Sarah’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2019

Sarah’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2019

#1

Show: “The Great Leap”

Company: Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Venue: The Upstairs Theatre (1650 N Halsted)

DICE RATING: d20 — “One of the Best”

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Basketball means cultural clashes and introspection in this thrilling drama.

Lauren Yee’s dynamic script accompanies performances that hustle and jostle the audience, as a story of cross-cultural interaction grows into a full-blown tragedy … or a redemption story, depending on how you look at it. The light design and movement work created a world full of basketball players who wanted so much more than one last free-throw.

#2

Show: “Best for Winter, being a short Shakespeare adapted from The Winter’s Tale and other works”

Company: Idle Muse Theatre Company

Venue: The Edge Theater Off-Broadway (1133 W Catalpa Ave)

DICE RATING: d12 – “Heckuva Good Show”

TEN WORD SUMMARY: The impossible is given its due in an elegant production.

These past few seasons, every company has been programming “Measure For Measure.” What they should have been staging is “The Winter’s Tale,” adapted here with poetry from Shakespeare’s other works, resulting in a rollicking and thoughtful good time. The bear puppet was fantastical, and it made a group of young girls in my audience jump up at intermission and imitate its growl. The adaptation’s messages about tyranny and allowing dictators to turn you into yes people are well worth remembering at the end of 2019.

#3

Show: “The Effect”

Company: Strawdog Theatre Company

Venue: Strawdog Theatre Company (1802 W Berenice Ave)

DICE RATING: d12 — “Heckuva Good Show”

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Experiment in how romance forms, with alarming questions at play.

Strawdog’s sexy and startling examination of how medication shapes us, or how we shape ourselves around medication. Superb acting together with Lucy Prebble’s inquisitive, longing script made for a wonderful time spent examining my own prejudices and beliefs about what it means to identity as a person with a neurodiverse brain.

#4

Show: “P.Y.G. or The Mis-Edumacation of Dorian Belle”

Company: Jackalope Theatre Company

Venue: The Broadway Armory (5917 N Broadway)

DICE RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Rap, reality, and absurdity combine in this electric comedy-drama.

A wonderful, scathing look at the commodification of entertainment and the ways white artists steal from African American artists. Lili-Anne Brown’s energetic staging felt just right in a production that featured not only MTV-style confessionals, but real direct address to the audience, as well as fake TV commercials that melded so strongly with reality, you left the production unsure what was or wasn’t a joke.

#5

Show: “Women Of 4G”

Company: Babes With Blades Theatre Company

Venue: The Factory Theater (1623 Howard St)

DICE RATING: d10 — “Worth Going To”

TEN WORD SUMMARY: What if Agatha Christie, but it happened in outer space?

Imagine Agatha Christie in space, and you have “Women of 4G.” A collection of crew debates alerting the authorities that their lone male member, the captain, has been murdered, and must confront abandoning their mission and their potential ability to save Earth. This production was a crackerjack mixing of genres, and had a lot of sly heart.

Maggie’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2019

Maggie’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2019


#1 

Show: “Othello”

Company: Babes with Blades

Venue: Factory Theater (1623 Howard St)

DICE RATING: d20 –– “One of the Best

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Shakespeare gets a much needed transfusion of bombastic feminine energy.

This complete transformation of Shakespeare’s Othello put a traditionally male-dominated story into the hands of an all female and non-binary cast. Directed by Mignon McPherson Stewart, this production made you aware of the human cost of maintaining an important man’s reputation, and how little societal reverence towards important men has changed. Brianna Buckley and Kathrynne Wolf were amazingly formidable opponents as Othello and Iago. Wolf’s Iago traded any villainous mustache-twirling for a presence that was quiet and insidious. I was disturbed at how understanding I was of their deepening levels of personal treachery. Meanwhile, Buckley’s Othello traded an abundance of joy for deep anger and suspicion, discovering how quickly their claim to privileges extended only to white men can be overturned.

#2

Show: “Head Over Heels”

Company: Kokandy Productions

Venue:  Theatre Wit (1229 W Belmont Ave)

DICE RATING: d20 — “One of the Best

TEN WORD SUMMARY: This glam-rock fairy tale and gender non-conforming dance party has EVERYTHING.

This madcap, energetic production of the Go-Go’s fairy tale musical was exceedingly serious in one arena: radically inclusive casting. Directing team Derek Van Barham and Elizabeth Swanson left the binary behind, as well as any preconceived notions an audience may have about what makes a typical ingenue/ romantic male lead. Instead, the artistic team asked audiences to see this exceptionally capable cast in roles they might get overlooked for by less imaginative productions. What resulted was revolutionary and fun; and you’ll wonder how you ever got along without delightful queer stage pairings, genre-spanning vocal ranges, and bodies of all sizes. “Head Over Heels” just wanted us to stop worrying about old traditions, appropriateness, or what other people may think, and live truthfully instead. 

#3

Show: “The Total Bent”

Company: Haven Theatre, in association with About Face Theatre

Venue: The Den Theatre (1333 N Milwaukee Ave)

DICE RATING: d20 –– “One of the Best

TEN WORD SUMMARY: An embittered father and son can’t shake each other’s influence.

Director Lili-Anne Brown and authors Heidi Rodewald and Stew put a biopic tale in a beat poetry blender and the result was part queer fantasy, part navigation of large-looming history, music politics and racism. “The Total Bent” was like nothing you’ve ever experienced. It was funny, but it also implicated you, the audience, for laughing; it was musically catchy and dynamic, but it forced you to look at the pain and darkness it takes to become a white fan favorite in a world that refuses to love black queerness. Robert Cornelius and Gilbert Domally were unstoppable forces as father and son Joe Roy and Marty Roy. They may have had their differences, but their journeys to keep artistic integrity in a world that only wants to exploit them are nearly the same. 

#4 

Show: “I Know My Own Heart”

Company: Pride Films & Plays

Venue:  Pride Arts Center (4147 N Broadway)

DICE RATING: d12 – “Heckuva Good Show

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Anne Lister’s milkshake brings all the girls to the yard.

