Jacob Davis Her 2004 play, The Clean House, now produced by Remy Bumppo, is an excellent example of both her thematic interest and her playful, though not uproariously funny, imaginative style. It’s a work that resists logical analysis, instead making rhetorical gestures and sometimes heavy-handed emotional appeals. Audience members should go into it with patience to get the most out of it.
Though the arrangement is probably old, a large part of what makes this performance successful is how conductor Stephen Alltop is able to scale up Handel’s chamber piece to the massive scale of Orchestra Hall, where I saw it, and the upcoming performance at the Harris. Handel was only writing for a chorus of a couple dozen, but the Apollo has over 110 singers
The story is minimal but allows Joffrey to establish a tone of vaguely holiday related fancy. A family is hosting a Christmas party. The older child, Clara, is calm and well-behaved, while her hyperactive little brother Fritz is everywhere at once. A magician, Dr. Drosselmeyer, arrives and produces mechanical dolls to delight the guests. Gifts are exchanged; some genius gave Fritz a bugle. Dr. Drosselmeyer gives Clara a figurine nut cracker in the shape of a soldier, which Fritz breaks within two seconds. That night, the dolls come to life and battle against mice trying to eat them. Clara saves the nutcracker by bonking the mouse king with her slipper, and in gratitude nutcracker, now a handsome prince, takes her and Dr. Drosselmeyer to a magical kingdom to be entertained for the night.
Though The Christmas Schooner is only loosely based on history, it is grounded in the historical significance of Christmas trees and immigrant experiences. Set in the late nineteenth century, it depicts the Stossel family of Manistique in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Gustav (James Wilson Sherman) and his son Peter (Stef Tovar) are naturalized citizens of German origin
Well, there’s a twist in the last two minutes, but for most of this eighty-five minute production that’s what we’re watching. The company’s website contains links to some messages from director David Prete to playwright Lauren Gunderson discussing how to justify this ordeal. They say the play is about the sharing of wisdom, how we’re all unified and have lots to teach each other, and can therefore face death more easily. It’s earnest and ambitious, but I can’t say I got that out of it.
The centerpiece of the play is a lengthy monologue from John about what exactly was the cause of his marital strife. Armacost was amazing in this scene; he told the story as if he were reliving it. At every step I understood exactly what John was feeling, even as he acknowledged behaving wrong or foolishly. Goss is a very good listener, which is a more difficult skill than you might think even during a performance as strong as Armacost’s
Desperate Dolls is a poorly considered script and production now playing in Strawdog’s side theatre. While watching one of what was supposed to be many gripping scenes of violence and confusion, I was distanced enough to think to myself “this is an unpleasant experience.” A note from the artistic director says this script is meant to honor B-movies and Italian slashers by creating a stage equivalent. Therefore, I will assume the stilted dialogue and cardboard acting was deliberate and say no more about it.
Unlike most reviewers, I’m new to Chicago and had never seen the Goodman’s A Christmas Carol before. Therefore, I can’t say how this production is different from the previous thirty-six years. But I can say it’s well-crafted in every regard, and sincerely tells Charles Dickens’s story as though it were only just written and not a yearly tradition.
Since the production has played many times over the past decade, many Chicagoans have already seen it. They will be glad to know it is still fresh. If like me, you had not seen Lookingglass Alice before, it is not to be missed. It is an amazing piece of spectacle, but still carries some delightful character moments. Families with older children will remember it for years, and may make a tradition of it depending on how many more times it gets revived. People I knew who had seen it many times before are still amazed by it. It’s truly fun for everyone.
The main attraction of the show is to see an intense performance of a script that contains vivid descriptions of scenes and feelings. The program contains a cheat sheet for the gospels, in which you may learn esoteric curiosities such as “the four gospels recount Jesus’s birth, ministry, and death.” If you are a believer and dislike iconoclasm, this show is not right for you