Midsummer Night’s Dream by Midsommer Flight in five Chicago parks.
Chicago theaters companies and venues are not on summer break. Here are three shows to put on the calendar when looking for more than a day at the beach or time off from the computer.
Irish playwright John Millington Synge’ lyrical classic, “The Playboy of the Western World,” is at City Lit Theater now through Aug. 14, 2022. Directed by Brian Pastor, the play is set in a pub in County Mayo, it follows Christy Mahon who leaves after announcing he has killed his father (he hasn’t). The theater is upstairs the Edgewater Presbyterian church at 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago. For tickets and more info visit City Lit Theater Company or call (773) 293-3682. Masks and proof of vax required.
“Ends,” an award-winning socio-political drama by Chicago playwright David Alex, opens DayJasFran entertainment venue July 14 and runs through July 31 at Dreamers OLO, 5419 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Directed by Davette J. Franklin, the play pits the ideas and experiences of 30-year-old African-American Kingsley in his forest cabin against Vietnam veteran Gober who wants to escape society. For tickets and more information visit, Dayjasfranentertainment. ENDS (BY DAVID ALEX) – Davette J Franklin (davjasfranentertainment.com)
Midsommer Flight is doing Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” outdoors in five Chicago parks. They are free, 90’minute shows with no intermission running July 15 to Aug. 21, 2022. Directed by Beth Wolf, the season opens in Lincoln Park, Stockton Avenue between Armitage and Dickens, July 15-17. For the complete schedule visit A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Midsommer Flight.
Left to right: Shawna Tucker, Delia Ford, Andrea Conway-Diaz, Julia Kessler, Cameron Feagin, Sheila Willis, Maggie Cain, Noelle Klyce, Kat Evans in City Lit Theater’s Thirteen Days. (Photos by Steve Graue)
4 Stars
In 2020, the world premiere adaptation of Robert F. Kennedy’s “Thirteen Days” was in rehearsals and set to open in March. Due to the pandemic, it was forced to shutter. Fast forward to September of 2021 and the show has finally opened.
“Thirteen Days, presented by City Lit Theatre,” tells the suspenseful story of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Based on a memoir by Robert F. Kennedy, who served as the Attorney General under his brother, President John F. Kennedy, the story is authentic and presented as a cat and mouse game played on the world stage.
On October 16, 1962, long-range Soviet missiles carrying nuclear warheads aimed at the United States were discovered in Cuba. For the next 13 days all eyes were on the White House as President John Kennedy and his team maneuvered around this international crisis.
Communications were conflicting, confusing and constantly changing during the stand down with Nikita Khrushchev and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin.
President Kennedy did not want to make another mistake like he did in the “Bay of Pigs.” His cabinet could not agree on the best strategy and military response. One wrong move could cause World War III.
Kat Evans as Robert Kennedy in City Lit Theater’s ‘Thirteen Days.’
Adapted for the theatre and directed by Brian Pastor, City Lit’s Resident Director, this production features a cast totally comprised of women. While all of the characters in the book are white males, this ambitious twist creates a unique reflection of gender issues in the body politic.
The show’s cast includes Cameron Feagin (President John F. Kennedy), Kat Evans (Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy), Sheila Willis (Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara), Julia Kessler (Secretary of State Dean Rusk), Maggie Cain (Director of Central Intelligence John A. McCone and Soviet U.N. Ambassador Valerian Zorin), Andrea Conway-Diaz (McGeorge Bundy), Delia Ford (Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Maxwell D. Taylor), Noelle Klyce (Ted Sorenson), Kim Fukawa (Arthur C. Lundahl, the aerial photography expert who detected missile installations in Cuba and Soviet Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Dobrynin), Shawna Tucker (National Security Council member Llewellyn “Tommy” Thompson and Anne Wrider (Adlai Stevenson, United State Ambassador to the United Nations).
On the production team are Liz Cooper (lighting design), Jeremy Hollis (set designer) and Satoe Schechner (costume designer.) Kudos to Schechner for dressing the women in business suits, ties, and shoes that make them look powerful and professional.
Cameron Feagin as JFK knows when to be tough and how to react to the building pressure. Kat Evans as Bobby Kennedy narrates this nerve-wracking drama, creating real tension until the final showdown. Both of these lead actors bear an uncanny physical resemblance to the Kennedy family, adding to the performance.
Covid protocols include masks and proof of vaccination for entrance. The theatre will also be following CDC ventilation guidelines to ensure a complete exchange of air in the theatre between performances.