When you are a woman stuck in the repressive 19th century, and your actions, sexuality, and societal value under a microscope, there’s still hope that you can live out your true wants in the margins, with hidden letters, brief encounters and secret clubs. This was not enough for smitten Anne Lister, however, and this production from Pride Films and Plays and director Elizabeth Swanson had an uncanny way of making you appreciate one woman’s boldness to make her circumstances work for her. As Anne Lister and  Marianne Brown, Vahishta Vafadari and Lauren Grace Thompson made glorious romantic strides, then watched things fall apart in coded language and secret rendezvous, under our ever present judging gaze. 

#5

Show: “Six”

Company: Chicago Shakespeare Theatre

Venue:  Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (800 E Grand Ave)

DICE RATING: d20 — “One of the Best

TEN WORD SUMMARY: 

You were not ready for this feast of vocal talent, non-stop dance, and damn effective songwriting from creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. It was a concert from history’s six most maligned wives of King Henry VIII. But forget him, this pop concert and favorite wife competition experience just goes to show these women were so much more than just wives or historical footnotes. It also goes to show how impossible it is for a woman in power with a dissenting voice to last five minutes against the men determined to squash those voices. These astounding women deserved your hoots, screams, and standing ovations.

Maggie’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2018

Maggie’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2018

It has been an unmatched pleasure to watch storefront theaters and burgeoning companies take on complicated art and unpack some weighty topics in 2018. We are seeing the beginning of a theatre landscape that reflects Chicago’s diverse population and myriad of cultural touchstones struggling for years to get a place at the theatrical table. Here are just a few productions and companies that are broadening our artistic pallets. Don’t be afraid to sink your teeth in!

#1

Show: “Tilikum”

Company: Sideshow Theatre

Venue:  Victory Gardens Theater (2433 N Lincoln Ave.)

DICE RATING: d20 –– One of the Best

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Wait a minute- this isn’t strictly about whales, is it?

Kristiana Rae Colón’s deeply affecting story of marine life in captivity highlights the ways we are disregarding, in real time, the humanity of people who are unlike us. Gregory Geffard’s Tilikum is supposed to be a captured orca whale, but it’s no mistake that he is also a black man in a hoodie. In a very profound way, “Tilikum” is not about sea life; it’s about mass incarceration, the effects of trauma and enslavement on humans, and the injustices being dealt to incarcerated men, women and children of color as we speak. Gregory Geffard is fantastic as Tilikum, holding depths of sadness, anger and joy in a world that only understands his obedience and punishes disobedience. “Tilikum” is brazen, funny and spirit-lifting above all else. It’s one of the most revelatory concepts onstage in 2018.

#2

Show: “Merchant on Venice”

Company: Rasaka Theatre & Vitalist Theatre

Venue:  Greenhouse Theater Center (2257 N Lincoln Ave.)

DICE RATING: d20 — One of the Best

TEN WORD SUMMARY: A revelatory & relevant take on an ancient cultural rift.

Shishir Kurup’s modern-ish take on “Merchant of Venice” has something to teach us about fear, violence and stereotyping; it has something to teach us about politics, sex and prevalent hate in our 2018 American lexicon, and while it harkens back to Shakespeare, it has something to teach us about the Bard’s limitations and the pedestal we reserve for them. The original text is abandoned for the author’s own verse, bursting at the seams with metaphors for these characters’ cultural and sexual frustrations that cite modern tech, pharmaceuticals, and even some Queen lyrics. Anish Jethmalani lays an embattled heart right on the table as Sharuk, who accepts no pity or solace and gives none either. Madrid St. Angelo is a sardonic and morose Devender, who is plagued with the sadness of knowing the man he loves can never be his. It’s hilarious, inviting, tense, and understandably angry.

#3

Show: “Radio Culture”

Company: TUTA Theatre

Venue: TUTA Theatre ( 4670 N. Manor Ave.)

DICE RATING: d20 –– One of the Bests

TEN WORD SUMMARY: The artistic equivalent to spending time in your own company.

The human consciousness goes under a microscope (and over a loudspeaker) in Maxim Dosko’s exploration of one Belorussian construction foreman’s inner monologue, translated by Natalia Fedorova and Amber Robinson. Volodya’s thoughts are so specific that they become universal, and so trivial, they encompass whole lives. He fixates so hard on keeping his life pristine, that it gives way to an unspoken concern that his thirty-some years of work have been a waste. Kevin V. Smith is still and calm as Volodya, levying such precise judgments on his workers, family and himself, you can’t help but wonder what he must think of you. That’s the thing: Volodya may be terribly alone, but so are all of us, and it’s a distinct, bonding experience to hear an internal voice that is not your own.

#4

Show: “The Light”

Company: The New Colony

Venue:  The Den (1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.)

DICE RATING: d20 — One of the Best

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Baring your whole soul for the privilege of being heard.

In watching Loy A. Webb’s “The Light” I found myself seething with the most potent anger I’ve ever felt in a theater seat. Director Toma Langston takes the premise of a benign argument between a newly engaged couple, and explodes it brutally into a testament of just how powerful a woman’s word must be before it is accepted as fact, and embraced without question. How powerful? The answer isn’t fair, but judging by the sobs and tear-stained faces of nearly every female patron, the truth of it resonated.  A woman’s claim must be airtight, plausible, beyond reproach, and is only as valid as she is perceived as “good.” Tiffany Oglesby and Jeffery Owen Freelon Jr. crackle with intensity as Genesis and Rashad, two ordinary Chicagoans who have let down their guard for each other, and must deal with the breaking of their unspoken boundaries.

#5

Show: “HeLa”

Company: Sideshow Theatre

Venue:  Greenhouse Theater Center (2257 N Lincoln Ave.)

DICE RATING: d20 — One of the Best

TEN WORD SUMMARY: What happens when Black Girl Magic meets Black Girl Science.

“HeLa” is as messy, complicated and emotionally gripping as the real account of the life (and afterlife) of Henrietta Lacks on which it was based. Director Jonathan L. Green has crafted a truly wonderful stage experience, and honors author J. Nicole Brooks’ complex tale, jumping between eras, dimensions and realities. The production is an amazing showcase for Deanna Reed-Foster as Jata, a lonely imaginary spacewoman, or maybe the form that sentient multiplying HeLa cells blasted to space have opted to take. The heart of “HeLa” rests with Nicole Michelle Haskins, brilliant and blistering as Auntie Bird. Her vulnerability and vitality in every facet really hammers home how little of their lives these women were allotted. We see the richness of these women’s lives juxtaposed the changing worth they’re assigned by the medical and scientific fields they encroach on. It’s lasting, effective and one-of-a-kind.  

