From left: Adrian Danzig, Samuel Taylor, John Judd/Photo: Michael Brosilow

RECOMMENDED

What if all the magical action in “The Tempest” happened inside the head of one bitter, wronged man? “The Feast” portrays a tormented Prospero (John Judd) commanding his slaves Ariel (Samuel Taylor) and Caliban (Adrian Danzig) to repeatedly act out an unfolding drama of his own creation using masks and puppets. Read the rest of this entry »

By Sharon Hoyer

The young king of England takes his troops into France and, against great odds, is victorious. Esteemed choreographer, director and writer David Gordon, founder of New York-based Pick Up Performance Co(s), compressed the Bard’s five-act history play into an hour-long show using original choreography and his own meta-chorus character, who provides commentary on Shakespeare and our own time. Gordon also mined the recent history of “Henry V” to retell the tale of prince Hal; “Dancing Henry Five” uses iconic recordings of Shakespeare’s text as performed by Laurence Olivier and Christopher Plummer, along with William Walton’s soundtrack from the 1944 film.

Why did you revive “Dancing Henry Five” now? Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from Oak Park Festival Theatre:

Oak Park Festival Theatre Announces
2011-2012 Season

OAK PARK, IL-Oak Park Festival Theatre announces its 2011-2012 performance season. Following last year’s successful four-play season, there will be two productions indoors, in addition to the two outdoors in Austin Gardens.

In the fall of 2011, OPFT will produce Tennessee Williams’ American classic The Glass Menagerie, directed by Kevin Theis, in the studio space at the Madison Street Theatre. A spring production of Stones in His Pockets by Marie Jones, directed by David Mink and starring Alan Ruck and OPFT Artistic Director Jack Hickey, will play in the same location. The summer season in Austin Gardens will be two highly charged political masterpieces: Lawrence and Lee’s Inherit the Wind, directed by Steve Pickering, and Shakespeare’s Richard III, directed by Belinda Bremner.  Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from Promethean Theatre Ensemble:

PROMETHEAN THEATRE ENSEMBLE ANNOUNCES THEIR SIXTH SEASON: DON NIGRO’S
SEASCAPE WITH SHARKS AND DANCER, SHAKESPEARE’S HENRY V

June 28, 2011- CHICAGO, IL: Promethean Theatre Ensemble will launch its sixth season with the
unconventional romance by Don Nigro, Seascape with Sharks and Dancer. Season six will finish with a reimagined take on William Shakespeare’s Henry V. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from First Folio:

FIRST FOLIO ANNOUNCES
15th ANNIVERSARY SEASON

OAK BROOK – Tickets and subscriptions are now on sale for First Folio Theatre’s 2011-2012 season, celebrating their 15th Anniversary.  Opening this special season is the one-woman show based on the life of Katherine Hepburn, Tea at Five.  This will be followed by the Chicago premiere of Sean Grennan’s newest comedy Making God Laugh.  Continuing First Folio’s reputation for spine-tinglers with The Turn of the Screw will complete the indoor portion of the season.  The annual summer Shakespeare-under-the-stars will consist of The Merchant Project, a special two month long series of events centering around Shakespeare’s most controversial play, The Merchant of Venice.   Season subscriptions and individual tickets may be purchased by calling the box office at 630-986-8067 or online at www.firstfolio.org.  Ticket prices range from $22-37, and subscription packages begin as low as $52. 

Oak Brook-based First Folio Theatre begins its 15th Anniversary celebration with a chance to spend an evening with Katharine Hepburn, Hollywood’s most private celebrity, in Tea at Five.  This one-actress show, by Matthew Lombardo, takes place in the living room of Hepburn’s New England estate.  With act one set in 1938 and act two in 1983, the show gives audiences an intimate look at two major periods in the life of the feisty, aristocratic, and unrepentant star of such cinematic treasures as The Philadelphia Story, The African Queen, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.  Melissa Carlson stars in this one-woman show that brings Hollywood’s greatest legend to life.  “A fascinating character study of an actress who was every bit as colorful as the characters she portrayed.” (Pioneer Press) 

The anniversary merriment continues with the laugh filled Making God Laugh, the latest comedy from First Folio’s own Sean Grennan, the playwright behind such comic masterpieces as Married Alive, A Dog’s Life, and Another Night Before Christmas.  Grennan has created that rare play which manages to be absolutely genuine, moving, and deeply funny all at once, providing a portrait of a family seen in four holidays over thirty years.  Featuring Kevin McKillip and David Rice, this comedy proves that you can go home again…but is it a good idea?  

