Author: Kevin Curran
Another Story
Comfortable Shoes – The Neo-Futurists
Most of us are probably familiar with the story of One Thousand and One Nights. The king has promised to execute his wife Scheherazade at dawn, so she tells, but does not finish a story, hoping he will spare her another night and another and another. It works, and a new show at the Neo-Futurarium, written and performed by ensemble member Ida Cuttler, uses it as a jumping off point to explore how and why women have to tell their own stories over and over again.
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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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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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Harsh Lessons
Blue Stockings – Promethean Theatre Ensemble
It is 1896 and four students assemble for they hope will be the first class of female students to be granted degrees at Cambridge. They have to convince the school to first even hold a vote on the issue, let alone win that vote. To do so, they will have to be perfect, and not just academically, and it still may not be enough. This is the setting for Jessica Swale’s play Blue Stockings, getting its Chicago premiere with Promethean Theatre Ensemble.
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Aces and Eights – BYOT Productions
Aces and Eights, a film noir farce, started its life in 2015 as a ten minute scene for one of Bring Your Own Theater’s 24-hour theater festivals and over the years, it has been worked into a full length show. Focusing on Francine Noir, Frank to most people, she must find a missing will and a stolen painting, all while trying to stay above the corruption that pervades her city and her nascent alcoholism. It’s a fun set-up. Unfortunately, I don’t think it quite sticks the landing.
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A Midsummer Dream
Midsummer – Greenhouse Theater Center and Proxy Theatre
Helena is sitting at a bar in Edinburgh, Scotland, making her way through a bottle of wine, having just been stood up by her boyfriend. Bob is sitting in the same bar, reading Dostoevsky to cheer himself up. Both have just or are just about to celebrate their 35th birthday, and it’s left them in a foul mood. So they do what any rational pair would do when forced to contemplate difficult questions about their lives – they get very drunk and go to bed together.
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Lone(ly) Wolf
Wolf Play – The Gift Theatre
Wolf Play is being given its Chicago premiere this month at Gift Theater. It is the story of a young Korean boy who was adopted by American parents, but who, now that they have unexpectedly had a baby they thought they couldn’t, have ‘unadopted’ him. His new parents try build a bond with him, but it proves more complicated than they could have imagined.
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The Scottish Play
Macbeth – Saltbox Theatre Collective
Macbeth is probably the most accessible of Shakespeare’s tragedies. The action and motivations are straight forward, and once the action gets going, it really doesn’t break until the end of the show. This week, Saltbox Theatre Collective mounts a production of this dark tale of ambition and betrayal, and the results show why this play is still produced so long after it first premiered.
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Losing the Forest for the Trees
Bury Me – Dandelion Theatre
Bury Me, a new play by Brynne Frauenhoffer, premiers this week produced by Dandelion Theatre and performed at Rivendell Theatre in Edgewater. It focuses on the story of Josh and Michelle, a young couple living in Chicago who recently (and unexpectedly) found out Michelle was pregnant and are visiting the small town in Missouri where Josh grew up.
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