Greek
Overall, the opera seemed like it was written by a gifted composer who had not yet solved all the dramatic problems set up by the unholy marriage of punk England to ancient Greek drama.
Tom Williams
The Crowd You’re In With
Set in a Lakeview Chicago neighborhood in the backyard of a two-flat (terrific realistic set by Kevin Depinet) on July 4, 2007, we find two 30something married couples and their older landlord couple having a barbecue. They are intelligent, liberal yups engaging in light banter that turns into a heated debate about how are life choices in times of transition shape out entire lives.
Revisiting the Bard: Romeo and Juliet
As with their previous festival subjects, King Lear and Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet is another tale of family relationships and the demands of filial obligations. Highlights of the program, which will cover 13 sessions over three weeks,
Bat Boy: The Musical
The Village Players can’t seem to make up their minds if they are a community theatre company or a professional troupe. Their production of Bat Boy: The Musical is peopled with a collection of rank amateurs who can neither sing, act or dance
Oedipus
No matter what one does, the appeal of Greek tragedy in contemporary theatre is rather narrow. The-hypocrites’ current production of Oedipus, pared down to a 50-minute one-act and directed by whiz-kid artistic director Sean Graney, is no exception…
The Arabian Nights
The scene is set for the framing tale: how Scheherazade (Louise Lamson) prevents her husband, King Shahryar (Ryan Artzburger) from killing her with the dawn of each new day, staying her execution for 1001 days, by telling him compelling stories that pique and continue his interest.
Hollywood 360 5-30-09
Tom Williams discusses the following stage plays with Carl Amari: The Who’s Tommy at Circle Theatre; The Walls by Rivendell Theatre at Steppenwolf Garage Theatre and Love Person at Victory Gardens Biograph Theatre. May 30, 2009
Graceland
Fairey is a welcomed new voice whose ability to tell a worthy, dramatic story with ample dose of very funny lines engages us from the start. Her humor emerges from her quirky, memorable characters and from their situations. Yet the humor in Graceland never diminishes the dramatic power of her play.
Love Person
The most interesting part of Love Person was the outstanding acting from Liz Tannebaum who demonstrates how strong a deaf person can convey emotions and truth without words. The use of signing never distracted like all the projected text messaging
Hollywood 360 5-23-09
Tom Williams discusses the following stage plays with Carl Amari: Buried Child by Shattered Globe Theatre at the Greenhouse Theatre; The Piano Lesson at Court Theatre; and The 25th Annual Putnan County Spelling Bee at Marriott Theatre. May 23, 2009 [audio:https://chicagocritic.com/newsite/audio/tom may 23.mp3]