In a long sequence of screaming, screeching and foul-mouthed dialogue, coke snorting and champagne drinking scenes, the three dysfunctional women show their crude, raw make up. When they spent time talking about the strategic use of oral sex on men to get an advantage, I was totally turned-off. These three unhappy and self-destructive losers were painful to watch and their loudness made me want to bolt the theatre.
Read MoreWritten by Paul Slade Smith, a 14 year Chicago actor now on tour with Wicked, Unnecessary Farce finally after 6 years makes its Chicago debut. Under Alison C. Vesely superb casting and tight direction, Unnecessary Farce is a whip-smart comic farce that produces enough laughs to get anyone through winter.
Read MoreThrough the musical, we see cute puppets moving the action along. Blair Thomas, the show’s director, is a master at utilizing puppetry along with live actors to tell a story. We see Victor and his Houdini puppet trying the Water Torture escape using only a water glass and a 6 inch puppet.
Read MoreWhile playwright Colburn vividly dramatizes the stilting Christian beliefs including Dasiy’s (Rebecca Buller) sexual attraction to Ian and Aaron’s confusion, he seems have both Ian and Claudia insincerely using the Christian beliefs more as an escape from their past sins than belief in an all-powering God. The contradictory behavior of Ian is a clue since Ian wants Claudia back, wants to be saved and he wants to have sex with Daisy.
Read MoreWith Jessica Thebus adaptation of The Tempest and her co-direction and co-creation with Redmoon’s Frank Maugeri, the resulting The Feast: an intimate Tempest is a unique art piece utilizing some text with puppets, video, music, masks, and a banquet table made in a cross with moving slats.
Read MoreMandy and Richard indirectly influence James but Sarah, despite marrying James after nine years, still is determined to go back to war zones. Forced to decide between her love for James and a normal life and her thrill-seeking war photographing that makes “time stand still,” Sarah’s choice to resume living in chaos is plausible and understandable.
Read MoreAdd the blandness of Celia who without warning or set-up confesses her secrets to Pierre. I never once felt that Celia would be sexually attractive to the passive Pierre. It seems that playwright Higginson wants to show how two troubled and emotionally damaged folks can find connections despite their racial baggage. But I never for a moment believed these two have any deep connection
Read MoreWhat doomed Clutter for me was the contradictory style of the piece. Clutter, at first, plays as a police procedural mystery then abruptly becomes a comedy featuring two eccentric brothers and several zany supporting characters. The parallel stories about two sets of brothers didn’t work since the play’s hook is the wacky recluse Collyer brothers who live together and never threw anything away
Read MoreRockwell’s engaging production makes the rise and fall of a business giant come to life with action as we meet and see the interactions and personalities of the principal players who guided and manipulated questionable business practices into an elaborate and sophisticated shell game that produced the illusion of a profitable company. Enron became the most infamous scandal in financial history of American commerce.
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