Tom Williams All three stories had their moments of nostalgia and cuteness but the devil is in the details and these were lacking. If your going to do an era specific play, please use accurate accents, places, uniforms, etc. The only accurate item was the dresses and hair styles of the women.
The all around experience of this cute, somewhat entertaining piece makes for a mildly worthy night at the theatre. Younger theatre patrons will not be so bothered with the details as I am.
Bretolt Brecht’s early work, In The Jungle of Cities. Under the imaginative staging by director Max Truax, Brecht’s 1927 drama is his statement about his warped views of America told through an eleven round symbolic boxing match. Brecht, a lifelong Marxist, depicted Chicago in 1912 as a worker exploiting, violence and bribery riddled place that he found from newsreels and books in Germany.
Stalk is a concoction of a dysfunctional family drama that finds Jack (Jordan Phelps) being beaten by his cruel, unloving gather, Gregory (Scott Danielson) while is zombie-like pill-popping mother, Lily (Meghan Phillipp) announces that she no longer loves her son. The early scenes are filled with foul language including the F-word–so between the language and the violence, Stalk definitely isn’t a family or children’s show.
The Four of Us is a cleverly staged work by director Jeremy Wechsler that swiftly moves back and forth in time to tell how David (Usman Ally) and Benjamen’s (Collin Geraghty) relationship developed and how success can alter that friendship.
In a change of style, director Robert Falls has opted for a minimalist actor centered production of The Seagull based on two years of meticulous research. His cast, a group of “A” list Equity actors, have had a long, discovery oriented Eastern European repertory company environment in which to absorb the nuances of their characters with a focus on the methods of Konstantin Stanislavsky.
Brennan Buhl, as K., is the instantly lovable guy who tries charm, cooperation and peaceful resistance to deal with his trouble.
Act one finds doors slamming and mobile doors racing K. into a strange navigation through offices, lawyers, artists, priests, lovers, and whippers to determine his fate.
“Chad Deity” and “Ragtime” Take Top Honors at 42nd Annual Jeff Equity Awards “The Farnsworth Invention” and “The Brother/Sister Plays” Also Score Top Honors October 25, 2010-Chicago, IL. At the 42nd Annual Jeff Equity Awards, “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity,” produced by Victory Gardens Theater in association with Teatro Vista…Theatre With a View, took … Read more
The Filament Theatre Ensemble ambitious group has found a way to appeal to Shakespeare nerds, beer drinking rowdies and lovers of hilarious live comedy. The show is, indeed, authentic Shakespeare that allows the audience to determine the endings and/or the direction of the show. The cast adapts instantly to the demands of the ground-lings.
Dale Calandra returns to Chicago to direct his friend Kathy Scambiatterra in the seldom mounted Williams’ classic drama – Sweet Bird of Youth. Josh Odor, plays Chance Wayne and Kathy Scambiatterra plays the Princess. Both are aging and lamenting their fading youth. These two characters overwhelm us with their sensuality, their angst and their self-loathing.
The two venture westward – a Jewish teen and an explosive Latina mother. This weird twosome has many moments of discovery that neither are prepared for. Ashley Neal plays Olivia with empathy to spare that, together with her strength of personality combine to thwart some of Beatriz’s zany antics. The result is a funny show with several unpredictable moments and several revealing scenes as the two lost souls search for the meaning of family.