Author: Colin Douglas
Fireworks for a Summer Night
The Crowd You’re in With – Aston Rep Theatre
It’s July 4th, and in the typically tiny back yard of Jasper and Melinda’s north side apartment a cookout is taking place, as a prelude to the evening’s holiday fireworks. The young couple’s invited their friends over for burgers and booze. The guests include young, married couple Dan and Windsong, who’s pregnant with their first child, their middle age landlords from upstairs, Tom and Karen, and their single friend and fellow band member, Darcy. It soon becomes clear that the pyrotechnic display that they’re planning to watch won’t be the only fireworks on this summer evening.
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The Show Must Go On
Into the Breeches! – Northlight Theatre
It’s been said that War is hell. On the front, the men and women serving their country can testify to that statement. But back at home, private citizens in communities everywhere were having their own problems. Forced to tighten their belts, women were sacrificing a great deal for their men in uniform. Females, like the famous icon, Rosie the Riveter, left their homes to join the workforce. Scrap metal drives helped recycle materials necessary for making all kinds of war vehicles and weapons. The USO was established around the world to create a home away from home for GIs stationed far from their loved ones. But how did WWII affect small town social organizations, like community theatres?
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Brilliance in Glencoe
Next to Normal – Writers Theatre
Don’t call Chicago the Second City when talking about excellent theatre. From its small storefront venues to its flashy Broadway tour productions, we have it all. And once again, Writers Theatre shows serious theatergoers why it’s considered one of the most beautiful jewels in Chicago’s theatrical crown. This Equity house consistently offers the highest quality plays and musicals, and their current presentation of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning musical drama ranks as one of their finest productions to date.
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Blood, Body Parts and Buffoonery
Killing Game – A Red Orchid Theatre
Are you tired of realism in the theatre? Are you attracted to the unusual drama? Do you wanna see a really, really weird play? Well, then look no further than Red Orchid’s latest production. It’s an intimate, up-close-and-personal presentation of Eugene Ionesco’s lesser-known comic drama about a world in which a plague is decimating the population, minute by minute. As the mysterious, deadly disease continues to rage, infecting men and women, old and young, everyone is speculating about how the illness is spread and what they can do to prevent contagion. As the debate continues, with the argument getting louder and more manic, dialogue overlaps and turns into cacophony. Welcome to the World of the “Killing Game.”
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Roald Dahl’s Classic Comes to Life
Matilda – Drury Lane Theatre
One of Roald Dahl’s most popular children’s books is about a little English girl who endures emotional abuse from both her family and the wicked headmistress of her school. Published in 1988, the novel was shaped for the silver screen in 1996. Eventually adapted for the stage by Dennis Kelley, with an impressive score by Tim Minchin, the theatrical musical initially sprang to life in Stratford-upon-Avon. After it was lauded by both local critics and theatergoers, the musical transferred to London’s West End in 2011. There, the musical went on to win the Olivier for Best Musical, as well as six other Awards, the most ever earned, at that point, by a single production. When the show transferred to Broadway in 2013 it became a huge hit all over again, taking home five Tonys, along with several other awards.
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Two Plays in One
The Winter’s Tale – Goodman Theatre
When published in the 1623 First Folio, William Shakespeare’s five-act play was grouped with his comedies. Later, however, this “problem play,” as it’s been called, has been lumped with the Bard’s later romances, along with “Cymbeline,” “Pericles” and “The Tempest.” The problem comes from the perception that the play appears to be two plays in one. The first half, at least in Robert Falls’ adaptation, is so dramatic that it seems like a powerful tragedy. Then, just as the first act comes to a close, and continuing into the second act, we’re suddenly transported to a pastoral setting. Whereas Act I was cold, darkly lit and costumed primarily in black and charcoal gray; Act II is joyful, almost bawdy and filled with confetti and bright colors. Then, lest the theatergoer settles into this orgy Dionysian revelry, the script returns to the darkness for an ending that is both redemptive and as happy as can be expected.
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Golddiggers Afloat
Dames at Sea – Theatre at the Center
Check your cares at the door and settle in for a fast-paced couple of hours of unbridled bliss. This most magically perfect, divinely flashy and old-fashioned of musical comedies, a show that few audiences have even heard of, has set sail in Munster. It’s the perfect show to usher in the Spring. Filled with jubilant songs, energetic choreography and exhilarating, endearing performances, this Valentine to those Busby Berkeley-style musical extravaganzas of the 1930’s is the consummate mindless entertainment that we all could use right now.
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Not Ready for Prime Time
August Rush – Paramount Theatre
There’s no denying that John Doyle is a gifted genius. The Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company in New York City, Doyle has won awards for his productions of beautiful “Passion,” “Carmen Jones” and “The Visit.” He’s primarily known for his much-acclaimed, pared down productions of “Sweeney Todd” and “Company,” where, in addition to acting, singing and dancing, the reduced cast also provided all the musical accompaniment. His latest production, adapted from a popular 2007 film of the same name, is now enjoying a pre-Broadway tryout at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. With mixed results, Doyle has simplified the story and amped up the musical component.
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Cataclysm in a Cottage By the Sea
The Children – Steppenwolf Theatre
Set in a run-down cottage by the sea, somewhere on the eastern coast of England, over and above the soothing sound of waves and seagulls there’s a strong sense of foreboding. The end of the world has begun, thanks to mankind’s selfishness and refusal to face facts. Lucy Kirkwood’s one-act drama, which is laced with dark humor and even an unexpected dance number, deals with the effects of cataclysmic climate change, cancer, nuclear science, morality and self-sacrifice in the face of inescapable doom. In America, the current, bloodsucking Administration is more interested in squeezing profits out of an already wounded planet, rather than trying to control the environmental bleeding, before it’s too late. There’s no concern, as Ms. Kirkwood points out, that we’re leaving a home for our children that portends certain apocalypse.
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Taking a Moment to Breathe
Too Heavy for Your Pocket – TimeLine Theatre
In the early moments of Jireh Breon Holder’s old-fashioned period drama, set in 1961 Nashville, one of the four characters, about whom we come to care deeply, emerges from the darkness to simply spread his arms and breathe. His name is Bowzie and it’s his story that fuels this drama and shapes the path of Holder’s other characters. But in those first few minutes, and several times during the play, the two couples, who are best of friends, simply stop, step out of the story, and deeply inhale. These beautiful moments of solitude offer both the characters and the theatergoer a few seconds to come together for reflection.
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