Sarah’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2018

Sarah’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2018

Reviewing theatre is a pleasure in a city where larger companies and smaller storefronts can explore a variety of perspectives in highly theatrical ways. Below are just a few of the brilliant productions I was lucky enough to witness this year. Each demonstrated how imaginative and daring the scene can be, with everything from new plays to established narratives. You’ll find the list includes ghosts, flashbacks, conversations with God, and a dilemma involving a taxidermied human being. Enjoy, as you reflect on your own top five for the year!

#1

Show: “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”

Company: Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Venue: Steppenwolf Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Looking through another’s eyes generates conflict, compassion, and theatrical surprise.

DIE RATING: d20 – “One Of The Best”

Steppenwolf’s stripped-down take on the story of a neuroatypical teen detective was criticized by some for not going as big as the previous touring production, but the specificity and smallness of its character moments made it a Chicago gem. Director Jonathan Berry relied on his performers to build the ATMs and oncoming trains that frighten and confuse Christopher (Terry Bell), a boy in search of justice for the dog next door. By focusing the production on movement, Berry and his ensemble demonstrated that we only need imagination to engage with those we feel we could never understand.

#2

Show: “Indecent”

Company: Victory Gardens Theater

Venue: The Biograph Theater

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Belief in art may change, but its necessity never will.

DIE RATING: d20 – “One Of The Best”

“Indecent” is a raucous accounting of “God of Vengeance,” a Yiddish play with the first-ever kiss performed between two women on Broadway. Paula Vogel’s script calls for klezmer music, jumps across time, and the raising of ghosts. Director Gary Griffin, best known in town for musical theatre productions, brings a bracing energy to the proceedings, while his actors dig deep into the pre-World War II and post-HUAC politics of the text. As languages and societies change, Vogel shows us that the eternal in art can save our souls, no matter what is done to our bodies.

#3

Show: “Crumbs From the Table of Joy”

Company: Raven Theatre

Venue: Raven Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: A humane and heartfelt memory play that features marvelous acting.

DIE RATING: d20 – “One Of The Best”

Memory is a pliable fiction, as shown to great effect in this early Lynn Nottage play. Her young Ernestine (Chanell Bell), obsessed with movies and happy endings, lives under the religious strictures set out by Father Devine, a man her own father (Terence Sims) worships so intensely, he moved his whole family to a dingy New York flat in order to be close to the preacher. When her Aunt Lily (Brianna Buckley) arrives on the scene, Ernestine’s fantasies finally mix with reality. Buckley breezes into this production like a tornado, and steals the story right out from under the protagonist.

#4

Show: “The Harvest”

Company: Griffin Theatre Company

Venue: The Den Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Faith without works is dead, unless you’re waiting for signs.

DIE RATING: d12 – “Heckuva Good Show”

Everyone searches for answers in Samuel D. Hunter’s observant take on evangelical life. Josh (Raphael Diaz) wants to hear from God, and has signed on to a years-long mission in order to motivate a conversation. His best friend Tom (Colin Quinn Rice) mourns the loss of his childhood pal, and together, the two brush up against more complicated, charged feelings. Meanwhile, Kathryn Acosta’s Denise struggles to find the words to claim space in her marriage and charity work. Tensions boil over gradually, and Sotirios Livaditis’ dingy church basement serves as a perfect setting to a banal reckoning with the Lord.

#5

Show: “Nightmares & Nightcaps: The Stories of John Collier”

Company: Black Button Eyes Productions

Venue: Athenaeum Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Humor and spectacle entwine to create a lively narrative analysis.

DIE RATING: d12 – “Heckuva Good Show”

John Collier’s work has a flamboyant irony to it that adapts well to the stage. Director Ed Rutherford combed through his stories, and with typical Black Button Eyes flair, brought to life some of Collier’s acidic takes on marriage, success, and whether or not it’s okay to be in love with a stuffed human trophy. While the ensemble gamely dances its way through Collier’s twists of fate, Jeremiah Barr’s puppet work delights the senses, and Rutherford’s command of comic timing holds the disparate stories together.

Coming soon …

I have five further excellent picks from this year’s theatre scene, but they will be published at the Windy City Times. I will provide the link here once that list has been published. Stayed tuned for our “Bottom 5” of the year, and for Maggie’s “Top 5.” And let us know your own choices on our Facebook page! We would love to hear about the incredible work you have seen this year.

Maggie’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2017

Maggie’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2017

It’s been a banner year for Chicago theater scene taking myriad risks on more groundbreaking shows, and making good on it’s commitment to inclusive theater, made by more creators/performers of color. I’ve been lucky enough to catch some high caliber shows that not only give us an experience we’ve never seen, but serve up genuinely thrilling and moving stories.

#1

Show: “United Flight 232”

Company: The House Theatre

Venue: Chopin Theater

TEN WORD SUMMARY: The human mechanics behind what goes wrong in the air.

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

Almost three decades after departure, The House Theatre gives us a glimpse into “United Flight 232”; it’s more than a factual account, more than a documentary, it’s a moment in the beating heart of a disaster in progress. We’re there to peer through the fuselage that still unravels for the few lucky men and women who walked out their flight’s burning wreckage alive and into a sunny Iowa cornfield one devastating day in the summer of 1989. Director and adapter Vanessa Stalling borrows some very effective storytelling from documentary features. The actors step into the footsteps of dozens of survivors, asked to retrace their steps and remember the minute details burned into the backs of their eyes over time. The trembling hands collecting scattered miniature vodka bottles. The infant without  a seat being held between her mother’s feet.

#2

Show: “A New Brain”

Company: Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre

Venue: The No Exit Cafe

TEN WORD SUMMARY: A musical whirlwind bursting out of its intimate venue seams

RATING: d20 — “One of the Best”

There is a metronome working overtime deep in the heart of Theo Ubique’s “A New Brain”, that keeps things so precise and expert, it’s almost like we are in a operating theater, being tutored by a flock of luminaries. Playing space be damned, the cast and creative team bring this performance close enough to incorporate the whole audience into it. The players are bounding up and down your aisles, directing their lyrics sometimes solely to you, if you’re in the right place and the mood strikes them. Hell, if you ordered a beer, look again; the man who brought you your pint and glass a moment ago has now hoisted a small canvas sail, and sings aloofly to his one true love, a sailboat. The confidence and dexterity of a cast has never come together so well, and it’s worth more than all the spectacular effects money could buy.

