Author: Kevin Curran
Two Shows for the Price of One
Two Days in Court – City Lit Theater
One act shows don’t get much love in modern theater. The average theater-goer expects at least the average length of a movie for the price of their ticket. Even most shows that lack an intermission are usually more than one scene presented without that intermission rather than an entire show presented in one short burst. City Lit has solved this problem by presenting two such shows in one evening with a common thread, with both centering on court room dramas.
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Turning into Your Parents
I’m Gonna Pray for You So Hard – First Floor Theater
They say you are supposed to write about what you know. That’s probably why so many plays (and movies for that matter) are about writers and writing. If nothing else, writers know about that.
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Just Another Day
Utility – Interrobang Theatre
Amber and her family live in a small town in East Texas. Like many families, they are perpetually just short of making ends meet. Amber works two jobs but is still always trying to pay off last month’s bills. The play finds her trying to balance providing a life for her children that she wants them to have, while deciding if she should give her well-intentioned, but less than competent, husband another chance.
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Family Resemblance
Iron Kisses – Theatre Above the Law
I think everyone remembers where they were the first time they hear their parents’ words coming out of their own mouths. It eventually happens to us all. Some turn of phrase we associate with them, maybe some well-worn piece of advice or the thing your parents said to you that you swore you would never say to your kids, will fall out of your mouth with exactly their cadence and intonation. It almost feels like they were speaking through you, as if it weren’t really your voice. Theatre Above the Law’s new production of Iron Kisses takes the phenomenon to new heights by casting a pair of actors as siblings, but also casting both siblings at various times as both of their parents.
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What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?
Herland – Redtwist Theatre
Herland, a new play getting its Chicago premiere at Redtwist, is the story of three friends who decide that rather than shuffle off to a sad retirement community, they are going to form one of their own. Their defacto leader, Jean, converts her garage, the previously off-limits rehearsal space for her ex-husband’s Bruce Springsteen cover band, into her office and the headquarters of their planned retirement community. She hires an intern to help them, primarily by being more comfortable with technology. The name of the play is taken from a 1915 utopian novel about a world with no men.
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Leaving on a Jet Plane
2 Unfortunate 2 Travel – Prop Thtr
Seeking to escape the outcome of the Election that Shall Not Be Named, Jack takes off on a tour of the world. Returning with a diary full of his journeys, he turns the portrayal of his travels over a group of six women to bring the stories to life.
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Is There Life on Mars?
How to Live on Earth – Chimera Ensemble
The key of science fiction is the question “What if?” What if we had flying cars? What if we met aliens? What if we could transfer our brains to robot bodies? Sometimes the questions are small changes; sometimes they are seismic shifts. The best science fiction explores not just the technological marvels themselves, but the impact on people and their relationships. Chimera Ensemble’s new production “How to Live on Earth” is a great example of that. Focusing on four people all trying for the opportunity to be picked for a one-way mission to colonize Mars, we get to meet not just the aspiring astronauts, but the people and lives they’ll be leaving behind.
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The Face of an Honest Man
Doubt – The Gift Theatre
Doubt, the Pulitzer Prize winning play and basis for the film starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, is being given a Chicago revival by The Gift Theatre at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre. It centers on St. Nicolas, a parochial school in the Bronx in 1964, and its principal, the stern Sister Aloysius and a new progressive priest, Father Flynn. One of Sister Aloysius’ teachers, Sister James, comments that Flynn is paying special attention to one boy, Donald Muller, the school’s first black student. Sister Aloysius becomes convinced that something inappropriate is happening and embarks on a crusade to stop him.
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Ariodante – Lyric Opera of Chicago
Ariodante, premiering this week at the Lyric, is story of a medieval Scottish prince and his betrothed, Ginevra. The Evil Duke (Are there any non-evil Dukes in opera?) is Ariodante’s rival for Ginevra’s hand. She spurns him, but since women weren’t really allowed opinions at this time, the Duke carries on, tricking Ariodante into believing Ginevra has been unfaithful. Ariodante is heartbroken and Ginevra faces execution for a sin she did not commit. The Duke now plans to intervene to save her, winning the King’s favor and her affections.
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All Torn Up
I Wanna F#!&ing Tear You Apart – Rivendell Theatre
Rivendell Theatre is giving Morgan Gould’s I Wanna F#!&ing Tear You Apart its Midwest premiere this month. The story centers on Samantha, a self-described fat woman and Leo, her gay best friend and roommate. They have been friends since college. Now roommates in New York, they are trying to jump-start writing careers in between bingeing reality television and fighting over who left an empty soda bottle in the refrigerator.
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