Photo: Michael Brosilow

Late in Neil LaBute’s ”In The Company of Men,” the most deplorable character I’ve ever seen in a domestic drama relaxedly watches “Seinfeld” after confessing to horrid acts of objectification and betrayal against a woman in the name of the masculine drive to dominate. “Seinfeld” is the head honcho of cruelty on television, going so far as to end its nine seasons with a courtroom condemnation of its characters’ collectively awful behavior. Punished or not, we loved every cruel nickname, prank and misadventure, regardless of the emotional casualties along the way. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo: Michael Brosilow

Plays that center around a person’s death are frequently written. What better way is there to showcase a contrast in characters’ points of view than by giving them a mutual target to each have a differing relationship and backstory with? On stage, deaths awaken dormant desires, battles and loves.

Chicago’s biggest theatrical success in recent memory, “August: Osage County” grabbed hold of that device, albeit with a humanity and refinement (a Valium-high, elbows-on-the-table refinement, but a refinement nonetheless). But “The Dream of The Burning Boy,” a lousy shock-and-aww drama at Profiles Theatre set in motion by the aneurysm death of a young man named Dane (Vic Kuligoski), obscures the nuances of grief and, instead, bluntly blurts out its selfishness—and all in that crucible of crucibles, a high school.  Read the rest of this entry »

Though we publish a list of “players” every year, we alternate between those whose accomplishments are most visible on-stage (the artists, last year) and those who wield their influence behind the curtain (this year). Not only does this allow us to consider twice as many people, but it also puts some temporal distance between the lists. So, the last time we visited this cast of characters, two years ago, we were celebrating the end of the Richard M. Daley years in Chicago, fretting over a nation seemingly in the mood for a Tea Party and contemplating the possibility of a Latter Day Saint in the White House. Today, we’ve got a dancer in the mayor’s office, the most prominent Mormons are in a chorus line at the Bank of America Theatre and the Tea Cup runneth dry. Call us cockeyed optimists, but things sure look better from here. And so, meet the folks who, today, bring us the best theater, dance, comedy and opera in the nation.

Written by Zach Freeman, Brian Hieggelke, Sharon Hoyer and Johnny Oleksinski
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Photo: Michael Brosilow

While Michigan Avenue shops exchange the jack-o-lanterns and ghoulish cutouts of their window displays for fluffy cotton balls and cinnamon yuletide ornament, a far more pessimistic and unabashedly retro vision of the holidays is revving up onstage at Profiles Theatre.

Playwright Will Kern’s “Hellcab,” a contritely episodic depiction of one cabbie’s worst Christmas Eve shift ever, is told through interconnected, sometimes humorous vignettes that envision man at his most naked, despicable and stereotyped. First presented by Famous Door Theatre in 1992, Profiles is packing an unnecessarily gargantuan ensemble of thirty-four actors onstage for the twentieth anniversary of the classic Chicago-set play, resulting in a dramedy both frantic and diffuse. Read the rest of this entry »

J. Salome Martinez, Alice Da Cunha and Foster Williams/Photo: Michael Broslow.

Seemingly ripped from the headlines, “After” at Profiles Theatre tells the tale of a falsely accused man after he’s exonerated and released from prison. “After” is Profile Theatre’s second show this season and a Midwestern premiere for Chad Beckim’s 2011 play. Presented in the intimate new Alley Stage, this ninety-minute pressure cooker is sure to move audiences and will certainly get better throughout its run.

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RECOMMENDED

The second in a series of four plays, Richard Nelson’s “Sweet and Sad” takes as its immediate subject a simple gathering of the Apple family for dinner—on the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Nelson does well to hold this obviously significant plot point at bay for long stretches of the play, producing a much deeper exploration of American family life. To honor their dementia-ridden uncle when he’s to perform a small part in a 9-11 memorial service, three siblings, their mother and a significant other conduct the majority of the conversation. Entirely discursive, the plot quickly establishes a simmering level of frustration and awkwardness. Read the rest of this entry »

Profiles Theatre announces its 2012- 2013 Season
Midwest premieres by Neil LaBute, Tommy Nohilly, David West Read, Chad Beckim, and the 20th Anniversary of Hellcab by Will Kern

Chicago—Artistic Directors Joe Jahraus and Darrell W. Cox announce Profiles Theatre’s 2012 – 2013 Season. Profiles presents its 24th season of new and challenging works slated to premiere for the first time ever in its theatre complex on North Broadway. Five productions are planned for the upcoming season including the Midwest premieres of the award-winning Blood from a Stone in a newly revised version by playwright Tommy Nohilly, After by Chad Beckim, The Dream of the Burning Boy by David West Read and the Midwest premiere of Neil LaBute’s controversial 2010 play The Break of Noon revised exclusively for Profiles Theatre. Additionally, one of Chicago theatre’s longest running hits, Hellcab by Will Kern, returns for its 20th Anniversary production. Read the rest of this entry »

Amanda Powell, Hillary Marren, Linda Augusta Orr/Photo: Shawn Cagle

The champagne starts to flow only minutes into Leslye Headland’s caustic tale of women behaving badly. And it’s not too long before coke, pills and pot follow. Soon enough there’s a ripped dress, shattered glass, several liquids and smashed wedding gifts littering Scott Davis’ efficiently compact hotel room set. Vitriol dominates the dialogue, with maid of honor Regan (Hillary Marren) and her two unwitting guests Katie (Linda Augusta Orr) and Gena (a stellar Amanda Powell) spending much of the opening scene berating the unseen bride-to-be, mostly for her weight. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

Adam (Darrell Cox) and Jan (Katherine Keberlein) have the night off from parenting; their son’s at a slumber party. Adam takes the opportunity to inject a little romance into their currently shaky marriage.

Michael Weller’s script stops and starts. He takes his characters’ enmity so far that you’re sure their love can never be repaired; in the next moment they’re asking each other for second chances they don’t deserve.

Cox and Keberlein make the best of a flawed situation; we know there’s a good deal unspoken that must be spoken from the top of Act One. When the story arc offers too much unforeseen information, they roll with it and the audience buys it. Credit director Joe Jahraus with staying on top of an unwieldy arc. Thad Hallstein’s comfortably yuppie set makes the prison of the relationship tangible. You are given the sense that only forgiveness sets the couple free. (Lisa Buscani)

Profiles Theatre, 4147 North Broadway, (773)549-1815. Through June 26.

Here’s the press release from Profiles Theatre:

Profiles Theatre announces its 2011- 2012 Season
Midwest premieres by
Martin McDonagh, Neil LaBute, Leslye Headland
and a world premiere by Deirdre O’Connor

Chicago—Artistic Directors Joe Jahraus and Darrell W. Cox announce Profiles Theatre’s 2011 – 2012 Season.  Profiles, one of Chicago’s longest-running storefront theatres, presents its 23rd season of new and challenging works, including the Midwest premiere of the Broadway hit A Behanding in Spokane by Martin McDonagh, directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member Rick Snyder; the Midwest premiere of Neil LaBute’s controversial 2010 play The Break of Noon revised exclusively for Profiles Theatre; the Midwest premiere of the scathing Off-Broadway hit Bachelorette by Leslye Headland; and the world premiere of Deirdre O’Connor’s latest play, Assisted Living.  Read the rest of this entry »