#3

Show: “King of the Yees”

Company: The Goodman Theatre

Venue: 170 N. Dearborn

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Life, art, and ancestry collide in this modern folk tale.

RATING: d12 — “Heckuva Good Show”

A daughter, our Playwright Lauren Yee inadvertently triggers her proud, incorrigible father, Larry’s descent into blandness and exile from his ancestral Yee birthright, with her dismissal of hundreds of years of history (that, and a big political blow to the Yee name). This is not an ordinary father-daughter bond story, though. Lauren will have to battle local San Francisco gangsters, a tribe of ornery elders hungry for booze, oranges and decent fireworks, even the original Yee ancestor. It’s ridiculously silly, a little heartwarming, and gently mocking of both Chinese customs and the rifts between generations.

#4

Show: “Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?”

Company: Pulse Theatre

Venue: City Lit Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: It’s a Woolf match: two married couples enter, one leaves.

RATING:  d12 — “Heckuva Good Show”

Pour a drink and put in your mouth guard; theater’s most notorious cage match, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” is back by popular demand, but with some interesting additions. Pulse Theatre and Director Chris Jackson have succeeded at doing something wonderful and necessary in this often visited New Carthage living room: theirs is one of the first productions to feature George and Martha portrayed by actors of color. With that, there’s even more to be said for this treatise on the brokenness of White American marriage and success when it is delivered in part by a duo whose outsidership and rejection are implied. The privileges that Nick and Honey enjoy, being young, entitled and unbothered with the institutions they participate in, are in starker contrast when you remember these are not necessarily ‘givens’ for their unhinged hosts.

#5

Show: “Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White”

Company: The Artistic Home

Venue: 1376 W Grand Chicago

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Between love and color, some debts can never be settled.

RATING:  d12 — “Heckuva Good Show”

In this play, author Alice Childress wants us to see how fast any pretense of tolerance or respect for social equity drop when the white characters in her story face even the suggestion of a shared social standing with black characters. By staging it today, Artistic Home and director Cecilie Keenan are asking us to see how little this dynamic has changed in nearly a century. “Wedding Band” made me proud to support a company doing Chicago theater the service of choosing authors of color, hiring actors of color, and producing work that is far from easy. There are more black women onstage for this show than I’ve seen in all of the shows I’ve reviewed during 2017, combined. With a fraction of the funding and support extended to Chicago’s larger playhouses, “Wedding Band” has prioritized voices and stories of color in a way I hope inspires more theaters to take note.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: “Machinal” (The Greenhouse Theater Center), “Bobby Pin Girls” (Nothing Without a Company), and “The Nance” (Pride Films and Plays).

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Sarah’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2017

Sarah’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2017

It has been an exciting year in the Chicago scene. Companies large and small have been pushing the boundaries on how stories can be told, and what theatre can achieve, and the results have been entertaining, glorious, and at times, heartbreaking. I have put together five examples of energetic and enlightening productions from the year, and I look forward to what 2018 brings to our lovely city.

#1

Show: “Machinal”

Company: Greenhouse Theater Center

Venue: Greenhouse Theater Center

TEN WORD SUMMARY: We are all in the machine, and we cannot escape.

DIE RATING: d20 – “One Of The Best”

Sophie Treadwell’s classic play about the gears of society grinding down a Young Woman (Heather Chrisler) was a revelation. You can read Maggie’s review here at Theatre By Numbers, which expertly unpacks the production’s overall power. The movement work displayed by the ensemble, and the fierce central performance by Chrisler, brought the audience deeper and deeper into a nightmare scenario as the narrative unfolded, and the overall message of Treadwell’s work is as timely today as it was during the 1920s. This production has been racking up spots on Top Ten lists all across the city, and that is much deserved.

#2

Show: “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity”

Company: Red Theater Chicago

Venue: Strawdog Theatre Company

TEN WORD SUMMARY: An energetic tale of charisma and hard choices about art.

DIE RATING: d12 – “Heckuva Good Show”

“Chad Deity” took Chicago by storm only a few years ago, so one could ask whether it needed a storefront revival in 2017. But all my doubts about the necessity of Red’s production vanished upon meeting Alejandro Tey as Mace, a wrestling purist who invites the audience into his aesthetic love for the sport, while also revealing his deepest fears about his identity and career. Tey’s performance was alive and encouraging, and his fellow cast members provided lots of laughs amid their ever-developing signature moves. Harsh Gagoomal excelled as Mace’s friend VP, and Semaj Miller brought two tons of energy to his elaborate entrance as Chad Deity. Though the Strawdog space did not allow for much technical bang and flash during the wrestling sequences, the production’s up-close acrobatics and actor interactions with the audience made this an engaging and purposeful evening of theatre.

#3

Show: “Three Days of Rain”

Company: BoHo Theatre

Venue: Heartland Studio

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Elegant staging and transformative performances mark this excellent, haunting production.

DIE RATING: d20 – “One Of The Best”

Elegantly directed by Derek Van Barham, “Three Days of Rain” remains haunting and enticing years after Richard Greenberg wrote it. A clear-headed and subtle examination of how little we actually know and understand our parents, this jewel of a production expertly captured inconsistencies and parallels across timelines between two sets of troubled young men and women. Kyle Curry and Kate Black-Spence excelled at playing the children of distressed parents, as well as the parents themselves in the illuminating second act of the show. G. “Max” Maxin IV’s excellent lighting design shifted the audience between time periods, and between internal and external monologues, without losing the continually vanishing thread of the parents’ narrative.

#4

Show: “The Fair Maid of the West”

Company: Oak Park Festival Theatre

Venue: Austin Gardens

TEN WORD SUMMARY: A rollicking adventure awaits the audience, along with killer fights.

DIE RATING: d20 – “One Of The Best”

“May that man die derided and accursed that will not follow where a woman leads.” This signature line from “The Fair Maid of the West,” a sixteenth century script, was greeted with whoops and cheers on the evening I attended the production. Though this tale seems simple on the surface – as it recounts seafaring adventures, lost and rediscovered love, and oodles of palace intrigue – the play hides a sly streak of politics and satire just under its rollicking fight sequences. Adapted and directed by Kevin Theis, and helmed by game and lively performers Amanda Forman and Zach Livingston, this production had a lot to say about the current state of international and gender politics in contemporary America.

