Events Search – New Review (Theater and Comedy)
Waiting For Godot
Through 1/28: Mon 8 PMTheater & Performance
Scenic designer John Wilson supplies an effective setting for this production of Samuel Beckett's existential Laurel-and-Hardy routine. To the requisite bare tree and stretch of road he's added a backdrop suggesting a charred landscape under an endless gray sky. It's about the only thing that works in Bob Fisher's staging for the Mammals. Whereas Beckett excelled at paring things down, Fisher shows little restraint. In fact, the predominant mood here is hysteria--found not only in the caffeinated exchanges between Justin Warren and Sean Ewert as bums Gogo and Didi, but also and especially in Gabe Garza's grandstanding take on the lordly Pozzo, whom he plays as a flamboyant buffoon with a silly French accent. By emphasizing comedy above all else, Fisher buries Beckett under a mountain of shtick. --Zac Thompson $22
Lady M
Through 2/6: Sat 4 PM, Sun-Wed 7:30 PMTheater & Performance
Laley Lippard has taken apart Shakespeare's "Scottish play" and reassembled it with the idea of making Lady Macbeth the protagonist. To achieve that aim Lippard cleverly elides key elements (the prophetic witches are entirely omitted) and adds others (such as a sultry sex scene) that are merely alluded to in the testosterone-fueled original. If Lippard's deconstruction is effective, her direction is even more impressive. She makes smart uses of minimal space (by banging on the outer walls of the theater, for instance, to simulate inner turmoil) and primitive lighting, relying on little more than four light bulbs, a doorway, and a lantern. Kristi Webb is terrific as Lady Macbeth; the other actors didn't seem as strong to me, but then I may've been distracted by the bizarre decision to outfit them in cargo pants. --Tal Rosenberg $15-$20
Perfume, Whiskey and Sickness of the Soul
Through 2/9:Improv/Sketch
In this two-part evening of improvisation, a guest team warms us up with some long-form work, then the Chemically Imbalanced Comedy ensemble comes on and creates a Tennessee Williams-style play from scratch. On the night I attended, the warm-up outshined the main event. The first troupe, Mad Contender, wasn't perfect--the members had some agreement issues early on--but by the end of their set they were sailing along, earning big laughs. The Williams parody went less well, in large part because the cast failed to evoke the spirit of the great man's plays. Nor did most of them understand how to create a Williamsian character. One actress did a fine job of imitating Blanche DuBois's insane, past-obsessed chatter, but her efforts were lost in the rising tide of mendacity. You need more than a southern accent to do Williams well. --Jack Helbig $2-$10
Lights Out, Everybody
Through 2/10: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 7:30 PMTheater & Performance
Dream Theatre has done a service in bringing Arch Oboler back from pop-cultural limbo. A Rod Serling before there was a Rod Serling, Oboler purveyed dark thrills to Depression-era radio audiences with his Lights Out series. Jeremy Menekseoglu's stage versions of three Oboler stories come off poorly, though: neither he nor director Giau Truong has figured out how to translate the tales from an aural to a visual medium. Consequently, what we get is flat, fright-challenged, and even unintentionally silly at times. Truong fails to establish the conceptual geography that would help us imagine settings like the sewers of Paris or a bluebeard's castle. And the shabby way he uses a blanket to approximate murder by immersion in concrete, well . . . --Tony Adler $17-$20
Skylight
Through 2/10: Wed-Thu 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 3 and 8 PM, Sun 2:30 and 7:30 PMTheater & Performance
There's at least an hour's worth of terrific drama sprinkled throughout Court Theatre's meticulous revival of the 1995 play by David Hare. Trouble is, the show lasts for two and a half hours. Ex-lovers Kyra and Tom spend the night in Kyra's shabby London flat, reminiscing and arguing about their affair gone awry. Laura Rook and Philip Earl Johnson throw off sparks as the couple, coming at each other with a convincing mix of wit, tenderness, and naked hostility. But Hare's long stretches of droll exposition feel like dutiful busy work, and director William Brown tends to dote on the script rather than bring it to life. Todd Rosenthal's elaborate set--Kyra's entire flat, minus the walls--is fittingly realistic inasmuch as Hare requires Kyra to cook spaghetti onstage. --Keith Griffith $45-$65
Beautiful Thing
Through 2/17: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 2 PMTheater & Performance
Jonathan Harvey's tender, tough dramedy focuses on working-class British teen Jamie and his complicated, sometimes combative relationships with the two most important people in his life: his barmaid mother, who dreams of owning her own pub, and Ste, the handsome young schoolmate who lives with his abusive father in the council flat next door. The material feels familiar because it's true to life, and Harvey's 1993 script tackles still-timely themes--bullying, domestic violence, teenage sexual identity conflicts--with a hard-edged humor that doesn't sacrifice seriousness. The success of John Nasca's Pride Films and Plays production hinges largely on Robert Hilliard's engaging performance as Jamie, a stocky, sports-averse 16-year-old whose confidence blossoms as he journeys toward self-acceptance. --Albert Williams $23-$25
Bud, Not Buddy
Through 2/24: Tue-Wed 10 AM, Thu-Fri 10 AM and 6:30 PM, Sat 2 and 6 PM, Sun 11 AMTheater & Performance
Director Derrick Sanders doesn't miss a beat in this well-orchestrated stage version of Christopher Paul Curtis's 1999 children's book, about an African-American boy searching for his father in Depression-era America. Each part of the show just hums along: Sanders's eye-pleasing staging, Rick Simms's ear-pleasing sound design, Courtney O'Neill's superb scenic design, and the tight, playful ensemble. Among the many fine performances are Travis Turner's as the title character and Cedric Young's as a grumpy bandleader who may be Bud's dad. Though clearly pitched to school-aged children, there's enough texture in both the book and the wonderful Chicago Children's Theatre production to move adults as well. --Jack Helbig $36