The indoor portion of the subscription series finishes with Jeffrey Hatcher’s brilliant adaptation of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw.  A young governess journeys to a lonely English manor house to care for two recently orphaned children. As the story unfolds, however, she begins to see the specters of the former governess and her lover haunting the children.  As the young governess strives to stop the fiends from taking the children away, one frightening question tortures the would-be heroine: Are the ghosts real, or merely a product of her own fevered imagination?  First Folio associates Nick Sandys and Melanie Keller play all of the characters in the show the Boston Globe calls “a portrait of psychological vampirism…”  and the NY Times says is, “A dazzling act of the imagination. Mr. Hatcher has pushed James’ clever turn to its furthest degree.” 

Closing the season with its annual Shakespeare-under-the-Stars, First Folio will present The Merchant of Venice.  Shakespeare’s most controversial play is a complex tale of hatred, love, revenge, and betrayal.    Set in 16th C. Venice, this production will be the central element of a two-month long series of events that examine the Bard’s dark tale and the effect it has had not only on future dramas, but on all of society. Working under the title of “The Merchant Project”, the core series of events include bringing in four other theater companies to present staged readings of alternate versions of Shylock’s tale.  

The companies and plays include:     
The Yiddish National Theater of New York (America’s sole surviving professional Yiddish theater company) presenting Shylock and His Daughter, by Maurice Schwartz.  This English translation of a Yiddish theater work tells the same tale as Shakespeare – but from Shylock’s perspective.·    
Teatro Vista (Chicago’s only fully professional Latino theater) presenting The Merchant of Santa Fe, by Ramon Flores and Lynn Butler.  Set in late 17th C. Santa Fe, then a frontier town in colonial New Spain, the story revolves around the money lender Don Saul, who claims to be a converso, (a Jew who has converted to Christianity), but who is really still practicing Judaism in secret.·      
Silk Road Theatre (which showcases playwrights of Asian, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean backgrounds) presenting Merchant on Venice by Shishir Kurup.  Set among the South Asian community of Culver City, California, on Venice Blvd., in this version the Shylock character and is a Muslim who lends money to the predominantly Hindu residents of the area.·      
Signal Ensemble (one of Chicago’s hottest young theater companies) presenting Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta.  This dark tale, which experts cite as one of the inspirations for Shakespeare’s tale, is a satiric comedy in which Catholics and Turks come off as no less venal than the Jew, who at least is not a hypocrite.

In conjunction with the management of Mayslake Hall, the Merchant Project will also feature a series of lectures, concerts, and art exhibits revolving around The Merchant of Venice.   A full calendar of events will be released after the first of the year. 

All performances take place on the grounds of the Mayslake Peabody Estate, which is owned and operated by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County.   Indoor shows are presented in Mayslake Hall, a 30-room Tudor Revival style mansion originally built by coal baron Francis S. Peabody.  Completed in 1922, the mansion is on the National Registry of Historic Places.  Located at 31st St. and Rt. 83 in Oak Brook, First Folio is easy to get to from either the East-West Tollway (I-88) or the Stevenson Expressway (I-55).  Free parking is available on the grounds. 

First Folio Theatre is supported in part by grants from the Illinois Arts Council, a State Agency, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, and the DuPage Community Foundation. Performance schedules and ticket prices are attached. 

2011-2012 SEASON SCHEDULE 

Tea at Five by Matthew Lombardo,           
Previews:             Sept. 14, 15, 16 @ 8:00           
Opening Night:             Sept. 17 @ 8:00           
Runs:              September 14 ~ October 16           
Performance Times:             Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays @ 8:00; Sunday matinees @ 3:00            

Making God Laugh by Sean Grennan           
Previews:             Feb. 1, 2, 3 @ 8:00           
Opening Night:             Feb. 4 @ 8:00           
Runs:              February 1 ~ March 4           
Performance Times:             Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays @ 8:00; Sunday matinees @ 3:00 

The Turn of the Screw by Jeffrey Hatcher, from the story by Henry James           
Previews:             March 28, 29, 30 @ 8:00           
Opening Night:             March 31  @ 8:00           
Runs:              March 28 ~ April 29           
Performance Times:             Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays @ 8:00; Sunday matinees @ 3:00           

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare           
Previews:             July 11, 12, 13 @ 8:15           
Opening Night:             July 14 @ 8:15           
Runs:              July 11 ~ August 19           
Performance Times:             Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays @ 8:15           

Tickets:            $20-37 adults, $26-30 Students/Seniors  (Previews $22)Subscriptions: $51-99

Season subscriptions and individual tickets may be purchased by calling the box office at 630-986-8067 or online at www.firstfolio.org.

