Author: Kevin Curran
Liberté. Égalité. Sororité?
The Revolutionists – Strawdog Theatre
The Revolutionists is a fictionalized account of four women from the French Revolution: Olympe de Gouges, a real playwright, Charlotte Corday, the woman famous for assassinating Jean-Paul Marat, Marianne Angelle, a fictional amalgamation of the women who fought for freedom in Haiti against the hypocrisy of the French Revolution (which claimed freedom for all men… except the ones who maintained the lucrative sugar plantations) and, of course, Marie Antoinette, the ill-fated former Queen of France. The play imagines de Gouges facing a wicked case of writer’s block as the other three come to her for help with their stories. Madame de Gouges wants the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen to include women. Corday wants to stop the bloody pen of Marat and is looking for the final words she will speak as she faces the guillotine for her forthcoming crime. Angelle wants help spreading the story of the injustice crushing her people in Haiti. Marie Antoinette just wants to be the center of attention for as long as possible. The four women’s stories intersect and overlap as they all attempt to survive the revolution while pushing it where they want it to go.
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[sound of door slamming shut]
Deathscribe – Wildclaw Theater
Letters from Home
The Holiday Radio Show of 1943 – Three Cat Productions
Holiday shows have a more difficult job than you might think. They have to appeal to everyone at once and find a way to present songs and stories most people know even if they don’t know they know them. The Holiday Radio Show of 1943, performed in the cozy confines of the Berger Park Coach House, finds a charming way to do that.
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Something Old, Something New…
Familiar – Steppenwolf Theater
Danai Gurira’s most recent play, Familiar, gets its Chicago premiere at the Steppenwolf Theater this month.
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Confronting the Past, Dreaming of the Future
HeLa – Sideshow Theater Company
HeLa, a new play by J. Nicole Brooks, produced by the Sideshow Theater Company premiered at the Greenhouse Theater Center this weekend. The play weaves together three stories.
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The Safe House
The Safe House – City Lit Theater
The Safe House, premiering this month at City Lit Theater, focuses on Bridget, a young actress in 1982 returning to her family’s home in Lansing, Michigan, and her grandmother, Hannah.
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Old Sins Cast Long Shadows
Ghosts – Redtwist Theatre
Ghosts, by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, had its world premiere in 1882 – in Chicago, of all places. Like Ibsen’s other works, it’s a
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Proof – Skokie Theatre
Proof tells the story of Catherine, a young woman whose father, a legendary mathematician and professor at the University of Chicago,
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American Revolution – Theater Unspeakable
Premiering last week at the Greenhouse Theater Center, Theater Unspeakable’s American Revolution is show that uses seven actors on a
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