Carolyn Defrin deftly narrates with loads of help from fifth grader Caroline Heffernan who smartly plays the innocence of childhood as Scout Finch Lee’s alter-ego from her childhood. Seldom have I seen a fifth grader with the acting chops and ability to not only deliver her lines but to have spot on timing to convey humor and pathos. Caroline Heffernan is a dynamite talent.
Guy and Pam with help from their son Bobby (Tyler Ross), set into motion a series of mishaps, mayhem and madness around the concept of a petite teenager girl raping a football player. The silliness and the physical action escalates into hilarity as the preposterous action unfolds
Me Too, I am Catherine Deneuve is billed as a family drama that “invites the audience to explore, alongside the characters, the potent relationship between self-definition and self-determination.”
In this Equus, it surly is Alan’s play as Ian McCabe’s gusty, rivetingly chilling and brave performance as Alan totally dominates. McCabe has that “look” and the pent-up passion that moves Alan from a timid boy to a explosive sexual-religious fanatic who sees God in the horses he cares for. McCabe’s fully entrancing performance complete with three nude scenes emphasis the sexual tension that the boy feels toward the horses.
While I would say my highlight of the evening was “After the Rain,” all three pieces are beautifully choreographed, danced, and lit. The musicianship of Chicago Sinfonietta was amazing and needs to be mentioned along with the dancers. The lighting plays such an important role in these pieces so Mark Stanley and Jennifer Tipton deserve a mention as well. To me this was a perfect marriage of dance, music, and design bringing forth a truly wonderful evening.
The first act of the now titled: At Home At the Zoo is a wordy, repetitive boring piece that depicts Peter’s family life as a sort of set up for the brilliant The Zoo Story. Maybe it was Albee’s ego or a bout with dementia because why diminish the play that established you as a playwright with an inferior work such as Homelife?
The story, a political satire set shortly after World War II, is a behind the scenes look at the “play ball” mentality in politics during the advent of our post-war golden age. We follow Grant Matthews (played by Michael Dailey), a successful airplane industrialist with a passion, and a concern, for America’s well being. A Republican by name, yes, but Grant is more of a centralized, bi-partisan, do-gooder that looks to destroy the obstacles both parties present to the growth of the country.
The story move back in time as we see how Nawal left her rural village where women ever learned to read after having a child out of wedlock but out of love. Nawal teams up with another woman from her village, Swada (Fawzia Mirza) as they wonder throughout the country in search of Nawal’s now 4 year old boy. They witness the horrors of civil war and religious and ethnic cleansing. They become combatants.
Neil Labute’s Bash is composed of two monologues and a duet wherein four likable average people tell their stories that contain admissions of horrible evil acts. Utilizing the spacious Viaduct Theatre, we see an armchair and a smaller chair set opposite of each other both encased in a black circle facing one another.
Be it understood that Verdi’s opera in NOT Shakespeare’s Macbeth set to music! Rather it is Verdi’s interruption of Macbeth utilizing the music to add depth to all the emotions of the main characters. Emphasizing feminine influence of Lady Macbeth to get her husband to murder his way to power, Verdi’s opera is filled with psychological torment expressed in the wonderful, melodic score that moves from rage to the joyous rebirth of a nation.