’s minimalist set design—silver metal structures of stairways, platforms and scaffolding, as if the audience were about to take in a futuristic sci-fi “West Side Story”—is also something to behold.

A black drag queen, outfitted in high heels and a navy and white polka dot-fitted dress—Christian Dior would have loved it—breaks the fourth wall and becomes our hostess to Queertopia. She bookends the play and doles out enough camp and ‘tude to make RuPaul want to hang it up. A pile of intertwined bodies, what looks like the aftermath of a strenuous game of ultimate Twister, is actually the eleven young cast members who will go on to play all of the kinky denizens of Queertopia. They start twitching and the clump of bodies begins to convulse spastically as they unglue and separate. When they finally come to individual life, representing a cross-section of queer youth in every color, shape and gender identification in the rainbow, the audience is treated to a dynamic large group dance number with a spirit that recalls the terpsichorean joys of a 1980s episode of “Fame.” (It must also be said that Gryzlak’s costumes—leg-warmers, satin jackets, bold primary color clashes—could have come straight out of one of those episodes, too.) Finally, an actor begins flipping cue cards in a visual homage to Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” film clip, or since we’re talking 1980s, like they do in that “Need You Tonight” INXS music video. The cards feature the names of gay and gay-friendly artists and activists—many of them dead before any of these performers were even born—whose lives and work made it possible for LGBTQ folks to be where they are today. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you love theater? Do you love comic books? Do you love them both at the same time? The Factory Theater, with their new show “The League of Awesome,” certainly does. But given the on-again, off-again status of the beleaguered Spider-Man musical, it’s difficult to be optimistic about the theater’s capacity for earnest superhero plays. The Factory, therefore, takes the easy route and goes straight for the parody. In a fictional comic-book city, the members of The League of Awesome have imprisoned the last of their fair city’s super-criminals (who is also the ex-boyfriend of one of them)—until, one year later, he escapes with plans to take over the world. The play for a while is relentlessly funny, with Japanese koken stagehands cleverly supplying the superheroic magic. Cowriters Corri Feuerstein and Sara Sevigny, along with director Matt Engle, certainly know their comic-book archetypes, but all is lost when it comes to sympathetic characters. The jokes grow tiresome and by the end you realize there’s little substance behind the heroes’ gaudy masks. (Neal Ryan Shaw)

The Factory Theater at Prop Thtr, 3504 North Elston, (866)811-4111. Through August 21.

Photo: Giau Truong

Dream Theatre Company closes the book on their ambitious Agon Trilogy with “Orestes,” which finds the Audience (both literal and literary) following Electra’s journey into hell to rescue her dead brother after the events of her own eponymous play. Once again departing radically from the story points of the original “Oresteia,” Jeremy Menekseoglu’s play unfolds as a sort of Greek Myth Greatest Hits Jukebox, as Electra encounters the likes of Pandora, Persephone, Medea’s children and Agamemnon himself along her way to find Orestes.

Dream Theatre’s sense of world creation is impeccable, with a forest-of-planks set, noirish lighting and edgy costumes. Design-wise, only the soundtrack, packed with big band jazz, British music hall and hard rock numbers, might be considered a misstep. Ultimately, the plot of “Orestes” meanders from set-piece to set-piece with too little urgency, caring more to comment somehow on mythology and storytelling (and why do the characters keep referring to us as the all-seeing “Audience?” What does that mean?) than getting to the nitty-gritty of Electra’s epic quest. DTC’s road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions, and little more. (Neal Ryan Shaw)

Dream Theatre Company, 556 West 18th Street, (773)552-8616. Through August 15.

Thea Lux, Tara Sissom, Brandon Ruiter, Chris Gingrich, Henry Riggs/Photo: Anne Peterson

RECOMMENDED

Could The New Colony’s “That Sordid Little Story” be one of the best original musicals that Chicago has produced in years? I certainly think so. Because while not everyone may be a fan of bluegrass, the storytelling could use a tad more attention and the set design is a bit of an interesting mess, there is no denying that “That Sordid Little Story” is dramatically gripping, musically soaring and oftentimes emotionally devastating.

If you haven’t heard of The New Colony, they are a barely three-year-old Chicago collective of artists who create their work in the ensemble tradition, nurturing their pieces—or so I’m told—through long periods of creative gestation which has their roots in improvisation, workshop and experimentation.

