We see excellent performances by Helen Sadler as the passionate Marianne and Heidi Kettenring as the common sense sister. Kettenring demonstrates her dramatic acting chops here – we know her amazing singing ability. Sadler and Kettenring has an honest stage chemistry that anchors the show. We see the folly and flirtations of these women as well as the shyness and reserve of the well mannered gentry.
Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation thereof has on the stage the feel of a Shakespearean romance: time and distance are travelled freely, in little space, and without much regard. The whimsy is so thick one could use it as a spread for bread.
The central problem with this production is that, by trying to sex up the show and appeal to the middle, they end up appealing to no one. Heavy-duty theatre-goers will find it unremarkable, and casual observers will be lost because of the lack of enunciation as well as the bluster and overall mediocrity of the ensemble.
Brian Friel’s 1979, Faith Healer, is a mesmerizing mystery told in four monologues, each rich in imagery and anecdotal information. We hear basically the same story told by three people – contradictory truths told by Frank Hardy – the Faith Healer (Kevin Theis), Grace, his wife or mistress (Mary Michell) -and Teddy (Jack Hickey) his manager. This memory play entices the audience to listen react and believe each character. We must decide where the truth lies.
It is a slice-of-life whimsical comedy featuring quirky characters living in 1934 on the small rural island of Inishmaan. It is the tale of “Cripple” Billy Claven who searches for his life’s purpose as he yearns to escape the monotony of provincial living. He is beset by cruel words as the inhabitants continuing refer to Billy as an ugly “cripple boy.” Billy desires more from life especially human connections, even love. When an American documentary film makers arrive at the neighboring Aran Island, Billy plots his escape to Hollywood to become a film star.
By Yasmina Reza Translated by Christopher Hampton Directed by Rick Snyder At the Goodman Theatre, Chicago The Banality of Bourgeois Evil God of Carnage is not about the destination: when the four actors come on stage, you already know that, in the end, they will tear each other apart. What God of Carnage is about, … Read more
While Lorraine Freund and Barbara Roeder Harris were excellent as the Mother Superior and the doctor, this show becomes a special theatrical experience by the riveting work from Sara Pavlak as Agnes. Pavlak’s marvelous singing – chanting in Latin – gives her the audio aura that completed when we see her beautiful smile and her bright, loving blue eyes! Miss Pavlak plays Agnes with a most empathetic and innocent manner
Under director Louis Contey and his creative team, Mikhail Bulgakov’s stinging novel satirical of Russian bureaucratic censorship penned in the 1930’s (finished in 1940 but not published until 1967 with much censored Soviet edits), becomes a manically pleasing journey and a fine evening of theatre.
Mary-Arrchie Theatre specializes in raw, gritty Chicago style theatre. They take those attitudes toward British playwright Harold Pinter’s 1967 Tony Award-winning (for Best Play), The Homecoming. The trick to successfully mounting a Pinter play is to have your cast master the space between the words and the difficult swift change of meaning with the utterance of a single word or gesture.
And it’s carried off well. The tribe is strong. Steel Burkhardt, Paris Remillard, Caren Lyn Tackett and Kacie Sheik (Berger, Claude, Sheila and Jeanie) are stand-outs amongst a stand-out ensemble. Really, you couldn’t ask for better people to be doing this show. And, keeping in the spirit with the original production, they do involve the audience – just another boundary that this piece of theater pushed.