#5

Show: “Shockheaded Peter”

Company: Black Button Eyes Productions

Venue: Athenaeum Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Terrible things happen to kids; loved every second of events.

DIE RATING: d20 – “One Of The Best”

If Bertold Brecht and Edward Gorey got together and wrote a musical, the result would likely resemble “Shockheaded Peter,” a goulish and entertaining series of fables that allow no character to exit the story unscathed. Based on a German children’s book, this unspooling nightmare featured song and dance numbers about a pyromaniac kid catching on fire (much to the delight of the family cats), bullies getting their heads popped off, and one unfortunate child flying away by accident on a windy day. Ed Rutherford’s throw-in-every-talent-plus-the-kitchen-sink direction, along with music director T.J. Anderson’s lively interpretation of the score by the Tiger Lillies, made for a wonderful day of theatrical torture. Our show-off Master of Ceremonies (Kevin Webb) was more than delighted to invite the audience into tales whose morals slip and slide around our heads, and cast members Ellen DeSitter, Kat Evans, and Pavi Proczko provided strong musical support throughout.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: “Fun Home” (Victory Gardens Theater); “A View from the Bridge” (Goodman Theatre); “Gentle” (TUTA Theatre Chicago); “Captain Blood” (First Folio Theatre); “J.B.” (City Lit Theater).

Chris’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2017

Chris’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2017

As 2017 comes to a close, I find myself looking back at the past few years and just how much tremendous theatre I’ve seen in Chicago. This year has been no exception. There were some really awesome shows this year. There was a difference, though, in the overall number of shows I saw. Not unlike all other “best of” lists, only those which were seen can be included. So, my apologies to those I did not see. I’m pretty sure there are some great pieces of theatre I missed. But, as I say goodbye to this year, I am glad to share what I saw as the best of Chicago theatrical productions that I personally witnessed.

#1

Show: “Marry Me A Little”

Company: Porchlight Music Theatre

Venue: Stage 773 Thrust

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Sondheim review shows off two brilliant performers in perfect harmony.

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

I would give both of my pinkies to be half the musician that Austin Cook is.  Of course, that would make playing the piano more difficult, but you get the idea.  Cook and his co-star, the dynamic Bethany Thomas, brought this show to life in a way that was just perfect.  I was taken to this show as a gift by my wife.  It has long been one of my favorites.  But, only on recordings.  I’d never seen a production.  I’ve used a number of songs from it as audition pieces over the years, though.  So, I felt I had a good understanding of the piece.  But I didn’t really know it until I saw Porchlight’s production.  Now, granted, they altered the show a bit, swapping out some newer Sondheim pieces for a couple of my favorites.  I really wish they’d left “Silly People” in the program.  But, even with one of my favorite songs’ omission, I still loved being immersed in the lives of the two neighbors/lovers as we tracked their romance from beginning to end in a circularly staged hunk of possibilities.

#2

Show: Musical Therapy”

Company: Death & Pretzels

Venue: Gorilla Tango

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Sock puppets and sex and singing and dancing and wow.

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

This entry was an unexpected surprise when I saw it. I’ve worked with the director, Madison Smith, and I find her to be a joy to work with, but the premise of this show didn’t really sing to me upon reading the show’s description.  And yet, once the characters started to sing to me, it was a whole different thing. There is something special about a musical that leaves songs running through your head the next day. And there is something great about a show that is put up by a small, low-budget operation that manages to outshine the boys with the big bucks.  This was a tightly crafted piece that was more than laugh-out-loud funny. There were times when my sides hurt from laughing.  I imagine this show will be remounted at some point.  I know that the playwright and composer are interested in continuing to improve the script and music.  But, when it comes down to it, the show is already finishing just behind a Sondheim piece on my list this year.  I’m not sure it needs any improvements.

#3

Show: “Objects in the Mirror”

Company: Goodman Theatre

Venue: Goodman Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Trust in this one thing: You should see this play.

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

The ten-word summary above is a reference to the mantra of one of the show’s main characters — that you should trust no one.  Playwright Charles Smith’s play was given a massively staged production by director Chuck Smith, which felt intimate and personal despite the operatic scale of the set. A tale about escaping the ravages of war torn African countries, we followed a family through trials that most people can hardly imagine. Daniel Kyri and Breon Arzell were standouts in this cast, though there wasn’t a single weak link in the show.  I always expect good-to-great work from the Goodman.  After all, they have the budget to pull off just about anything.  But this show went above and beyond what I expect from them. This show really meant something, and brought a story from far away to the hearts of everyone who saw it.

#4

Show: “Hamilton”

Company: Broadway in Chicago

Venue: CIBC Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: History will never be the same. Better than the recording.

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

I know that most press outlets covered “Hamilton” in 2016, but I wasn’t able to see it until after Wayne Brady had come and gone. Long before it got to Chicago, many of my friends were singing and/or rapping the songs from this show thanks to the spectacularly popular original cast recording.  It was an epic struggle on my part to remain unexposed to the work on the whole prior to seeing it in person.  Seldom do I find that a show lives up to the hype surrounding it, but generally, “Hamilton” does.  I will see this show again, and I’m sure it’s not a huge surprise to see the production in a “best of” list, but perhaps the most significant thing for me about this story of Aaron Burr vs. Alexander Hamilton, is that a number of locally produced shows finished the year higher overall in my eyes.

#5

Show: “London Assurance”

Company: City Lit Theater

Venue: City Lit Theater

TEN WORD SUMMARY: After 120 years, this show is welcome back in Chicago.

RATING: d12 — “Heckuva Good Show”

This show just barely missed my top ranking.  The production was wonderful.  The casting was great.  And the performance had me laughing and enjoying myself more than almost anything else I saw this year.  There were a couple of odd things in the play’s structure, and one character that seemed extraneous.  That’s what kept it from the d20 ranking originally, but this is a show that I remember vividly, and that I will continue to do so for many years to come, I’m sure.  Kat Evans and James Sparling were each stellar in their roles, and while the entire cast was excellent, Kingsley Day appeared in a part that was clearly made especially for him over a century earlier.  Director Terry McCabe gave us a gift with this show.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: “Triassic Parq” (Circle Theatre); “Hir” (Steppenwolf Theatre).