Here’s the press release from Piccolo Theatre:

Piccolo Theatre Announces:
2011-2012 Season

Evanston – Piccolo Theatre announces a hilarious and exciting line-up for their 2011-2012 season.  Following a triumphant and laughter-filled 10th Anniversary Season, Piccolo Theatre Artistic Director John Szostek has the Piccolo Ensemble back on the boards for two brilliantly funny classics and an original Holiday Panto. Piccolo Theatre welcomes back playwright Jessica Puller who has penned her third crazier-than-ever Panto, now in its eighth year as a family holiday tradition.  Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from Chicago Shakespeare Theater:

Chicago Shakespeare Theater Celebrates 25th Anniversary

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
Ian McDiarmid Stars in Barbara Gaines’ Staging of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens
Gary Griffin Directs Sondheim and Goldman’s Follies
Artists from Arabic-speaking World in US Premiere of One Thousand and One Nights
Silver Jubilee Gala Launches Celebration June 6, 2011
Honoring Sir Peter Hall, Sir Derek Jacobi, John W. and Jeanne M. Rowe  Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

“The Merchant of Venice” is the most problematic work of the Shakespeare canon and remains the longest-running and most performed high-profile work of art that can still be routinely interpreted as anti-Semitic. One way that modern, especially post-Holocaust performances often deal with performing it is to make its Jewish character Shylock somehow more sympathetic as if to say, “See? The Bard didn’t really pen such a bad Jew after all.”

In a performance as stunning in its subtlety as in its chilling, bare-bones simplicity, F. Murray Abraham refreshingly makes no attempt whatsoever to make his Shylock even remotely likeable. That is a fascinating strategy flying against the standard approach that many contemporary actors have taken with this role that seek to portray Shylock as a good “everyman” who’s just been pushed over the edge.

By riding into the hatefulness and the weaknesses of the character head-on, we are reminded that indeed Shylock is an everyman, but an everyman whose flaws have to do with his own issues and inadequacies, not his religion. As longtime University of Chicago professor of history and religion Martin E. Marty once brilliantly put it to me, “If you start out SOB and end up Born Again, the end product is SOB-Born-Again.” That is Shylock in this version: a jerk in any religion, in any culture. Yes, there are the anti-Semitic remarks and actions of the characters surrounding Shylock which fuel his own insecurities, but here, these are merely aural wallpaper to a man so rotten to the core that he feels more at home in the world of hate and exclusion than he does love and inclusion. Read the rest of this entry »

Nadja Michael/Photo: Robert Kusel

By Dennis Polkow

When outgoing Lyric Opera general director Bill Mason first announced that Chicago Shakespeare founder Barbara Gaines would be making her operatic directorial debut with Verdi’s “Macbeth,” I was skeptical. Not that there wasn’t much to admire in Gaines’ imaginative stagings of more than thirty classics by the Bard at CST; it was the fact that she admitted that her previous opera exposure had been being “dragged” to the old Met as a young girl by her grandmother, that she didn’t know Italian, couldn’t read a score and would be learning the work off of CDs, and had not even known that Verdi had written an operatic adaptation of “Macbeth” before being asked to direct it. As artistic director of CST, would Gaines be willing to hire a director who barely knew the Bard and was illiterate and couldn’t read Shakespeare, I wondered?

Yet as Gaines’ new production of Verdi’s “Macbeth” that premiered at last weekend’s black-tie Lyric Opera Opening Night Gala overwhelmingly demonstrated, it doesn’t matter how you get there—Gaines even admitted having read “Opera for Dummies”—what matters is the end result. And in this case, the end result is something quite extraordinary. Read the rest of this entry »

Jeff Lillico and Joy Farmer-Clary/Photo: Liz Lauren

RECOMMENDED

With artistic director Barbara Gaines busy directing “Macbeth” over at Lyric Opera, Chicago Shakespeare Theater brought in renowned Shakespearean director Gale Edwards from Australia (veteran of several Royal Shakespeare Company gigs) to helm its season premiere of “Romeo and Juliet.” She, in turn, imported many of her leads from out of town, but no matter: this is an exceptional production regardless of its principals’ pedigrees. Most striking, perhaps, is the design of the show, and for that we have Chicagoans to thank: Brian Sidney Bembridge’s set is astonishing, the back stage opened up to create a long, deep hangar-like space, which functions as Verona streetscape, interior of the Capulet mansion and all other locations in the play. It is neither modern nor classical as befitting the production’s overall design, including Ana Kuzmanic’s wardrobe, which seems to master that balancing act of being of no time and all time at once. Like the story itself. Read the rest of this entry »