Slam Dunk the Junk

Goods – Artemisia Theatre

In the not-so-distant future, the world that playwright Lauren Ferebee paints is a pretty dismal place. Climate change and pollution have grown out of control. There’s practically no land left on earth because the oceans have flooded most of the coastal cities, air temperatures are unpredictable and the planet is overrun with trash and litter. Refugee arrivals are still a problem and there doesn’t seem to be any solution. It’s 2100 and Marla and Sam, two interplanetary astronaut employees, are returning from their latest mission. They’re garbage collectors, whose job it is to slam dunk the junk from earth and deposit it somewhere in outer space.

Gay Youth and Conservative Religion

Southern Baptist Sissies – PrideArts

Sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to put a damper on everyone’s lives, forcing people to stay safe inside their homes, instead of going out for any reason. But smart, creative theatres have found a way to keep presenting their work to interested audiences. Chicago’s PrideArts, for example, has been offering a series of staged play readings as one-night-only viral productions. By special permission, I attended the final dress rehearsal, in order to review this viral production before the actual performance. Joe Hudson, who appeared in Bailiwick Repertory’s 2002 fully-staged production, directs this live Zoom presentation, featuring a cast of eight very talented actors.

Game, Set, and Match

Last Match — Writers Theatre

When we watch an athlete we are admiring his skill, prowess and grace. We gasp at his agility and stamina; we’re only vaguely aware of how much this sportsman has trained, sacrificed and suffered to become the star of the playing field that we’re watching at this minute. But, as we observe and deeply internalize in Anna Ziegler’s extraordinary four-hander, there’s so much more to an athlete than merely what we watch during a game. It’s game, set and match…and so much more.

New York, Do You Care?

Island Song — 4 Chairs Theatre

For everyone, this past year has been difficult, at best. For the theatre, it’s eliminated live performances with actors on stage and living, breathing audiences in attendance. Alternatives to simply shutting their doors until the pandemic’s fully under control have been enhanced audio productions of plays or virtual productions, available for purchase on demand. The range of success found in these viral play presentations varies widely, from multicast dramas, that sort of resemble a Zoom meeting, to full productions that have been thoughtfully produced with some modicum of creativity.

Moments of Painful Honesty and Humor

Call Me Elizabeth — Porchlight Music Theatre

It’s a late morning in May, 1961 when there’s a knock at the door of the Beverly Hills Hotel bungalow. Always the epitome  of style and elegance, beautiful Elizabeth Taylor welcomes unseen writer and old friend, columnist Max Lerner. He has arrived to begin interviewing the actress for a planned biography. The next 70 minutes will provide the theatre audience with a candid, sometimes humorous and often painfully honest look at one of Hollywood’s biggest and most glamorous movie stars.

How the Pandemic Has Affected Us

How Do We Navigate Space? — Strawdog Theatre

Living in Chicagoland during the past year, as the Covid-19 pandemic drastically changed everyone’s lives, people of all ages were forced to think differently about their existence. This was particularly true within the last few months, during a winter that seemed never-ending. This beautiful, often unusually poignant and sometimes humorous mixture of film and live performance is a poetic depiction of almost everything that’s touched our hearts and souls during this stifling quarantine.

A Shakespearean Send-Up

Out, Darn Spot — Hell in a Handbag

In a departure from Hell in a Handbag’s familiar parodies, this latest viral offering is a send-up of a famous Shakespearean drama. The company is known primarily for scores of hilarious lampoons of satire-worthy films and TV shows, like their recent Golden Girl series. Artistic Director and actor extraordinaire, David Cerda, who usually writes, directs and stars in most of  Handbag’s brilliant productions hands the reins over to one of the other company members, Tyler Anthony Smith. Taking a cue from Mr. Cerda, Smith not only writes this spoof of a women’s television talk show, but directs and stars in the play.

“Lady” Marcia Macbeth, the star of this mock TV show, opens this episode with the happy homemaker hostess greeting her audience, clad in a negligee dripping with blood. Supposedly this installment is a recently-discovered, lost, final episode of Marcia’s long-running lifestyle program for women, “I’m Not a Suppressed Homemaker.” She attempts to explain away all the gore by telling us that she just butchered some poultry, in order to make a chicken pie for her beloved husband, Mackers. Soon there’s a knock at the door and a face in the window: it’s her neighbor, famed author of Valley of the Dolls, Jacqueline Susann. It turns out that Tillie, her pet chicken is, coincidentally, missing!

