Chicago Theatre Reviews Archive

Speech & Debate

May 18, 2013 by Anthony J. Mangini

American Theater Company’s Artistic Director PJ Paparelli has remounted Stephen Karam’s 2007 teen comedy Speech & Debate five years after ATC gave the play its original Chicago premiere. Featuring three hyper-articulate teen misfits as they learn to navigate early adulthood in the so-called “information age,” Paparelli’s current staging is still likably funny and warmhearted even as it continues to ask adult questions about privacy, self-expression, and being comfortable in one’s skin.

Beethoven 6 at the CSO

October 22, 2022May 18, 2013 by Gabriel Kalcheim

In the end, however, it seemed that Mena had just set the metronome at certain level, and was determined not to waver from it. The CSO’s sound certainly benefited from the size of its string section, a marked break from modern convention; but doubling of the winds, in addition would have maintained a better balance. Still, Mena can certainly be very musical at times, and I would not hesitate to say that this concert would have been very much worth-while had I only remembered to arrive after the intermission.

Orange Flower Water – BareBones Theatre Group at Raven Theatre

October 23, 2022May 16, 2013 by Anthony J. Mangini

“Everything actually has to happen, doesn’t it? You think in your mind things can happen without happening, but in the end, they always have to actually happen.” Or so says Beth, a Pine City housewife in Craig Wright’s 2002 Orange Flower Water, currently on view at Raven Theater. And though its tempting to dwell on how conveniently self-serving Beth’s position may be as she prepares to leave her husband for a different married man, her sense of not being in control of her own life is point that gets made on more than one occasion in this play—and in more than one way.

Lascivious Something

October 22, 2022May 16, 2013 by Tom Williams

The action in this love triangle is confusing. Why does the Daphne keep kissing the girl who she and August referrer to as Boy and why is Daphne okay August having sex with Lisa? Why does Lisa seem to befriend the pregnant Daphne when her purpose is to get August to return to the USA with her?

Brighton Beach Memoirs

May 30, 2013May 12, 2013 by Tom Williams

We easily like Simon’s characters, flaws in all. In director Cody Estle’s production, the underlying tone is lover and ultimate acceptance even after explosive conflicts. This cast is an ensemble triumph. Led by the terrific spot-on talents of teen actor, Charlie Bazzell ,who give Eugene enough spark to light up the neighborhood, Brighton Beach Memoirs also features terrific work from JoAnn Montemurro, Ron Quade and Sam Hubbard.

The layers of story becomes much more that a family comedy as Simon weaves honest family conflict into the humorous foibles of as teenage boy. Get to see this Brighton Beach Memoirs to rediscover the genius of Neil Simon. You’ll see that he was much more than simply a funny playwright.

Stella & Lou

May 12, 2013 by Anthony J. Mangini

Playwright Bruce Graham and director BJ Jones—who two years ago collaborated on Northlight Theatre’s successful production of The Outgoing Tide—have once more come together to bring us the world premiere of Graham’s new play, Stella & Lou, which again tackles issues of aging, loneliness and loss. And sure, Stella & Lou may exert all the stirring impact of a strong cup of Earl Grey, but it’s not as if its trying to move mountains either. Stella & Lou is a small story about modest people, set within the tiny walls of an old Philly bar. And while it never approaches the level of revelatory, Stella & Lou at least manages to be insightful.

Henry VIII

May 11, 2013 by Anthony J. Mangini

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.

Blood and Gifts

May 10, 2013 by Tom Williams

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

If You Split a Second

October 23, 2022May 10, 2013 by Anthony J. Mangini

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.

A Study in Scarlet

September 15, 2017May 8, 2013 by Tom Williams

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.