Monthly Archives: February 2020
A Thriller That Disappoints
How a Boy Falls – Northlight Theatre
It seems like mysteries and whodunits are playing in theatres all over the Windy City. At Northlight, under the tight direction of Halena Kays, prolific playwright Steven Dietz’s latest play is being given its World Premiere, right here in Chicago. Like his play, “On Clover Road,” a hit hair-raiser at American Blues Theater a season ago, this new play, although not nearly as filled with tension, is another thriller.
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Rooted in the Mistakes of the Past
Labyrinth – Broken Nose Theatre
Beth Steel’s powerfully intoxicating drama is a roller coaster ride through the whirlwind world of international finance. It’s about swaggering, profit-hungry American banks lending excessive amounts of money to countries on the brink of bankruptcy. The play drives the audience at breakneck speed inside the 1980’s Latin American financial crisis in a hard-hitting trip through a nightmarish Wonderland world of debt and would-be redemption.
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Empathy is a Bird
Do You Feel Anger? – Red Orchid Theatre
Brava to Mara Nelson-Greenberg, a talented, new playwright who, clearly, has a lot to say about toxic workplaces. In her comically absurdist one-act play, she depicts a place of business in which male stupidity dominates and the females have sadly been reduced to babbling idiots, trying their best to survive in this septic environment. Ms. Nelson-Greenberg’s play had its professional debut at the 42nd Humana Festival of New American Plays and went on to its Off-Broadway New York premiere at The Vineyard Theatre. Chicago audiences can now enjoy a powerfully intimate production of this play at A Red Orchid Theatre, under the sharp direction of Ensemble member, Jess McLeod.
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Shameful Feelings and Ideas
How to Defend Yourself – Victory Gardens Theatre
Filled with crude comic moments, views on attracting the opposite sex and all kinds of flirtatious situations, Liliana Padilla’s new play takes place on a college campus. The setting is the university gymnasium where a series of free workshops are being offered. Taught by a perky coed named Brandi, a determined young woman devoted to making a difference, the classes attempt to instruct interested students in how to fend off unwanted sexual advances. The impetus for this informal, student-led lecture/demonstration is the violent rape of the leader’s sorority sister in a brutal assault that’s landed her in the hospital. Brandi, assisted by Kara, her friend and fellow sorority sister, wants to do something positive to prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again. The results are debatable.
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A Woman’s Right to Chose
Roe – Goodman Theatre
In 1973, the Supreme Court heard an historic, controversial case that would continue to remain a point of debate far into the twenty-first century. The Court ruled in Roe v. Wade, in a landmark decision, that the Constitution protects the rights of a pregnant woman to have an abortion, without government interference. In other words, when it comes to her own body, it was finally deemed that a woman had a right to make her own choices. Under the current, coldhearted administration, however, that Court decision could be in peril of being overturned. So it’s only right that this excellent, entertaining and educational play by Lisa Loomer be seen by as many theatergoers as possible.
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