Cast of Howard’s End, a Remy Bumppo production at Theater Wit
4 stars
E.M. Forster’s 1910 literary classic is a sprawling novel about rank, morals and love among three English families from different social classes
His novel offered an insightful portrait of England at the height of its imperial world influence just prior to World War I. Through the lives of three diverse families, he showed how fast progress was happening and shaping Edwardian England.
In light of the sweeping changes taking place, Forster seemed to ask who would eventually inherit England? Which class would ultimately define this powerful nation?
Through this tale, we come to know the wealthy, capitalist Wilcox dynasty, the idealistic, intellectual upper middle class Schlegel sisters and the ever struggling, financially impoverished lower class Leonard and Jacky Bast.
Douglas Post’s faithful theatrical adaptation is truly eloquent and makes E.M. Forster’s novel accessible in a two-and-a-half hour production. This is a beautiful, carefully constructed play commissioned by Remy Bumppo Theatre, and currently enjoying its world premiere at Theater Wit.
Sons and Lovers at Greenhouse Theater. (photo courtesy of On the spot Theatre Company)
2 1/2 stars
It’s true that the very best writers use experiences from their own lives to inspire their writing. English author D.H. Lawrence, whose early twentieth century novels like Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Women in Love, Mr. Noon and The Rainbow shocked and entertained readers during this “Age of Innocence.” It’s also true that his stories are all very intimately bound up with his own life. But none of his novels is more autobiographical than Sons and Lovers.
This is Lawrence writing about his life and recreating scenes from his own experience, but fictionalizing it. He began writing the book in 1910, finishing the novel two years later.
The story underwent lots of revisions, including the title, and was influenced by many personal crises that occurred during this period. Lawrence ended a long relationship with Jesse Chambers (who’d serve as the model for his character, Miriam Leivers).
He became engaged to, and then broke up with Louie Burrows (who would be the inspiration for the character of Clara Dawes). He lost his mother to cancer, became seriously ill with pneumonia, gave up teaching and moved away from his birthplace. But this is a story that’s derived from the author’s own Oedipus complex.
When Lydia was a young woman, she lost her first love to another woman. She settled for Walter Morel, a boorish, yet passionate lower class man who worked long hours down in the Midland mines.
As sons William and Paul grew up, Lydia doted on them to the point where Walter is brow-beaten and practically ignored and she redirects all of her ardor and passion to her sons. They, in turn, become her lovers and as they grow to manhood they aren’t able to love any other women because their mother’s hold over them is so strong.
Casa Valentina a Pride Films and Plays at Broadway Theatre. (Photo by Cody Jolly)
3 1/2 stars
As part of Pride Films & Plays’ exploration of all things gender related, we travel back to the Chevalier d’Eon Resort in the Catskill Mountains. It’s 1962, and a secret world is revealed to 21st century audiences that actually existed during those more innocent, post-war years.
For at least one weekend during the late Spring, a group of happily married men with families, highly-respected in their chosen, white-collar professions, gather in this secluded Garden of Eden to express their alter-egos.
These men are not homosexuals, nor do they harbor a hidden desire to undergo surgery in order to become full-time women. They’re cross-dressers who, in private, simply enjoy (sometimes) being a girl.
In this remote setting, several longtime friends and a couple of new acquaintances, are provided the freedom to express themselves as feminine, girly girls in their own private, woman’s world.
Hunchback of Natre Dame choir by Music theater Works in Cahn Auditorium, Evanston. (Photo by Brett Beiner)
4 stars
I was curious to imagine how this epic story that features a soaring gothic cathedral in the heart of Paris would be portrayed at Music Theater Works’ Cahn Auditorium venue.
But from the moment the curtain rose revealing the stunning scenic set design and twenty-four member choir for MTWs’ “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” the audience was thoroughly captivated.
Set around 1492 the essence of this operetta is derived from Victor Hugo’s epic novel of the same name with similar themes of intolerance, injustice, abuse of power, and “man’s inhumanity to man” as in his “Les Miserables.”
‘All That He Was.’ L to R: Ethan Warren, Rick Rapp. (Photos by Nicholas Swatz)
4 stars
First, a gentle warning to theatergoers planning to see”All That He Was,” a deeply moving, sometimes humorous new musical by Pride Films & Plays at The Buena: bring along lots of Kleenex.
When theatergoers walk into The Buena, they may be surprised to discover that they’re about to attend a funeral. The entire theatre has been transformed into an outdoor, park-like space.
This sepulchral space is highlighted by a tasteful garden of plants and flowers surrounding an arbor and peppered with places to sit and the stage is festooned by strings of tiny white lights.
A poignant AIDS-inspired, mostly sung-through musical, “All That He Was” is a newly revised version of the original, award-winning one-act by Larry Todd Cousineau (book and lyrics) and Cindy O’Connor (music).
Fast forward to the year 2094, 75 years in the future when”Women of 4G,” presented by Babes with Blades, tackle Earth’s uninhabitable air.
Cast of Women of 4G (Photo courtesy of Babes With Blades)
3 stars
Because of the arrogance and stupidity of our world leaders, the earth’s fragile environment has now been totally destroyed. With the planet’s atmosphere almost completely polluted, mankind is literally gasping its last breath.
In one final, heroic attempt to insure another 500 years of life, a team of seven superior female scientists and their lone male Captain, have been sent on a life-and-death mission into outer space.
