Alex Goodrich and Erik Hellman/Photo: Michael Brosilow

A hot mess. If there’s such a thing as Shakespeare lite, “The Comedy of Errors,” with its slapstick physical comedy and absurd plot involving two sets of long-lost twins, is it. So when Sean Graney adapts it into a ninety-minute production, it’s easy to imagine that he’ll take a lot of creative license—and Graney does, getting rid of vast amounts of the original script and replacing it with lines that could have come from contemporary mainstream Hollywood comedies. Unfortunately, and surprisingly given Graney’s past work, the show appeals to the lowest common denominator (read: jokes and songs about blow jobs). Recognizable cultural touchstones include “Norbit,” where the part of a kitchen wench is played by an actor in a fat suit as a hideous man-eater who demands, among other favors, a colonic from one of the manservant twins whose character channels Will Ferrell’s persona so completely that it’s actually distracting. Cross-dressing and quick-changes (six actors play twenty-three characters), the theatrical elements that helped make Graney’s production of “Irma Vep” at the Court last year so funny, here feel like pointless showing off because there’s so little substance left to the production. If only Graney had stuck to the comedy that’s already in Shakespeare rather than inserting lines like “I’m gonna drink the shit out of this Diet Coke”—there’s a pervasive sense of anxiety at making the comedy accessible that’s totally unnecessary and, frankly, insulting to any audience. (Monica Westin)

At the Court Theatre, 5535 South Ellis, (773)753-4472, through October 17.

"Candide" production photo by Liz Lauren

By Dennis Polkow

When Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman is due in early at Goodman Theatre to discuss taking on her first musical, Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide,” it is obvious that she is tired, having stayed up most of the night revising script pages after a day and night of rehearsals. Today will also be a full day of rehearsals, but tonight will be the first preview of the work. As she is making her way to the table and chairs that her press folks have set up in a quiet area of the building, a beautiful large dog briskly enters, checking out both the area and the reporter. The dog has a Goodman Theatre security tag attached to his collar with his picture that identifies him as “Beary.”

“When I first got him, he was a wreck. He was a pound dog, so he is quite devoted. He is a mix—at the pound they said shepherd-husky, but a lot of people see beagle in him as well. Beagles have that black saddle but huskies often have a very thick double coat and little star as he does. I’m sure he is more than two breeds, by the way. But he’s a good old fellow. I’ve had him since “Pericles” in D.C. This is probably his fifteenth show, maybe? He was full grown when I got him and I’ve had him eight years, so he’s at least ten. I hope he’s only ten. I don’t know how old he is, I have no idea. He’s holding up, and he’s a sweet boy. Tonight he will be exiled from the theater for the first time and will be in the dressing room. He’s just sort of curled up by me in rehearsals most of the time.” Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

Depending on the way the five acts of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” are cut, after a first half dominated by light verbal snipings and high spirits, audiences typically return from intermission to a surprisingly dark sequel. Though Chicago dell’Arte’s production is no exception, director Nick Freed has found the comedy in even the darkest scenes—when Benedick quips “This looks not like a nuptial” during the distressing wedding scene, he spins it into a subtle reminder that despite some grim underpinnings, “Much Ado” falls squarely into the comedy genre.

With the simple set design in the compact space at RBP Rorschach and the intentional lack of props, the majority of the show’s success rides on the able shoulders of the strong cast, particularly the affable trio of Claudio (Aaron Kirby), Don Pedro (Jack Birdwell) and Benedick (Ned Record)—portrayed as a war photographer (a lover not a fighter, in other words). Though the show has a few hiccups—a photography theme distracts more than it adds and a gimmick with sock puppets falls flat—Chicago dell’Arte’s “Much Ado About Nothing” is refreshing and funny without glossing over the script’s inherent darkness. (Zach Freeman)

“Much Ado About Nothing” plays through September 25 at RBP Rorschach, 4001 North Ravenswood, (773)530-1040. $15.

Luke Daigle and Brenton Abens

RECOMMENDED

Sean Fortunato and Timothy Edward Kane/Photo: Michael Brosilow

RECOMMENDED

Tom Stoppard’s 1966 “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,” his first hit play, is so chock full of language and irony that as long as you have two actors with chemistry, it can virtually stage itself. A topsy-turvy view of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” where the tragic tale of the Danish prince is perceived from the perspective of two minor and virtually interchangeable characters, the work is a favorite of theater cognoscenti in large part because the better you know “Hamlet,” the more enjoyable the piece becomes. (The reverse is more problematic since, for better or worse, “Hamlet” can never be experienced in quite the same way after having gone through Stoppard’s antics.)  Essentially, this is a riff on “The play’s the thing,” coined by Hamlet in the original, although ironically never explicitly said in Stoppard’s version. The dependence of Stoppard on Shakespeare often leads to a tongue-in-cheek approach where the characters are playing with the audience and each other with such narcissistic appreciation of the cleverness of what they are uttering that the work becomes dangerously self-aware.