“Thirteen Days” runs through Oct. 24, 2021 at the Edgewater Presbyterian Church, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, Chicago. Run time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
For tickets and other information visit citylit.org or call (773) 293-3682.
Nate Strain. “The Devil and Daniel Webster,” one-half of Two Days in court. (Photo by Steve Graue)
3 Stars
As the baseball season begins, City Lit is ending their 39th theatrical season with “Two Days in Court: A Double-Header of Classic One Acts.”
The two plays are “The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Stephen Vincent Benet, and the farcical Gilbert & Sullivan operetta “Trial by Jury.”
In “The Devil and Daniel Webster” a young farmer turned senator Jabez Stone (Nate Strain) has literally sold his soul to The Devil “Scratch” (Lee Wichman) in exchange for his success. The agreement comes due coincidentally at midnight on the day of his wedding to Mary Stone (Laura Resinger).
Luckily for the Stones one of their wedding guests is the famed orator of-the-day and prominent attorney Daniel Webster (Bill Chamberlain) who agrees to represent Jabez against Scratch in front of a “jury of the damned” to get the young Senator released from this most egregious contract.
Webster reminds the jury who have each sold their soul for advantage over others and short term gain, that they have sacrificed the simple pleasures of life.
marssie Mencotti, L. and Kat Evans in City Lit’s The Safe House. (Photo by Steve Graue)
3.5 Stars
This world premiere slice of life drama is sure to strike close to home.
For many, the place they have lived and raised a family is more than an assembly of bricks and wood, it is a repository of memories and the physical manifestation of a life’s work. When it comes time to consider leaving it behind there are more considerations than a change of address.
“The Safe House,” commissioned by City Lit and based on a true story by Chicago playwright Kristine Thatcher, is expertly supervised by Producer/Artistic Director Terry McCabe.
You get a feeling you know where the cookie jar is in designer Ray Toler’s cozy retro kitchen/dining room stage setting It brings us right into the domain of “Grandma” Hannah (marssie Mencotti) who must confront the realities of her changing condition and abilities. Continue reading “‘The Safe House’ at City Lit is a safe bet”
“The Picture of Dorian Gray,” playing now at City Lit Theatre, is a world premiere adaptation by Paul Edwards of the Oscar Wilde’s story.
The story of Dorian Gray is a tale of moral decay and self-loathing, demonstrating the extent to which some people will go to maintain a façade and avoid looking at their true selves.
Dorian Gray (Javier Ferreira) and James Vane (Ryan Leonard) in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Steve Graue photo
In this version, set in the 1970’s and 80’s, the young Dorian Gray (Javier Ferreira) exclaims to Henry Wotton(Scott Olson) that he will gladly sell his soul to keep his youthful exterior rather than suffer the ravages of physical aging.
Directed by Andrea J. Dymond, the play covers a roughly 20 year period over which time Gray seems to retain his youthful appearance while those around him either lose their attractiveness or their life. Their maladies and misadventures seem somehow mysteriously have to do either directly or indirectly with their association with the title character.
While content with his own good looks, Gray fantasizes that a photo of him taken by Basil Hallward (Gabriel Fries) early in the story has not fared as well over the years and is essentially reflecting back the effects of his misdeeds and misbehavior.
This is a drama in which the dialogue is the essence of the story. The cast was a little unsteady and awkward in the first act but thankfully gained steam as the story progressed. In Act Two Ferreira hit his stride and began to own the part.
The obviously capable Scott Olson confidently dominated the action but at times seemed to lose his compass speaking upstage, apparently forgetting that an actor can speak intimately while still projecting to the audience.
Having the actors join the theater audience during a play-within-a-play was charming and effective.
The rest of the time they could spread out a bit more and employ some meaningful stage business so that they are not simply standing over one another or huddling in little groups.
This version offers a more contemporary explanation for the iconic picture reference but in doing so sacrifices some of the sci-fi or Victorian horror of the original.
Experienced theater goers and Oscar Wilde fans may enjoy this adaptation of the classic because of some inside references to the life of the author himself and to the clever alternate handling of the infamous picture but it may be a bit tedious for some.
Chicago Theater & Arts fans might want to consider a visit to the Chicago Art Institute to visit the Ivan Albright portrait painted for the Oscar-winning movie adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s novel.
DETAILS: “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is Paul Edwards’s world premiere adaptation of the Oscar Wilde’s story directed by Andrea J. Dymond running now through April 15, 2018 at City Lit Theatre, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue, Chicago (Inside Edgewater Presbyterian Church). For ticket and other information call (773) 293-3682 and visit citylit.org.