1016 N. Dearborn St.
Gold Coast/Mag Mile/Streeterville
847-864-5323When the Rain Stops Falling
Through 2/24: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 2:30 PMTheater & Performance
Andrew Bovell's 2008 family drama spans two continents, four generations, and about 80 years, from the 1950s to 2039. Jumping back and forth in time, it teasingly reveals the secrets, sins, failed romances, and fraught parent-child relationships that connect the tight-lipped Law family of London with the flinty Yorks of Australia. Bovell's jigsaw approach creates the sense that past, present, and future are alive in each moment. Images and phrases recur, taking on new shades of meaning with each repetition, as in a villanelle. Inasmuch as Circle Theatre usually sticks to crowd-pleasing musicals and comedies, John Gawlik's sensitive and layered staging comes as a welcome surprise. Likewise, the cast turn in performances distinguished by their depth and quiet honesty. --Zac Thompson $15-$32
Flare Path
Through 2/24: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM; additional shows Mon 1/7, 7 PM and Mon 1/14, 7 PMTheater & Performance
Terrence Rattigan's 1942 melodrama concerns a British stage actress, Patricia, who married sweet but callow RAF lieutenant Teddy on the rebound from her affair with aging matinee idol Pete. She's up from London, staying at a hotel near Teddy's base, when who should appear but Pete himself, on a mission to win her back. Rattigan's wartime love triangle has a lot in common with the one in Michael Curtiz's Casablanca (which also came out in 1942), right down to a variation on Humphrey Bogart's famously noble "hill of beans" speech. What it lacks in this Griffin Theatre revival is a reasonable variation on Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid. Robin Witt's staging is highly competent, but her principals--Darci Nalepa, Joey deBettencourt, and Paul Dunckel--are miscast in ways that make their romantic agonies less than believable. There are some don't-miss supporting performances, though--especially by Mary Poole as the much-put-upon hotelier and Gabe Franken and Vanessa Greenway as a Polish count and his lower-class English warbride. --Tony Adler $27-$32
Boy Gets Girl
Through 3/2: Fri-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3:30 PMTheater & Performance
Boy dates girl. Girl rejects boy. Boy tries to win girl over by sending boatloads of flowers, showing up at her office, leaving lots of messages, and watching her apartment at night. As the girl's coworker points out, "Normal male heterosexual behavior is somewhat psychotic"--so it takes a while for self-possessed journalist Theresa to realize that Tony is stalking her. But the tension in Rebecca Gilman's 2000 play is established right from the start, and builds as Tony's behavior becomes more and more terrifying. Leonard Kraft provides much-needed comic relief as an aging director of erotic films whom Theresa has to interview for an article. Cody Estle's dark staging makes it clear, though, that there's no plausible happy ending. At one point Theresa's colleague urges her not to change her life, because that would mean Tony had won. "He's already won," she replies. --Julia Thiel $36
Accidental Death of an Anarchist
Through 3/2: Fri-Sat 8 PM, Sun 7 PM, Mon 8 PMTheater & Performance
Inspired by the death of Italian activist Giuseppe Pinelli while in police custody, Dario Fo's 1970, commedia-tinged farce should be a hysterical horror. It's set in a Milan police station where we meet the wily Maniac, who's been pulled in for questioning about his impersonations of important figures. When the Maniac learns that he's in the very room from which an anarchist bombing suspect fell four floors to his death, he poses as a judge charged with investigating the death and ends up exposing appalling police corruption. Director Brad Fuchsen stages the play as an expressionist nightmare--an approach that might give it a fitting gravitas. But his stylistic overhaul results in the loss of nearly all internal logic. This Oracle Productions show generates more confusion than outrage. --Justin Hayford
A Grand Night for Singing
Through 3/10: Thu 2 and 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 2 and 8 PM, Sun 2 PMTheater & Performance
The Mercury Theater is aiming to join the ranks of old-school musical-producing companies like Drury Lane and Marriott Lincolnshire--which is fine, since it would be nice to have one within the city limits. And this joyous, reverent revue sends Mercury off on the right foot. Framed by Jason Epperson's elegant, starlit backdrop and accompanied by a six-piece band, Marya Grandy, Robert Hunt, Leah Morrow, Stephen Schellhardt and Heather Townsend sing 30 songs from the Rodgers & Hammerstein songbook. They sail past schmaltz to achieve grandeur and sincerity. The whole affair is made even better by being acoustically perfect. --Dan Jakes $25-$59
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