The story move back in time as we see how Nawal left her rural village where women ever learned to read after having a child out of wedlock but out of love. Nawal teams up with another woman from her village, Swada (Fawzia Mirza) as they wonder throughout the country in search of Nawal’s now 4 year old boy. They witness the horrors of civil war and religious and ethnic cleansing. They become combatants.
Read MoreNeil Labute’s Bash is composed of two monologues and a duet wherein four likable average people tell their stories that contain admissions of horrible evil acts. Utilizing the spacious Viaduct Theatre, we see an armchair and a smaller chair set opposite of each other both encased in a black circle facing one another.
Read MoreBe it understood that Verdi’s opera in NOT Shakespeare’s Macbeth set to music! Rather it is Verdi’s interruption of Macbeth utilizing the music to add depth to all the emotions of the main characters. Emphasizing feminine influence of Lady Macbeth to get her husband to murder his way to power, Verdi’s opera is filled with psychological torment expressed in the wonderful, melodic score that moves from rage to the joyous rebirth of a nation.
Read MoreThe 1970 groundbreaking Tony winning musical is a series of vignettes set around Bobby – a bachelor upon his 35th birthday as his five married or soon to be married couples try to woo him into marriage. The entire show happens in an instant as Bobby reminisces about marriage as he contemplates each couples martial status. Ultimately, he must decide if he is ready for marriage, ready for commitment. Will he attend his own surprise birthday party?
Read MoreI always think it is wonderful when international shows land in Chicago because it provides a kind of entertainment that is not always easy to come across here. I was especially excited to see the Indian culture represented on the stage well, especially because the show is billed as, “The first authentic Indian music & dance spectacular.” This particular show boasts some truly inventive choreography and costume design, but I felt as though it does not translate to a universal audience.
Read MoreThis is a show where all the cast members work hard to create the atmosphere to vividly create zombie-like characters demented and possessed by the vampire Count Dracula. Jack the Riper meets the other mad killers and a nuthouse owner my Dracula becomes home to his crazy disciples.
Read MoreTighter, more polished and containing enough heart to please the most cynical audience member, The Lion King is a most dazzling theatre as spectacle musical of our generation.! From the impressive opening “Circle of Life,” audiences cheer and children go “wow” as the parade of more than 200 puppet animals enter the stage both from the wings and from each main aisle.
Read MoreNight and Day is a stinging attack on the role of newspapers (now the Internet blogs and cable news TV) in shaping news. Stoppard has his characters debate who controls the news and asks what news really is and should reporters simply cover events or should they create events? The role of editors and unions in the news process is also covered.
Read MoreBritish Captain Franklin and his crew of 128 men all died in 1847 after being frozen in the Arctic waters in Canada while charting the Northwest Passage. The show is “a slightly delusional, historically inaccurate, fragmented portrait of a lost explorer.”
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