For their latest, Artistic Director Andrew Hobgood had a story in mind about a young man circa the early 1960s who finds personal resonance in the music and lyrics of a band named That Sordid Little Story. He embarks on an arduous trek across the Deep South in search of the band’s next obscure gig—today he’d simply hook up with them via the band’s Facebook or MySpace pages—and along the way meets an eclectic cast of characters who for better or worse shape his journey and impart something on his quest for meaning. This is the simple, heart-on-its-sleeve story, for which Hobgood recruited two musicians, Chris Gingrich and Henry Riggs, to begin composing songs whose lyrics and musical flavor would fit the ideas and moments that were being fleshed out on paper and in rehearsal. Two dozen songs, three credited writers, nine actors playing twice as many characters and a “live” five-piece band later, and you have “That Sordid Little Story.” Read the rest of this entry »

Tom Irwin and Kate Arrington/Photo: Michael Brosilow

RECOMMENDED

In Bruce Norris’ latest, Bee (Kate Arrington) confronts her blunt future self (Marylouise Burke) and explores her less-than-ideal soon-to-come. Her blowhard boyfriend (Tom Irwin) copes with Bee’s futuristic tales, even as we discover she may not be the most reliable witness.

Arrington appeals as she tries to make the most of a fate she can’t change; Burke’s no-nonsense riffing is pragmatic fun. The standout here is Irwin; he makes us feel for his self-centered sumbitch who thinks he has found love with a younger woman, only to watch her spin out.

Anna Shapiro’s driving direction keeps the timing sharp and the humor crisp. Todd Rosenthal’s airy, geometric set hints at  future possibilities. It’s a bit annoying that Norris asks us to suspend disbelief and accept the sci-fi/fantasy format only to cavalierly derail it, but the trip is worth the detour. (Lisa Buscani)

Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 North Halsted, (312)335-1650, through August 29.

RECOMMENDED

For nearly  400 years, the Irish suffered at the hands of British landowners, suffocated by poverty, ignorance and superstition. But instead of focusing on its weaknesses, playwright Jim Lynch concentrates on the culture’s strengths—its cleverness and humor—to show poor farmers rising above tough times and surviving.

Lovers Katie (Marta Evans) and Finbar (Shane Kenyon) dream of leaving their village; Frankie (Nick Horst) dreams of staying, working the land and prospering. Finbar must go head-to-head with Katie’s over-protective, snobbish mother Breda (Miranda Zola); Frankie must outfox a corrupt priest (Malcom Callan).

Frank Nall and Bill Boehler’s slapstick is a hoot, Horst and Callan’s confrontation is a fearsome thing to watch. But the gem of the evening is Finbar’s come-to-jesus meeting with Breda; Kenyon savors his advantage like a starving man at a steak dinner while Zola gives as good as she gets. It’s good craic. (Lisa Buscani)

The Artistic Home, 3914 North Clark, (866)811-4111, through August 1.

Gregory Porter and Mississippi Charles Bevel/Photo: Michael Brosilow

RECOMMENDED

“Low Down Dirty Blues” is the new songbook-style musical revue from Northlight Theatre and it offers everything you’ve come to expect from musical entertainments at Northlight:  great songs, fabulous voices and strong production values. That makes the show worth praising. What makes the show worth experiencing, however, is what you don’t expect to get:  a lot of raunchiness and just enough racial bite.

The actors/singers are Sandra Reaves-Phillips and Felicia P. Fields—the women—and Mississippi Charles Bevel and Gregory Porter—the men. They’re backed by a three-piece blues band and the song list consists of nearly two dozen blues standards. Whether putting you through the emotional wringer with the torchy “Good Morning Heartache” or the plaintive “Grapes of Wrath,” or making you blush with the delicious double-entendre of “My Stove’s In Good Condition” and “If I Can’t Sell It, I’ll Keep Sittin’ On It,” the production breathlessly moves from number to number without bothering to stop and articulate some feeble storyline. Instead, the arrangement of the songs—sometimes to maintain a celebratory mood, sometimes to provide humorous ironic counterpoint, other times for reflection and introspection—provides the evening with its strong emotional arc. Read the rest of this entry »

A young writer can hear the arguments of the couple who lives next door through the cheap drywall. After an especially boisterous fight, he goes next door to comfort the girlfriend, who soon discovers that the writer has been using their fights as fodder for his fiction. From this point on in Abraham Werewolf’s premiere of “Paper Thin Walls,” by company member Jack McDonald, cliché-addled writer (Cardigan, check. Jazz LPs, check. Electric typewriter, check.), deluded muse and jealous boyfriend converge to manipulate each other to further their own selfish ambitions. Unfortunately, this play fails to make the creative process dramatically engaging. The actors do their best with overlong conversations that have no drive and sudden acts of sex and violence that come out of nowhere. John Holt’s set, positioned between a sort of alley seating configuration, would be a revelation if only director Matt Hook’s use of it weren’t so uninspired. Not to be too harsh on such a young company, but their play could have benefited from a few more discerning hours in the typewriter. (Neal Ryan Shaw)

Abraham Werewolf at the Viaduct Theatre, 3111 North Western, (773)296-6024, through June 20.