Author: Colin Douglas
The Quest of Bilbo Baggins
The Hobbit
Set in mythical Middle Earth during the ancient time, between the age of Faeries and the Dominion of Men, simple and home-loving Bilbo Baggins hears an unexpected knocking at his Hobbit hole door. Just as he’s settling down for tea, Gandalf, the Wizard, comes calling to convince Mr. Baggins that he needs some adventure in his life. Suddenly, thirteen dwarves descend upon Bilbo’s cozy underground home. Led by Thorin, their proud and pompous leader, the dwarves are setting off on a quest to both take back their kingdom under Lonely Mountain and to retrieve the treasures stolen by Smaug, a wicked and ferocious dragon.
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The Candy Man
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Some books or films don’t translate easily to the stage. After Roald Dahl’s extravagantly magnificent Broadway production of MATILDA, the New York production of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY was disappointing. Perhaps Roald Dahl’s best-known children’s book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory received a less impressive musical theatre treatment. Of course, the book had already been turned into a beloved film in 1971, that starred Gene Wilder. Then Tim Burton filmed his more bizarre version of the story in 2005, starring Johnny Depp. Finally, in 2023, a prequel to the previous films, that starred Timothee Chalamet, depicted Willy Wonka’s early years. In 2013, Sam Mendes directed a theatrical musical production in London that, despite lukewarm reviews, managed to run for three-and-a-half years in the West End. When the production landed on Broadway four years later some changes had been made to the show. However, there were still problems with the New York production.
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The Ladies Who Lunch
Top Girls
If given the opportunity to invite any famous person from history to join you for lunch, just who would you invite? To celebrate her big promotion at the Top Girls Employment Agency, Marlene has chosen a very interesting group of strong, unusually independent women. The Top Girls sitting at this conversational round table provide a fascinating scene of overlapping dialogue about the aspirations of these notable women. Each participant hails from a different locale and time period. Invited to Marlene’s party at this posh restaurant are the mythical female Pope Joan, who achieved her position during the Middle Ages, dressed as a man; the 19th century Scottish author and international explorer, Isabella Bird; Chaucer’s fictional Patient Griselda, from his Canterbury Tales; 13th century Japanese concubine to the Emperor, Lady Nijo; and Dull Gret, or “Mad Meg,” the Flemish peasant woman who invaded hell with a brigade of women warriors, in artist Peter Brueghel’s 16th century painting, Dulle Griet.
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An Homage to Caryl Churchill
Pot Girls
Raven Theatre has two plays running simultaneously this winter, “in creative conversation” with each other. Interestingly, they happen to be very similar to each other. Of the two, prolific playwright Caryl Churchill’s TOP GIRLS is, of course, the more well known. But similar in construction and theme, actor, playwright and Story Theatre’s Governing Ensemble Member, Paul Michael Thomson (BROTHER SISTER CYBORG SPACE at Raven) is presenting his World Premiere. The play is a kind of homage to Ms. Churchill’s dramatic classic of a similar name.
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Diversity Versus Division
Admissions
Conversations about race are taking place with greater frequency and fervor everywhere in America. Written in 2019, talented playwright Joshua Harmon’s dramedy (BAD JEWS; SIGNIFICANT OTHER; PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC) is focused on looking at white liberalism. This has been a much discussed movement of late, particularly as it comes in response to what is seemingly an Era of Hatred, thanks to a openly racist Federal Government. It’s given permission to other psychopathic racist villains to spew their bile and disgusting views. For an example from fiction, think of the character of Bob Ewell, from To Kill a Mockingbird. But for the opposite view, consider Atticus Finch, from the same novel. That character remains, perhaps, the quintessence of white liberalism in literature.
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Arrogance and Aspirations
Miss Julie
August Strindberg seems to be having a revival, at least at some of Chicago’s most respected theatres. His DANCE OF DEATH is now playing at Steppenwolf, and MISS JULIE is being given noteworthy interpretation at the Court Theatre. The play has always been controversial since it first premiered in 1889. Not for the faint of heart, Strindberg’s drama is an evolutionary war of life and death, a sexual battle filled with unbridled arrogance and aspirations.
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You Will Be Found
Dear Evan Hanson
By now, this 2017 Tony Award-winning musical for Best Musical, as well as five others, is pretty well known, especially among younger theatergoers. But for audiences who aren’t familiar with the story, Evan Hansen is a painfully shy high school senior who suffers from personal and emotional problems. The young man has very few friends. He’s terribly insecure and suffers from a poor self image. Heidi, Evan’s overburdened single mother, works as a nurse’s aid while studying at night to become a paralegal. Somehow she scrapes up the money to send her son to a therapist on a weekly basis. Heidi has to work hard to provide for both Evan, and herself while strictly budgeting her money and time, so she can spend an evening with her son.
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A Family Portrait of Love and Loss
Hamnet
Six years ago, Irish-British author Maggie O’Farrell wrote an historical novel that became a huge bestseller. It was a fictional look at the world of Tudor England, told through a family portrait of love and loss. The story filled in history’s missing moments of the courtship between William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway. O’Farrell’s book portrays Anne, or Agnes as she’s called here (and the “g” is silent), as an herbalist healer with a spiritual connection to Nature and the supernatural world. She meets teenaged Latin tutor, Will (the author never uses the surname Shakespeare in her novel), when he spots her engaged in falconry outside his classroom. For a young man who’s not yet 18, Agnes is a lovely, exciting and provocative young woman who sets his heart aflutter. When eventually Agnes tells Will that she’s going to have his child, Will’s parents reluctantly give their permission for the two to marry.
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Rediscovering Love
Come Back Little Sheba
Renowned playwright, novelist and Pulitzer Prize recipient, William Inge was known as the Playwright of the Midwest. His first big Broadway hit during the 1950’s is this story about a frustrated, middle-aged married couple’s resolution to put their troubled past behind them, finally move forward toward a better future and rediscover their love. The drama is a stirring, often sad story about lost youth and shattered dreams. Doc and Lola who, by the end of this play, have sunk as low as they can go, try to salvage a slice of hope from the ruins of the past.
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Stay Gold
The Outsiders
During puberty, the journey from childhood to adulthood is referred to as a Coming of Age. The adolescent years are filled with self-discovery, personal growth and maturation. For Ponyboy Curtis, his coming of age is just one of the themes explored in the musical, THE OUTSIDERS, now playing at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre for two weeks. In this powerful and poignant musical adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s classic novel, all of the teenagers who live on different sides of the tracks experience their own, individual, coming of age journey. The musical takes Ponyboy and the others through a loss of innocence, as they overcome difficult challenges and try to navigate their respective roles in society. This is one show, especially geared toward juvenile theatergoers, that should not be missed by anyone!
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