Once into the cosmos, the crew of 4G plan to launch a lifesaving satellite, brilliantly developed by one their own, LT Wollman. This celestial orb promises to reverse the harmful gases and lethal rays that have destroyed earth’s precious oxygen supply.
But something else has gone deadly awry. At the top of the play, the audience learns that the ship’s captain has been murdered. Playwright Amy Tofte’s often funny, frequently violent feminist science fiction melodrama quickly evolves into an intergalactic whodunnit?
Sean Higgins and Marie Weigle ( Pphoto by Katie Reynolds)
4 stars
Set in a Holiday Inn hotel room in International Falls, Minnesota, traveling comedian Tim has come to the end of the road while front desk clerk Dee wants to escape her life. Together they explore the use of comedy to mask their sadness and express their pain.
Tim (Sean Higgins) shares his unsuccessful quest to find his own unique voice and urges Dee (Marie Weigle) to find hers, stressing that honesty and authenticity is what is important.
In “International Falls,” playwright Thomas Ward evidently understands that struggle and has clearly met the challenge writing some of the most authentic and honest dialogue I have ever heard on stage.
Presented by by the Agency Theater Collective in partnership with End of the Line Production, Ward’s brilliant dialogue comes to life as spoken by Higgins and Weigle. You feel like you are sitting in their hotel room witnessing the events unfold.
Higgins’ cringingly awkward stand-up asides are perfectly painful and his obvious discomfort with himself combined with false bravado is portrayed with appropriate nuance.
Weigle’s pent up frustration, emerging confidence and vulnerability is palpable but never goes over the top.
The blocking was seamless and meaningful.
The naturalness of the actors can only be achieved when they have a critical eye assuring them that what they are doing is right.
Director Cody Lucas clearly gets credit for pulling this small ensemble together into a beautiful unified performance. Orchestrating the emotional level with symphonic accuracy, Lucas dials up the emotions to peak levels that never gets shrill, then dials them back down to create a needed contrast that keeps the audience engaged and caring about the characters.
This voyeuristic experience is further enhanced by the intimate setting of the Nox Arca Theatre which is actually a small industrial space on the 5th floor of a concrete loft building on the corner of Irving Park in the Ravenswood corridor. Scenic Designer Soli Eisenberg has done a brilliant job of incorporating the natural elements of the room to create the effect.
By the way the music mix before the show began was awesome.
DETAILS: “International Falls” is at Nox Arca Theatre, 4001 N. Ravenswood Ave, #405. Chicago, through August 31, 2019. Running time is 90 minutes with no intermission. For tickets and information visit We Are the Agency.
Cast of ‘You Can’t Fake the Funk’ at Black Ensemble Theater. (Alan davis photo).
2.5 stars
“You Can’t Fake the Funk (A Journey Through Funk Music)” presented by Chicago’s Black Ensemble Theater works hard to “turn this mutha out.”
“There’s a whole lot of rhythm goin’ round” in this energetic performance written and directed by the company’s own producing and managing director, Daryl D. Brooks.
The journey through the history of funk is hosted by Dwight Neal as Dr. Funk and takes place aboard the “Mothership,” an allusion to George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic’s 1975 platinum album “Mothership Connection.”
Clinton actually incorporated a spaceship as part of the scenery into his concerts but BET’s homage does not do it justice and Denise Karczewski’s lighting didn’t do too much to help, particularly if you consider the lighting effects prominent in the disco style shows of this time.
Teatro Zinzanni dinner theater entertainment in the Cambria Hotel, Chicago. (Photos courtesy of Teatro Zinzanni)
4 stars
You arrive at the 14th floor of the Cambria Hotel to be greeted by a bevy of smiling faces, all of whom are there to happily launch your theatrical experience.
If you’ve ever been on a cruise ship, you’ll understand what awaits you. At the far end of the theatre lobby there’s a huge bar, where all manner of beverages await your order, including a complimentary glass of champagne.
Then, with a fanfare, the company of waitstaff announce that the 300+ seat Spiegeltent is now open and ready for your entertainment and dining pleasure. And with that, you’re off and running for three hours of nonstop munching, merriment and mayhem.
Seated at one of the linen-covered tables arranged in-the-round on various levels, the audience is waited upon by cheerful, exuberant waitpersons. The delicious, four-course dinner, developed and overseen by “The Goddess,” Debbie Sharpe, begins with an appetizer, that already waits at your table.
Your waiter takes your order of entree you prefer (braised beef short ribs, a pasta dish, vegetarian Thai curry, roasted chicken breast or herb roasted salmon); he also records a credit card, in the event you decide to order additional drinks. While you’re enjoying your first course, you start to take in your gorgeous surroundings.
Cast of Kiss, a Haven production at The Den. (Photo courtesy of Haven)
3 stars
There are so many unexpected twists and turns in this exciting drama, that seeing this one-act as the finale to Haven’s current season. is truly an emotional experience.
At first, the play is masked as a melodrama about four friends in Damascus who are united in their addiction to watching a particular soap opera but Chilean playwright Guillermo Calderon has written a political story.
The play opens in Hadeel’s somewhat bland-looking apartment. This lovely young woman who’ll be hosting the evening’s get-together, settles in to relax and watch some television before her guests arrive for their viewing party.
Suddenly, there’s a knock at the door. Arriving much earlier than the others, Youssif enters the living room with something important on his mind. Without giving away too much, suffice it to say that long before the televised soap opera’s fireworks start, the emotional pyrotechnics of real life begin.
