The enduring tradition and reputation of Movingstage Marionette Company, more popularly known as the Puppet Theatre Barge, founded by Gren Middleton and Juliet Rogers, and moored at Little Venice, is further enhanced by the engaging production of The Hare And The Tortoise, and six other Aesop fables. The enormous repertoire of the company, now in its 34th year, features captivating marionettes and staging by Middleton and Roberts.
Read More…the story was a convoluted intertwined mixture of people bound indirectly by loss. The players mostly over played their characters, especially Amanda Powell as Rosie. Add the over use of Romanian (Gypsy?) folklore against African folklore and we listen to so many age-old aphorisms and truisms that the story seemed to be interrupted by playwright’s need to send us into her world of metaphors Add the moon symbol and, of course, the electric baby and we put the story in second place.
Read MoreAs stuffed full of well-measured comedic performances and lush production values as you are likely to see anytime soon, Newell’s Misanthrope feels as hedonistically indulgent as any French courtier. Like an opulent Parisian banquet (or a drag ball in Harlem), it’s strengths are in its cultivation of the surface’s glittering allure. And in never deigning to take itself as seriously as Alceste takes himself, this production still manages to probe deeper than any hair-brained philosophy.
Read MoreBut if the consciously gray moral tones of Snyder’s production strike us as being overly conciliatory toward its anti-heroes, we should realize that it offers us something decidedly more interesting than its sharp moral disapproval. By opening us up to the subtle seductions of the rakish mindset, In the Company of Men dislodges us from the place where moral judgements feel simply automatic. Rather, we are afforded the opportunity to see our own objections for what they are: the strident disapproval of a middle-class railing against its self-proclaimed ‘betters.’
Read MoreWithout giving away too much, let me state that Reverb is a complex character study as well as a unique lover story that exposes the give new meaning to the term ” reverb. ” It demonstrates the power of wrath on relationships. Reverb is, indeed, a Chicago style in-your-face raw drama. Director Jonathan Berry told me that playwright Leslye Headland turned down a New York City production believing that Chicago actors and storefront theatres would do her work justice. That became a reality with Berry’s tightly nuanced production
Read MoreThis futuristic tale has its moments but ultimately succeeds in wearing us out. I’m not sure who the audience is for this genre of theatre? The action and sheer effort will impress you, its just that the story suffers with all the neat effects, costumes and tones. if you like experimental sci-fi works, then Fight Girl Battle World may be you for.
Read MoreAmerican 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.
Read More“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.
Read MoreThe 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?
Read MoreWe 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.
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