Kudos to Writers’ Theatre artistic director Michael Halberstam for a staging that refreshingly recognizes that, particularly in a space as intimate as Writers Theatre, this play becomes a far more authentic experience and much funnier when the characters are not in on the joke that we, the audience, complete by our mere presence. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo: Liz Lauren

The finale of the history plays, “Richard III” is that remarkable early work of Shakespeare where the Bard fully developed his villain chops, i.e., his ability to create a character that, though thoroughly despicable, can take the audience into his confidence so disarmingly and with such charm that we become virtually complicit in the crimes that are to follow just by becoming engaged in the play.  Or at least, it is usually so.

With Barbara Gaines’ Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s season-opening production, Washington D.C. actor Wallace Acton plays Richard with such affectations and disinterest that we don’t feel a thing. From the first moments of Richard’s soliloquy “Now is the winter of our discontent,” Acton is up there talking to himself, not us, refusing to connect either with the audience nor anyone else in the play.  At one point after revealing his plans, he offers a brief, cursory faux smile to the thin air. His faux British accent is a cross between Charles Laughton and Roddy McDowall impressions and makes Richard into such a detached dandy that we cannot possibly accept that he would be able to sway anyone in the court into his confidence to do his bidding, let alone that he would be able to woo his way into the bedchamber of Lady Anne. Without a Richard that works, the play falls apart and much of the rest of the cast just falls into standby mode, the women most effectively able to get their characters across despite such a handicap. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

With its seemingly sexist message, “The Taming of the Shrew” remains one of the most problematic plays in the Shakespeare canon for a modern audience.  On its surface, it appears to suggest that wives are simply to be submissive to their husbands, although as always with Shakespeare, there are deeper meanings.  Many of us view Katherina’s initial “shrew”-like behavior as a lack of love in her life, an inability or even unwillingness to love anyone around her (those early scenes where she is abusive to family members are key), including herself.  By meeting Petruchio, a would-be husband who can match her abuse, the effect of her own is neutralized.  Along the way, both discover that they are in love, and part of love is doing what someone else wants, not simply what you want. Her public speech of submissiveness at the end of the play is not so much that her spirit has been broken, so much as she has found herself; she is now a person capable of caring for another and being responsive to his needs, not only her own.

The more chemistry that there is between the couple, the more effectively this message can be communicated, and Jenny Lamb’s Katherina and Jeremy Van Meter’s Petruchio are able to spark off of one another considerably in director Nick Minas’ Theo Ubique production. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

The wizard Prospero in William Shakespeare’s final play “The Tempest” is often seen as a metaphor for the Bard himself, that great “sorcerer” of the stage at the end of his career giving up his powers, i.e., putting down his pen for good.  But imagine a “Tempest” where the “powers” that Prospero gives up are all in his mind from the get-go, that the secluded “island” is his own straight-jacketed isolation in a mental hospital, circa 1940s.  That is the re-imagining, literally, of director Peter Robel in Bohemian Theatre Ensemble’s mounting of this Shakespeare classic.

Chris Pomeroy’s Prospero is neither all-knowing nor elderly—as he is usually portrayed—but an intense young man whose monologues have an improvisatory quality to them, as if he is trying on different ideas for size to see if they will fit.  The text can support this interpretation admirably, as Prospero begins the play seeking revenge but comes to see how destructive a course that is.  Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from Theo Ubique:

THEO UBIQUE EXPANDING TO FOUR PRODUCTIONS FOR 2009-10 SEASON
First Production, “The Taming of the Shrew,” Opens August 30

Chicago, July 29, 2009 — Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, a Rogers Park company performing at the intimate No Exit Café, is extending its 2009-10 season from three to four productions, including William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” “Man of La Mancha,” Jean Paul Sartre’s “No Exit” and a fourth production to be announced later.

Fred Anzevino, co-founder and artistic director, who directed the company’s previous plays, is working on a new adaptation of Jean Paul Sartre’s “No Exit,” transforming it into a light opera.  He will co-direct it with Beverle Bloch.  Two new directors with Theo Ubique will direct the first two plays of the 2009-10 season.   Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s City Lit’s press release:

CITY LIT THEATER ANNOUNCES

2009-2010 SEASON

30^th ANNIVERSARY SEASON WILL BE CELEBRATED

WITH HAMMETT, GRAHAME, SHAKESPEARE, FINNEY,

AND THE RETURN OF P. G. WODEHOUSE

The work of P. G. Wodehouse, the most frequently produced author in City Lit Theater’s history, will return as part of the theatre’s Thirtieth Anniversary 2009-2010 Season, artistic director Terry McCabe announced today, along with world premiere adaptations of novels by Dashiell Hammett and Jack Finney, a Shakespeare tragedy, and a musical adaptation of a beloved Kenneth Grahame classic for all ages.

City Lit’s 2009-2010 season consists of The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney and Oh Boy! by P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton and Jerome Kern. Read the rest of this entry »