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Tom Williams

Henry VIII

And even in Barbara Gaines’s wryly psychological new mounting, now gracing the stages of Chicago Shakespeare, history itself seems set to the tune of a courtly courante, proceeding with a definite lightness of step and airy acquiescence to the sizable pathos of its victims. Draping itself in nothing so heavy as lush fabrics of lavender and crimson, this gorgeous new production manages to be an intensely well-observed psychodrama on the nature of political ambition while never losing its underlying operatic registers.

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ReviewsREVIEWS BYTheatre ReviewsTom Williams
Tom Williams

Blood and Gifts

TimeLine Theatre’s mission is to produce history inspired works that connect with today’s social and political issues. They sure have a gem in J.T. Rogers’ Blood and Gifts. In a well-paced and superbly acted drams, Blood and Gifts take us back to the 1980’s as CIA agent, James Warnock (Timothy Edward Kane) struggles to stop the Soviet Union from escalating its war in Afghanistan toward Pakistan as the Cold War Doctrine’s policy of containment of Russian aggression unfolds

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ReviewsREVIEWS BYTheatre Reviews
Tom Williams

If You Split a Second

Most plays when they fail to work do so because of a lack of sufficient texture: characters are too broadly drawn, the setting lacks detail and nuanced specificity, the dialogue skirts true feeling in favor of stagy declarations. In these respects, Dana Lynn Formby’s new play If You Split a Second—receiving its world premiere with the Pegasus Players—is not like most plays. But that doesn’t necessarily means that it works either.

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ReviewsREVIEWS BYTheatre ReviewsTom Williams
Tom Williams

A Study in Scarlet

In 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduces to the world his “consulting detective” Sherlock Holmes (Nick Lake) and his new sidekick, Doctor Watson (Brian Pastor). We meet the 20something’s as they first become roommates to save money and seek companionship. Watson is recovering from wounds from the Second British Afghanistan War while Holmes, ever the self-absorbed scientist, relishes on the prospect of having someone to admire his cleverness. We see the two as young gentleman filled with curiosity and determination. In a world premiere adaptation by Paul Edwards, A Study In Scarlet is a most engaging and surprising yarn.

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ReviewsREVIEWS BYTheatre Reviews
Tom Williams

Mascot

At times, Mascot feels as thought its attempting to do for personality disorders what Sarah Kane’s 2000 psycho-monologue Psychosis 4:48 did for clinical depression, isolating the psychological symptoms in a dramatic vacuum and giving them a more or less unrestrained ability to manifest themselves. The audience—like a room full of clinicians—is thus always on the outside looking in, giving us the sense that what we are watching is something much darker than lies ostensibly on the surface, i.e. a scene of frustrated bondage and unflagging sadism. A man beyond our help, but who nonetheless approaches us with all the charm and insinuating familiarity of a self-knowing psychopath. Someone who evokes our pity even as we think he might be oddly dangerous.

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ReviewsREVIEWS BYTheatre ReviewsTom Williams
Tom Williams

Oklahoma! at the Lyric Opera

Get to the Civic Opera house to experience the original Oklahoma! in all its glory, all its down-home charm, and all its artistic acumen. You’ll either discover or re-discover the genius of Rodgers & Hammerstein as they changed the landscape of Broadway musicals forever with Oklahoma! After seeing many fine productions of this classic show, I must report that Gary Griffin and the Lyric’s production is the finest, most heartfelt production of Oklahoma! I’ve ever seen!

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