News & Reviews Category
Overstuffed With Facts and Fiction
Mosquitoes – Steep Theatre
Like the titular insect, in the US premiere of Lucy Kirkwood’s latest drama, the author of “Chimerica” and “The Children,” tiny things appear bigger than they actually are, while larger problems sometimes unfortunately fade into oblivion. Kirkwood shows how as our scientific knowledge expands our personal understanding of each other diminishes. Yet, in a play overstuffed with so many facts and ideas, the playwright creates an argument for her theme that this is an epoch of erudition, but also an era of fear.
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Poetic and Gritty
The Brothers Size – Steppenwolf Theatre
In Steppenwolf Theatre’s latest exciting offering for Young Audiences, Director Monty Cole presents ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney’s second installment of his trilogy, “The Brother/Sister Plays.” Mr. McCraney is the Oscar Award-winning screenwriter for “Moonlight,” the co-creator of Steppenwolf’s recently acclaimed “Ms. Blakk for President” and the playwright of the marvelous drama, “Choir Boy,” which recently wowed New York audiences.
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Songs You’ve Heard and Hummed at Some Time
Lerner and Loewe’s Greatest Hits – Music Theater Works
The Music Theater Works Presents Lerner and Loewe’s Greatest Hits at the Nichols Concert Hall 1490 Chicago Avenue in Evanston. Great is a pretty bold statement. “Great” is the way we feel about the performance. We enjoyed all facets of this production.
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Murder on the Moors
The Hound of the Baskervilles – City Lit Theatre
Sir Charles Baskerville has died under seemingly mysterious, but not necessarily suspicious circumstances. Found dead on his estate in Devon, his death could be chalked up to ill health, except for a legendary curse that has haunted his family for generations about a hellhound summoned by the evil deeds of a Baskerville ancestor. The great detective Sherlock Holmes doesn’t believe in curses, but when Sir Charles’ nephew arrives from America to claim his inheritance, he receives a threatening letter, warning him to stay away from the estate. Holmes must figure out who may have killed Sir Charles and stop them before they kill again.
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Come Hear the Music Play
Cabaret – Cowardly Scarecrow Theatre Company
Cabaret is a snapshot in time. In the early 30s in Berlin, an English girl, Sally Bowles, dreams of stardom and wealth while performing in a seedy nightclub. Cliff, an American writer, is lazily making his way through Europe, hoping it will inspire his novel. Watching over all of it is an enigmatic master of ceremonies at the club, who seems to be the only one aware of the coming storm. Willkommen.
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A Witch, a Giant, a Mermaid and a Son
Big Fish – BoHo Theatre
Get ready to be impressed, thoroughly moved and absolutely inspired to live your life with all the exhilaration and empathy as humanly possible. BoHo Theatre has a magical hit on its hands with this beautiful, deceptively simple and gloriously production. Directed with so much love and care by the multitalented Stephen Schellhardt, this intimate production bursts beyond the stage and into the audience, warming hearts and, at times, evoking tears.
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Yoinks
Oh Sh#t! It’s Haunted! – The Factory Theater
In The Factory Theater’s latest production, and one appropriately premiering in time for Halloween, Oh Sh#t! It’s Haunted! is the story of four Chicago friends who find themselves roped into exploring their neighborhood’s local haunted house, complete with a creepy recluse owner and someone plotting something that they’ll get away with if not for those lousy kids.
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You Take the Good, You Take the Bad
The Facts of Life – Hell in a Handbag
The magical Mr. Cerda has done it again! Finding a seemingly endless cache of farcical fodder amid the sitcoms and films of the 1970’s and 80’s, the masterful Artistic Director and creative wizard behind Hell in a Handbag Productions has hit upon a new source for his clever, campy parodies. In his clever mashup of two very different sources, David Cerda has blended the 1973 made-for-TV horror film, “Satan’s School for Girls,” with “The Facts of Life,” the chirpy television sitcom about another girls’ school.
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A Caged Songbird
A Doll’s House – Writers Theatre
A program note states that a theatre is a charged space, filled with energy and anticipation. Rather than being invited to sit back and relax, the audience is urged to lean forward and engage in the story they’re about to experience. This is sound advice for a groundbreaking, 19th century drama that was, in its 1879 Danish premiere, considered shocking and controversial. Henrik Ibsen’s play, which was based on the life of his friend, Laura Kieler, depicts how Victorian women lacked opportunities for personal fulfillment in a male-dominated world. Although times have changed significantly, equality among the sexes is still an issue everywhere, which makes this production in 2019 especially timely.
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A Psychological Horror Story
Equus – Aston Rep Theatre Company
In 1973, British playwright Sir Peter Shaffer heard a report about a horrific crime that took place in the small town of Suffolk. A 17-year-old boy had, without any understandable provocation, blinded a stable full of horses with a metal spike. Shaffer who, prior to writing “Equus,” had authored such popular plays as “The Private Ear” and “The Public Eye,” “Black Comedy” and “The Royal Hunt for the Sun.” He would go on to write a number of other important dramas, including “Amadeus” and “Lettice and Lovage.” However, of all Shaffer’s plays, this psychological horror story remains his most popular and often-produced drama.
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