As this episode of “…Homemaker” progresses, the audience begins to witness Lady Marcia slowly dissolving into a psychotic mess. She appears to be falling down a rabbit hole of confusion, while undergoing a series of mental breakdowns. These are evidenced by the Lady’s incoherent ramblings, her butchered quotes from “Macbeth,” and her non sequitur accounts of strange occurrences and happenings from the past. There’s also the fact that Lesley Gore, Marcia’s celebrated musical guest for today’s episode, has been kidnapped and is tied up in her basement. Then the high jinks ensue. 

Tyler Anthony Smith’s original work lends itself well to the health and safely requirements imposed upon theatres during this pandemic. It’s a filmed television program, interspersed with original live commercials. It wisely, only occasionally, features more than one actor in a scene. The style of this viral production is much more surreal than Handbag’s other offerings. Because it has the hallucinatory quality of a fantastic dream, it often feels choppy and has difficulty holding the viewer’s attention. Perhaps if David Cerda, or another director not as close to the writing, had guided this production, it would’ve had more clarity. But because Mr. Smith is both playwright, director and the leading actor, there’s little chance for much artistic objectivity or distance.

That said, Tyler Anthony Smith’s portrayal of Marcia Macbeth is commanding, often terrifying and frequently quite funny. David Cerda’s Jacqueline Susann showcases his usual comedic campiness, making us wish his character played a bigger role in this story. There are cameo appearances by several other Hell in a Handbag favorites, such as the inimitable Ed Jones as Fish Stick Phil; the forcefully funny Caitlin Jackson as Lesley Gore; Ryan Oates as the precious pubescent Milk Boy; Sydney Genco as Wanda, hawking her Pre-Boiled Water; and David Lipschutz as a smarmy Charles Manson. Michael Rashid and Robert Williams provide delightful voiceover work as the Gellman Brothers and Marcia’s Cameraman. Kudos also go to Stephanie Shaw, for her videography and editing, assisted by Mr. Smith. And Dakota Hughes and Keith Ryan pull out all the stops with their creative makeup and wig designs.

This is another imaginative effort by one of Chicago’s fine storefront theatres to provide new, adult entertainment that can be enjoyed as we continue to quarantine at home, during this pandemic. Although the curtain time is listed as 8:00 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 3:00 on Sundays, be sure to download the link fifteen minutes early. You won’t want to miss the humorous real commercials from the 1960’s. They’re guaranteed to provide some laughs and put viewers in the mood for this period comedy, that’s a real Shakespearean send-up.  

Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Filmed and streamed via Vimeo February 12-March 21 by Hell in a Handbag Productions.

Tickets are available at handbagproductions.org.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.

When Life Becomes Virtual

Here Lies Henry – Interrobang Theatre

A young man named Henry enters an empty stage and, after some awkward false starts, begins to unspool a variety of mixed   information for his audience. The title doesn’t refer to Henry’s physical position; it’s a reference to the lies that he’s about to share with his audience. Dressed in suspenders, bow tie and a summer-weight sport coat, skilled actor Scott Sawa sets out to deliver his character’s circular treatise on life, love and letting go.

Infinite Possibilities

Constellations — Theater Above the Law

Constellations, a play by British playwright Nick Payne that first premiered in 2012, is about two people in a relationship. Or not. The play cycles through dozens of glimpses into the life of the couple, some overlapping, some contradictory. The same moment, such as the first time they meet or the last fight they have, is portrayed multiple times subtly shifting the tone or even the outcome.

Bringing Tinkerbell and Theatre to Life

Peter Pan – A Musical Adventure – Chicago Shakespeare Theatre

A little bit of faith, a modicum of trust and a generous sprinkling of pixie dust make this delightful holiday production soar up to the heavens. Spectacular and magical, this truly imaginative production for young audiences is a beautifully-wrapped theatrical gift. Chicago Shakespeare’s excellent production, filmed two summers ago before a live audience, is now the perfect Christmas confection. Directed and choreographed with spirit and creativity by the incomparable Amber Mak, she infuses her own special charm into this enchanting musical adventure. Elliot Davis based his original adaptation upon a book by Willis Hall. The musical features a pop score by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe that’s sure to charm every audience member, young and young at heart. Under the impressive musical direction of Kory Danielson, this wonderful work of whimsy definitely takes wing.