Latest from Chicago Critic

Freud’s Last Session

Freud called Lewis to his London apartment’s study (splendid set deigned by Brian Prather) on September 3, 1939. Lewis believes the meeting is to chastise him for satirizing Freud in a recent book but Freud has a much larger agenda. Freud wants to know how a scholar such as Lewis could embrace such myths as the existence of God. Lewis holds that God exists from reasoning and faith. The two debate throughout the 85 minute play.

Fucking A

Taking some of the themes from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, with dystopian themes presented with a series of disjointed scenes and muddled with six or seven atonal songs, Fucking A plays as a boring, slowly-paced depressing 2 hours.

A Moon For The Misbegotten

This funny yet emotionally wrenching work vividly demonstrates the evil effects of isolation, alcohol, and denied passion on real people. First you’ll laugh at the foibles of the Hogan’s, then you’ll empathize with the pain for Joise and James. But ultimately, you’ll enjoy your journey with O’Neill’s real folks. Klein, Armacost and Pickering give the most electrifying performances you’ll see on stage. They were simply overpowering with truth

The Sea

With giving away too much, let me say that The Sea is a cleverly written and expertly performed whimsical yet dark comedy that works on several levels. The quirkiness underscores the fear of the unknown, the fear of change, and the fear of those different from us that the villagers struggle with. Will Hatch or Mrs. Rafi win out? Will the classes ever work together and who is the real leader of the village?

Tom Jones – Polarity Ensemble Theatre

The comic tone was played so over-the-top from the start with too much shouting and screaming that the production made me cover my ears often. The manic presentation was forced giving the production a hyper, almost cheesy tone. This killed some comic moments. Most entrances were ripe with characters screaming their way on stage; then the women softly mumbled and spoke so fast that I had trouble understanding them.

Beyond the Horizon

Fortunes change over the years Andrew is away and Ruth and Robert are left to run the farm after James dies. Robert is not suited to farming but since his marriage and the arrival of a daughter, he is obligated to try to mike it work. The stress is also fatal to the marriage as Ruth begins to hate Robert and she regrets marrying him.

The Fall Of Man

In between long passages from John Milton’s Paradise Lost, the couple spent time partially nude fainting sex including oral by Veronica. This boring play is neither vividly sexual enough not (full nudity is avoided) nor filled with enough storyline to satisfy.

Tea and Sympathy

Tom is sexually naive and comes across to his mates as effeminate. He is a lonely boy estranged from his father, Herb Lee (Kevin Gladish). He eagerly loves his ‘tea & sympathy’ sessions with Laura Reynolds (Kate Tummelson), the wife of the house master. The culture of male bravado that dominates the New England prep school is manifest in Al (Nick Horst), Tom’s roommate. Al tries to protect Tom from hazing by the boys who call Tom “Grace” after he played a women in a school play.

MeTube

The major focus of the narrative for MeTube concerns Yuri’s wants and needs, especially for money, along with some Yuri Lane branding. At the beginning of the show you are encouraged to pull out your cell phones and cameras to video and photograph during the show and “share it with the world.”

Falling: A Wake

A balance of themes and tones creates a bizarrely distinctive look at grief in Gary Kirkham’s exploration of and loss and acceptance.