Maggie’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2016

This has been a banner year for the amount of thought-provoking and ground breaking shows I have been ridiculously inspired by. I am so excited about the shows and theater companies that have seen Chicago’s struggle with making room for roles for people of color onstage and off. (A recent survey* of 71 Chicago theater companies in 2016 found over 60% of those surveyed had not showcased the work of a single director of color, and 47% had chosen seasons featuring only white playwrights. I sought out shows that embraced their role in bringing everyone’s stories to life, regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender or ability, and thanks to Theatre By Numbers (who’s assignments I will miss like the dickens), I got to see a good number of gems by die roll!

#1

Show: “East Texas Hot Links”

Company: Writers Theatre

Venue: Writers Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Open, festering brutality, administered close enough to implicate us all. 

RATING: d20- “One of the Best”

In this story of a quiet night gone irreversibly wrong, actors Tyla Abercrumbie and Kelvin Roston, Jr. ratchet up Charlesetta and Roy’s sexually tense arguments, you don’t expect the come-ons might be the only thing to bring you solace when their world is rocked. When Luce Metrius puffs up his chest as Delmus, annoying his elders with promises to leave them all in the dust, you don’t anticipate that you might rally instantly to him when he becomes a target of violence. You might feel kinship, like I did, with Namir Smallwood as XL, the odd man out, who can’t seem to control his provoking nature. And you might regret that impulse with every fiber of your being when you see exactly what XL is capable of. The heart of East Texas Hot Links lies with the unassuming Alfred H. Wilson as Columbus; in a way, the story centers on how far his forgiving nature will stretch before it snaps. There is something truly affecting to be shown that you don’t exist apart from an active racist brutality that still thrives in the open. Hate is easy to compartmentalize when acts of violence and racism are distant blips on a social landscape far from you. But East Texas Hot Links brings the blood of black men and women close enough to stain your dress shoes, and dares you to look away.

#2

Show: “The Promise of a Rose Garden”

Company: Babes With Blades Theatre Company

Venue: City Lit Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Female, armed and dangerous: drop and give them 20, maggots.

RATING: d20- “One of the Best”

“Rose Garden” is visceral, hard-hitting, and it arrives on the Chicago theater scene like water to quench an unfortunate drought of substantive roles of women and actors of color. It’s an astoundingly timely choice, and as Elyse Dawson’s directing debut, it’s the knock out of the park that many directors work their entire careers to achieve. The cast is astoundingly sure-footed, brutish and graceful, with stand outs Arti Ishak as Lieutenant Sharif, who is so still and unfazed that her brief flashes of anger are potent and chilling, and Maureen Yasko as Captain Rockford. You can’t take your eyes away from Rockford as she descends into devastation; bounding nervously away from everyone who seeks to aid her, and recoiling at the deep wounds she inflicts.What threatens this unit isn’t a distant enemy, but the very real haunt of disgrace. Unlike the men who try and fail this Infantry Officer course, or the men who rebound easily from mistakes made in uniform, these women face daunting, near insurmountable pressure. There is no room for error, but those that occur linger to haunt the next round of female recruits or stand to jeopardize their very inclusion.

#3

Show: “Matchmaker”

Company: Goodman Theatre

Venue: Goodman Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: So much whimsey, it hardly needs ‘Dollys’ cloying musical numbers. 

RATING: d12- “Heckuva Good Show”

The “Matchmaker” ensemble is nothing short of incredible. They finesse themselves into larger-than-life ridiculousness sometimes with little more than throwing on a gaudy purple cape or by stealing a jar of pickles. Allan Gilmore storms in and goes toe-to-toe with everyone he meets as Vandergelder; his bluster is delightful to watch. Likewise, Kristine Nielsen is so unrelentingly winning as Dolly, I found myself wracked with want of a fairy godmother to pluck me from normalcy and place me in an adventure. Another ingenious turn comes from Anita Hollander, who plays a multitude of roles (an elderly Gertrude, a pianist, Flora Van Huysen’s cook); Ms. Hollander, an amputee, is easily one of the most mobile entities next to Behzad Dabu’s table-hopping young Barnaby. This and more makes “The Matchmaker” the ultimate arena to play with audience expectation. Proceeding with abandon (and with author’s blessing), director Henry Wishcamper delivers what we’ve all been waiting for: actors of color in substantial roles, not to mention representation for non-cisgender and differently abled performers.

#4

Show: “The Importance of Being Earnest”

Company: Dead Writers Theatre Collective

Venue: Athenaeum Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Let’s get farcical. Farcical. I wanna hear some bawdy talk.

RATING: d12- “Heckuva Good Show”

The verbal acrobatics are wrangled astoundingly well by a cast of hams who are at home fitting their dialog though crummy mouthfuls of cucumber sandwiches. Sean Magill and Jack Dryden make mincemeat of each other as John and Algernon, with Dryden channeling Oscar Wilde magnificently. Enter Megan Delay and Maeghan Looney as Gwendolen and Cecily, and you will wonder how you’ve gotten this far without seeing such skillful comediennes decimate each other and the men who love them. But all of them scatter rightfully for Mary Anne Bowman as Lady Bracknell. The play revels gleefully in the subversion found in the secret lives of the words Oscar Wilde used: ‘Earnest’ and ‘Bunbury’ could also be used to identify as gay among the 19th century underground. Another layer of humor just for those in the know at the expense of those who were not. That this was Wilde’s final play before he was imprisoned should say a lot about the danger he courted by putting those words in the open.

#5

Show: “Richard III”

Company: The Gift Theatre

Venue: Steppenwolf’s Merle Reskin Garage Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: This Richard is out for every scrap owed to him. 

