Author: Colin Douglas
A Red Ryder Carbine Action BB Gun
A Christmas Story: The Musical – Marriott Theatre
Transporting Chicagoland audiences back to the days following the Great Depression, when money was tight and everyone was struggling just to survive, a man wanders through hoards of frugal shoppers on a busy downtown street. As he passes a Salvation Army Santa with his bell and bucket, the man recalls one particular Christmas when he was nine years old, and the special gift he hoped to receive. Jean Shepherd then proceeds to walk down memory lane, reliving the events and dreams of his his youth.
Read More
Snappy, Spirited and Saucy
Malapert Love – The Artistic Home
Paul Valery, a nearly forgotten Victorian poet, once wrote that “Love is being stupid together.” Well, Chicago actor, director and (now) playwright Siah Berlatsky has written a fast-paced comedy about several crazy characters all becoming idiots over love. This world premiere is a riff on the plays of Shakespeare and Moliere. It’s an anachronistic depiction of Elizabethan Spain, featuring nine comical and captivating characters who find themselves immeshed in searching for romance. But, as country singer Johnny Lee crooned, they’re all “lookin’ for love in all the wrong places,” which is what sparks the conflict in this high-camp, high-larious comedy.
Read More
Race, Sexism and a Play for Power
Trouble in Mind – TimeLine Theatre
Add one more name to the growing list of notable, adept African-American playwrights from earlier decades whose words still resonate today. Alice Childress may be an unfamiliar name to most theatergoers, but she made her mark as an actress, a novelist and an important playwright during the late 1940’s through the 1980’s. Ms Childress was a founding member of the American Negro Theatre, where “Trouble in Mind” had its Off-Broadway debut in 1955. However, despite the play being a critical and audience success, when producers showed interest in a transfer to Broadway, Alice Childress refused to kowtow to their demands. They wanted her to tone down the play’s volatile final moments, in order to make the story more pleasant and enjoyable for a commercial production. Ironically, this is precisely the point of Childress’ play.
Read More
Batman Begins
The Mark of Kane – City Lit
Bob Kane is a struggling, but fervently focused artist. Driven to succeed, and inspired the popularity of Superman, this young guy is passionate and persistent about making his mark in the world of comic strips. Willing to do whatever it takes, Bob’s eye is definitely on the prize and his ultimate goal is to become rich and famous. Bob’s doting parents have always raved about his talent to the point that this young man is certain he’s going to succeed as an artist. Failure just isn’t an option.
Read More
Exploring Morality, Sex and Power
Measure for Measure – Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
In this colorful and spicy adaptation of Shakespeare’s 1604 comedy, transplanted to 1950’s Havana, Cuba, we find one of theater’s earliest dramatization of women being given a voice of rebellion. Shakespeare gave Kate the opportunity to rail against men in “The Taming of the Shrew.” But female protestation against a male-dominated world, in which men think they have the right to manipulate and control women, is an inequity that’s been going on for centuries. Of course, the current Me Too Movement is the recent need to call attention to the double standards that often take place between genders. It’s a problem that was, and continues to be, so blatant everywhere, particularly in the entertainment industry. In one of Shakespeare’s last comedies, often dubbed a “problem play,” he presents a story that explores morality, sex, power, and the double standards that are so often present in leadership.
Read More
Simmering Below the Surface
Swing State – Goodman Theatre
Rebecca Gilman’s incredibly riveting new drama, currently enjoying its much lauded World Premiere at the Goodman Theatre, solidifies this writer as one of our finest American playwrights. And with her recent move to rural Wisconsin, Ms Gilman’s last three plays have, not so coincidentally, take place in America’s Dairyland. Like “Soups, Stews and Casseroles” and “Twilight Bowl,” both of which were produced during the pre-pandemic years by the Goodman Theatre, “Swing State” takes another deep look at the country’s heartland. Rebecca Gilman shows how today, through four of her most engrossing characters to date, an individual’s personal and political lives seem to be tightly woven together. In addition, Ms Gilman has used the Covid-19 quarantine as an important plot point in her new play.
Read More
After the Plague There’s Darkness
The Locusts – The Gift Theatre
In the Book of Exodus, the seventh plague of Moses was locusts. God told Moses to stretch out his hand over the land of the heartless Pharaoh, and locusts would swallow up every crop and all the fruit of the trees in Egypt. Afterwards, when all had been destroyed, there was darkness. In this World Premiere, written by Jennifer Rumberger, Layla, the Vero Beach Police Chief, calls to mind this event of retribution from the Bible. She’s musing about the random destruction in her town, inflicted upon so many young girls and their families, and caused by an unknown serial killer. It’s an apt metaphor when describing the effects that this savage murderer has had on the small Florida coastal community.
Read More
A Scar That Won’t Heal
Buried Child – Ashton Rep
The late actor Sam Shepard was best known for his performances in films, such as “The Right Stuff,” “Steel Magnolias” and “Crimes of the Heart.” But an Obie Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for “Buried Child” launched his career as a playwright. The drama, which is bleak, poetic, filled with dark humor and populated by characters living on the outskirts of society, was a hit for the Steppenwolf Theatre in 1995. The following year, a Broadway revival went on to earn the production five Tony nominations, including Best Play. As AstonRep Theatre Company launches its 15th and final season, company member Derek Bertelsen directs a new production that feels fresh and au courant once again. His production, consumed by an overwhelming sense of dread, offers some stunning performances by a company of talented, experienced actors.
Read More
Change May Be Good For You
Camelot – Music Theater Works
First, a word of warning: This is not your grandmother’s “Camelot.” For audiences planning to attend Music Theater Works’ current revival of the Lerner and Loewe classic, especially those of a certain age, you may be disappointed. Many of us remember the original 1960 Broadway production of the Richard Burton/Julie Andrews/Robert Goulet musical as a colorful fairy tale filled with pomp and pageantry, and featuring a large cast of supporting singers and dancers. After all, the show won four Tony Awards for a good reason, and the musical was brought to the silver screen seven years later in a splashy, wide-screen film version, with Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave in the leading roles. Now, for younger, contemporary theatergoers, who may not have a preconceived notion of how this musical should be presented, and who welcome a more current, cutting edge production, this new vision might offer a pleasant evening of enjoyment. But for most of Music Theater Works’ typical season ticket holders, who tend to be 40 or older, this new production just might disappoint.
Read More
The Game is Afoot
Clue – Mercury Theatre
With the Autumn opening of this tantalizing, twisted comedic murder mystery, based upon the 1985 film, which was in turn based upon the popular Hasbro/Parker Brothers’ board game, Mercury Theater Chicago has a mega hit whodunit on its hands. I mean, this is a drop-dead, bonafide beauty of a black comedy. It’s guaranteed to produce thrills, chills, goosebumps and uncontrollable laughter for the entire 90 minutes of its uninterrupted mayhem.
Read MoreRECOMMENDED SITES
