Author: Colin Douglas
Curiouser and Curiouser
Lookingglass Alice – Lookingglass Theatre Company
Known for original, story-centered productions developed by their multitalented ensemble members through physical and improvisational rehearsals, Lookingglass Theatre brings back their highly popular mashup of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass for a return visit. It’s been more than ten years since “Lookingglass Alice” was first presented by this inventive theatre company, to wild, popular and critical acclaim. The production is created in association with the Actors Gymnasium, a northside theatrical school devoted to instructing circus arts and physical performance of all kinds. The company likes to boast that it teaches its participants how to fly–both physically, emotionally and creatively. In “Lookingglass Alice” this is precisely what the actors and the audience experience together.
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Sparring to Fit in and Stand Out
Athena – Writers Theatre
Two 17-year-old young women meet each other in an after-school fencing program. At first reluctant, the girls finally agree, after much verbal sparring, to train together. Initially strangers, but both strong, equally-gifted athletic competitors, the teenagers eventually become close friends. Together they decide how to balance their camaraderie and competition. They argue whether practice needs to be painful, if the rules of the sport can be tweaked a bit, and how to parry, both in their fencing and in their lives.
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In Mourning for My Life
Seagull – Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Possibly the most famous two lines of any Chekov play opens this production, a play that’s been translated, adapted and directed by ensemble member Yasen Peyankov. The end result is a beautiful, rich and completely enthralling presentation. Masha is asked, “Why do you always wear black?” Her dour response is, “I’m in mourning for my life. I’m unhappy.” This opening conversation sets the tone for the entire play, and prompts the first laugh of the evening. It could’ve, however, been uttered by almost any of the other characters in this play. No one in this comedy seems particularly happy with his or her existence, and in their melancholia we find humor. However, there’s also plenty of promise in the air, which fills the play with possibilities of love.
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When We Need Help From Others
The Luckiest – Raven Theatre
We’ve all received advice from our friends telling us that the future is uncertain, so we should eat our dessert first. In other words, people should live their lives to its fullest. We never know what tomorrow, or even the next moment, will bring. This advice becomes the theme of Melissa Ross’s comic drama, developed three years ago at the La Jolla Playhouse. Although not quite the serious malady faced by the heroine of her play, Ms Ross based “The Luckiest” upon a particularly dark time in her own life.
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Time After Time
The Pavilion – The Artistic Home
As the Narrator takes the audience on a cosmic journey through his poetic description of how the world was created, we’re struck by the simplicity and beauty of each carefully chosen word and phrase. It’s as if this play was forged from the best moments from Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” and the Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones musical, “The Fantasticks.” In addition to being a PBS kind of moderator for a documentary about the span of time, the role of the Narrator also offers a talented actor the opportunity to create an impressive dramatic achievement.
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Grieving Through Observation and Analysis
The Year of Magical Thinking – Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
Anytime the extraordinary Chicago actress Annabel Armour takes the stage, audiences know they’re in for an evening of profound enjoyment and absolute emotional connection. It’s no different in this, her current theatrical performance. In a production that’s the theatrical equivalent of running a 26 mile marathon, Ms Armour emerges as a blue ribbon champion. During the hour and forty-five minutes that passes during this intellectually stimulating, yet poignantly affecting one-woman presentation, Ms Armour completely engages her audience in a slow, methodical chase toward the author’s understanding. It’s one woman’s objective means of grieving through observation and analysis.
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A Scientist and an Artist Walk Into a Bar…
Picasso At the Lapin Agile – Citadel Theatre
One evening in 1904 a young Albert Einstein, a youthful Pablo Picasso and a mysterious Visitor from the Future meet by chance at the Lapin Agile (the Nimble Rabbit) a small bar in bohemian Montmartre, Paris. There they exchange views about science, art and sex. Filled with a mixture of funny, unexpected one-liners, Steve Martin’s surrealistic 1993 one-act comedy, which had its premiere at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, went on to play in Los Angeles and New York. It’s a mixture of comedy, insightful theories, bawdy humor, quirky characters and a contemplation of the relationship between art and science.
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Band On the Run
Last Hermanos – A Red Orchid Theatre
Miguel and Julio are two estranged brothers who’ve been reunited while on the run, trying to reach the Mexican border. This is America, set in the distant future, and there’s an ongoing war raging on between Caucasians and the Latinx population. Danger and terror are everywhere and it especially lurks in the darkness and between the shadows. Trust is a fragile commodity, even between family members, and most definitely between members of the two cultures.
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No Fairy Tale Romance
All’s Well That Ends Well – Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
Helen, for some inexplicable reason, is in love with Bertram. For over two hours he calls her names, spurns her affection and even goes so far as to tell Helen she’s inferior and far below him. Then Bertram runs off to France where he’ll be under the tutelage of the French King and become an officer in their army. Helen’s determined to have her fairy tale happily-ever-after ending, so she confesses her love to Bertram’s mother, the Countess of Rossillion, and begs her to give Helen her blessing and send her off to France, as well.
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The Word of Your Body
Spring Awakening – Porchlight Music Theatre
In late 19th century Germany adults ruled their children with an iron hand while turning their backs on how teenagers coped with the puzzlement of puberty. Victorian society repressed their sexuality and, in particular, ignored the physical and emotional changes taking place within their kids. But questions about where babies come from, the strange changes occurring in their bodies and the unfamiliar feelings and desires surging through their minds continue to preoccupy the adolescents, even today. The characters in this musical simply explode, bursting with angst and yearning. Their songs are plaintive and mournful, or filled with fury and frustration, and danced with turbulent energy to a contemporary, folk-rock score that contrasts significantly with the the composed and cool turn-of-the-century book scenes.
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