RATING: d20- “One of the Best”

Director Jessica Thebus and the unnerving Michael Patrick Thornton as Richard stage a minimal, modern-flavored production that invites you to draw current political and social parallels. In an unnerving way, it plays on the impulses of an impatient and well-meaning audience. In moments that go on just a little too long, and are punctuated only by rustling and shifting, an unconscious thought creeps over the faces of able-bodied audience members: Will Richard make it to his feet? Will we be able to catch him if he falls? Hardly necessary. The ever-dignified Richard rarely lets his compatriots see him in need, and he is outfitted for his coronation with the fine technology from The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, keeping him at eye-level. Range of moment and slowness of time play an interesting part of The Gift’s production; when Richard begins, he effectively stops time with every ‘aside’ to the audience, and drives circles around his abled-bodied adversaries. However, when he transitions to the crown and walks upright with mechanical assistance, cracks in his facade begin to form. His plots against his adversaries are less effective, and his command of time fades as he inches closer to a wartime present.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: “Broken Record: A Contemporary Musical” (Stage 773 Theatre), “Rolling” (Jackalope Theatre), “[Trans]formation” (Nothing Without a Company & The Living Canvas) and “Wonderful Town” (Goodman Theatre).

*Circulated by director Lavina Jadhwani.

Chris’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2016

Every year is unique when you work in the theatre world.  For me, 2016 was a bittersweet year.  I saw fewer shows in the past 365 days than I have in any year since 2011.  I was only in the audience for 50 performances this year.  That’s down from 3 times that last year.  However, that was the result of working on more shows myself, and that’s a good thing.  My own theatre company is one of the many that closed up shop this year.  So, it’s on to new things with the new year.  But first, let’s take time to reflect, and celebrate the five best shows that I saw in 2016!

#1

Show: “Byhalia, Mississippi”

Company: The New Colony and Definition Theatre

Venue: The Den Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: How, when, and why do you choose to forgive someone?

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

My first top-rated show of 2016 never fell out of the top spot.  No matter what other crap went down in 2016, the year started out really strong and with a lot of promise.  I don’t have much new to say about this piece that I didn’t already say in my original review, so I’ll just quote a bit of that piece here: “Back when I was in grad school for playwriting, one of my professors maintained that no matter what else was true about your script, none of it mattered without the characters.  Well drawn characters can tell just about any story and make it moving.  Addressing issues makes something a platform, creating characters makes it a play.  Linder would have aced that professor’s class.  His characters are real people.  They have real problems.  They have real feelings.  They speak in very real cadences that bring the viewer into the world of the play.  This is a really well-crafted work.”  With this play, The New Colony and Definition Theatre tackled many of the issues that came to the fore in the political landscape of our presidential election.  He wrote a play about working class whites, upwardly mobile blacks, the tensions between races and classes, and how all societally held beliefs and attitudes are built and defined (and hopefully changed) at a personal level.  When we eventually look back on the career of Evan Linder, this play will be studied as his masterwork.

#2

Show: [Trans]formation”

Company: Nothing Without a Company & The Living Canvas

Venue: Collaboraction Studio

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Gender is not defined by genitalia despite actors being naked.

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

I can safely say that not enough people saw this show.  Even had they sold out every night, that statement would still be true.  Nothing Without a Company and The Living Canvas put six completely naked transgendered and/or non-binary actors on stage and through powerfully emotional monologues, thoughtful songs, and intellectually challenging concept pieces, they led the audience to more or less ignore the genitalia bared in front of them.  The characters, the tales, the vibrantly colored projections all came together to create an evening of perception-altering art that changed those who saw it.  I came away enriched, informed, entertained, and fundamentally changed.  I can pin-point about five plays in my life that have shaken-up what I consider theatre to be.  Director Gaby Labotka has grabbed hold of my preconceptions and given them a good rattling.

#3

Show: “The Misanthrope”

Company: Piccolo Theatre

Venue: Piccolo Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: A Moliere translation for a new generation. This play matters.

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

If one had to pick a French playwright to be declared that language’s equivalent to Shakespeare, one would have to say Moliere.  And yet, in translation, his pieces often feel dated and less universal than the works of the Bard.  So, I was pleasantly surprised by Piccolo’s new translation of “The Misanthrope”.  This was an artfully executed piece that was updated to a modern setting.  The manners of the French court were swapped out for the proclivities of modern show business.  But, the essence of what was being said remained the same.  The script even remained in verse.  It was perfect for this time and place.  We all identified with the characters in a way that just isn’t possible to do when seeing an older translation still set in the 1600s.  One of my first professional jobs 20 years ago was on a production of “The Misanthrope”.  It wasn’t until Piccolo’s production of Martin Crimp’s literal and cultural translation that I truly felt I understood the work at its more basic level.  Ben Muller’s portrayal of Alceste was dynamic and director Michael D. Graham’s overall approach to the work focused on every single detail.  Each movement, each light or sound cue, every item placed on the set was important.  One strategically placed bowl of Skittles still makes me want to go to the lobby to buy a box right now.

#4

Show: “The Drawer Boy”

Company: Redtwist Theatre

Venue: Redtwist Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: We each live in a myth of memory.  But whose?

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

I’m pretty sure I could watch Adam Bitterman and Brian Parry act together all year long and be happy.  To see those two bring to life the older gentleman farmers in “The Drawer Boy” was a special treat.  Now, this play isn’t new, and it is a solid part of the contemporary canon, but I’d never seen the play prior to this production.  It is a touching piece that delves into the issues of creating memories, about what is truth, and what damage we do to ourselves and others.  It pack an emotional wallop.  But, it clearly only rises to the level of brilliant when treated appropriately.  Redtwist could not have treated this script better.  The play wasn’t something to be viewed, but experienced.  The total incorporation of all the design elements and a clear directorial vision brought everything together in a way that immersed the audience in a theatrical event, not a play.  There is no way I could have spent an hour and a half on a Canadian farm a year prior to my birth, but earlier this year I did just that.  I’m glad that I did.

#5

Show: “Naperville”

Company: Theater Wit

Venue: Theater Wit

TEN WORD SUMMARY: If Hell is other people, then so might be Heaven.

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

I spent my formative years in an exceptionally affluent suburb of the Twin Cities.  Naperville (the city) has much in common with my childhood stomping grounds.  So it was that I attended this show expecting something that lampooned the nonsense of a society that places far too much value upon material wealth and the attitudes of entitlement that accompany evident affluenza.  Mat Smart’s script is one part character study, one part slice-of-life comedy, mixed with a dash of philosophic nostalgia.  That’s a recipe that results in a play that touches on the pride of those who come from a certain place, but also the doubt that comes from feeling out of place in one’s own community.  At its core, the play doesn’t make fun of anyone.  The humor comes from the very real situations and the human need for identity and companionship in both good times and bad.  Joe Schermoly’s set still amazes me in its complexity, utility, and beauty: not something I’d expect to say about what is really a realistic interior.  With this work, Abby Pierce reinforced her place at the top of my list of my favorite actors in town.  She didn’t carry this show, because she didn’t have to.  The whole cast was stellar.  But, she did bring unexpected depth to a character that had to be done just right in order to make this play work.  All in all, this play was far better and far more than I was expecting.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: “Good Person of Szechwan” (COR Theatre); “Rent” (Theo Ubique Productions); “Firebringer” (StarKid Productions); “Dream Girls” (Porchlight Music Theatre); and “The Lion in Winter” (Promethean Theatre Ensemble).

Sarah’s Picks: Top 5 Shows of 2016

I feel darn lucky to have joined the Theatre By Numbers team in 2016. Courtesy of fortuitous die rolls, I have experienced incredible evenings of theatre, something all the more impressive when you consider I only began writing for the site last spring. It’s been a fantastic year for Chicago theatre, from the storefront scene to the regional giants, and I am happy to report my top five productions from the season. Some I reviewed for Theatre By Numbers, and some I sought out on my own, but I think they speak to the variety and vibrancy that lives in the Chicago scene right now.

#1

Show: “The Christians”

Company: Steppenwolf Theatre

Venue: Steppenwolf Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Memorable performances and design provide an astounding production about belief.

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

I just reviewed this production, but “The Christians” deserves to have its praises sung twice. Lucas Hnath’s warm and sincere script wrestles with the complexities of faith in a way that’s rarely seen in the theatre. Director Todd K. Freeman urges his actors to embrace their characters’ metaphysical concerns, without pushing the performers into caricature or airy-fairy frustration. The matters of life and death are real here, and so of course, they are also wrapped up in the worship service that serves as the framework for the dramatic action. I gave shout-outs to the design team and lead actors in my review, but I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to name-check the mesmerizing music team onstage: Jaret Landon, Leonard Madox, Jr., Charlie Strater, Faith Howard, Yando Lopez, Jazelle Morriss, and Mary-Margaret Roberts. They invite us into the world of this play with power and sincerity, and they both alarmed and charmed audiences the night I attended.

#2

Show: “good friday”

Company: Oracle Productions

Venue: Oracle Theatre

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Searing portrait of whether or not violence is the answer.

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

Let us raise a glass to the dearly departed Oracle Production, whose dedication to public access in art has forever changed the face of Chicago’s storefront scene. It is a shame that 2016 was the company’s last season, especially given that they had just moved into a new space. But what an astounding play to end with in Kristiana Rae Colón’s “good friday.” This production about a school shooting confronted the audience with up-to-the-minute issues at every unexpected turn: campus rape, the shooting and abuse of men and women of color by police, economic injustice, the at-moments absurd use of social media, and the short memories we all share when it comes to atrocities. The ensemble of women onstage did the best work of any group of actors in the city this year, and the fact that each performance ended with their embrace — rather than a curtain call — speaks to the community-minded work Oracle has always built. The talkbacks after the show were essential, and the thoughts left behind on Post-Its made for powerful reading in the lobby. An unforgettable experience.

#3

Show: “180 Degree Rule”

Company: Babes With Blades

Venue: City Lit Theater

TEN WORD SUMMARY: A love story to film and women, and their romances.

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

The entertaining mystery at the heart of “180 Degree Rule” was actually a love story, It involved two women, but not the two women you initially thought. Written by the late, great M.E.H. Lewis and Barbara Lhota, this Babes With Blades production teased the audience with heart, humor, and a “Citizen Kane” structure that kept one guessing. Along the way, the viewer was treated to lessons in cinematography and Hollywood censorship, and one hell of a fantasia about Nazis potentially invading the American film industry. Director Rachel Edwards Harvith excelled at navigating the flashback structure, and Amy E. Harmon and Lisa Herceg pulled you into their past romance with playfulness and passion. As is expected from Babes With Blades, the violence work was top-notch, but the moment that’s stuck with me many months later is the play’s final image: a projection of M.E.H. Lewis smiling out at the audience. How fitting that a love story ended with a tribute to the beloved playwright.

#4

Show: “The Secretaries”

Company: About Face Theatre

Venue: Stage 773

TEN WORD SUMMARY: I can never unsee what happened between Dawn and Susan.

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

I stand by my ten word summary. I still think about the horrific stage moment that Dawn and Susan shared in “The Secretaries,” even though I saw the play all the way last May. The Five Lesbian Brothers don’t mess around when it comes to gore, on and off the boards. And their campy satire about secretaries from a saw mill murdering their way through lumberjacks indulges all of humanity’s worst impulses with an infectious, unforgettable glee. About Face generated a lurid, hysterical fever dream of a production with this script, and while the comedic timing was off from time to time — likely because of the play’s design demands — its biting satire sunk in its teeth all the same. Sometimes literally. Kelli Simpkins ruled her scenes as butch executive secretary Susan, contorting her body to slope around the set, rather than walk. Her demented devotion to cleanliness, appearance, and sisterhood birthed some of the most ludicrous, predatory, and thought-provoking moments in the play.

#5

Show: “The Seagull”

Company: The Artistic Home

Venue: The Artistic Home

TEN WORD SUMMARY: Intimate venue and strong ensemble work generate a haunting revival.

RATING: d20 — “One Of The Best”

Gauzy but not flimsy, The Artistic Home’s “Seagull” displayed how well Chekhov works when his humor and his anguish intertwine. Never has the opening exchange about mourning for one’s life been delivered with more Daria-like disdain, courtesy of Laura Lapidus. Never have I seen a Nina quite as angry as Brooklyn Hébert’s. And never have I felt so sad about the poisonous relationship between Arkadina (Kathy Scambiatterra) and her son Treplev (Julian Hester), fellow artists who will never understand one another. I always roll my eyes at Trigorin, but Scot West made me like him for once. This meditation on shattered dreams benefited from The Artistic Home’s intimate space, and the broken down barn set design by Jeffrey D. Kmiec framed the action with an eye towards country winters.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Limiting my list to five productions was difficult, as there was so much good theatre in the city this year. Here are my honorable mentions: “Fun Home” (Broadway In Chicago); “The Hairy Ape” (Oracle Productions); “Julius Caesar” (Writers Theatre); “King Charles III” (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); and “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde” (Promethean Theatre Ensemble).