Latest from Chicago Critic

The Hilarious Hit Musical

Book, Music and Lyrics by Dennis T. Giacino

Directed by Christopher Bond

The Cast Includes:

Uche Ama (The Princess Who Kissed the Frog)

Ann Paula Bautista (Hua Mulan, Pocahontas, Badroulbadour)

Merritt Crews (Snow White)

Miriam Drysdale (The Little Mermaid, Belle, Rapunzel)

Madison Hayes-Crook (Cinderella)

Daniella Richards (Sleeping Beauty)

The Real Princesses Of Time Gone By—Where Are They Now?

As a former History teacher, Giacino wondered what really ever happened to all of the princess characters we have all known and loved over the years. Tired of being exploited by films, books and dolls, DISENCHANTED! reveals to us how life really turned out for our perfect princesses. Was it a happily ever after ending? Or were they sorry they didn’t sign a pre-nup?

Snow White, the primmest and proper of the princesses, has a power packed voice and a passionate portrayal of life after “Prince Charming”. Her side kick Cinderella, clever and coquettish, helps tell the story while so frantically keeping the show moving, “We have to finish this thing in 95 minutes!”

Was Cinderella really the only one in the castle with a size 7 foot? I doubt it! Sleeping Beauty has bouts of sleepiness throughout the show and has unusual dreams about Pinocchio to share with us. The Little Mermaid, now a disturbingly unhappy, raspy drunk would happily trade in her legs for the Seven Seas and she is so hungry there was even talk about eating her best friend Flounder! Tell me it’s not so! Belle has been institutionalized due to the talking dishware driving over her over the edge. Rapunzel, the German girl with the never ending braid, is angry that she has not made One Red Cent, (a silly audience participation song), after all of her hard work. Princess Badroulbador-who? Oh yes, Jasmine is it? You know the one Aladdin married? You will know who she is after this performance. Hua Mulan is the only princess that didn’t get the man. Where was her Prince Charming? She lives happily ever after by being happy in her own skin and not needing to seek approval from others. Pocahontas who was known for her bravery as a child, and then was pinged as a wanton seductress, is here to introduce her authentic self. The Princess Who Kissed The Frog has entered the stage straight from the hood and feeling good. Why did it take so long to introduce a soul sister to the bunch? This Roberta ain’t taking no flack!

A warped bunch of stories masterfully crafted and full of inappropriate etiquette. I mean hooking up with the guy from the page before and then marrying him? Who does that? Who cares? Let’s sing about it. Fun music and even funnier characters will have you laughing all the way to the palace.

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By Scott Carter

Directed by Kimberly Senior

Produced by Northlight Theatre, Skokie

Judging the Dead an Unproductive Exercise

What happens when you throw together a dead president, the best-selling English-language author of the nineteenth century, and an aristocratic Christian anarchist? As it turns out, not much. Director Kimberly Senior and her three-man cast wring every bit of drama and humor they can out of Scott Carter’s dry idea-play, but the gospel according to these three people who have all faded into and been surpassed by history is long on premise and doesn’t delve much deeper into philosophy than most people are likely to have already gone on their own. Actually, upon examination, the premise is self-defeating, but more on that later. It does contain some fine performances though, and another round at the sort of questions Carter asks is what a lot of people consider leisure to be for.

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By Dale Danner

Directed by Tara Branham

Produced by TKDD, LLC

At the Royal George Cabaret Theatre

Cute and funny drama about a troubled husband

The 100 minutes (with a short intermission) find Dale Danner’s Twisted Knots to be a cute, almost innocent, sex farce that plays out more of a reflection on a troubled husband’s quest for insight into his troubled marriage, his troubled sales career and his personal self worth. This drama is more of a portrait of a man in midlife crisis than a sex encounter.  The play’s setup finds Frank (Ryan Kitley) in a deluxe hotel room on New Year’s Eve as he awaits his escort for the evening while he strategies about his pending large sale.

Things don’t seem to go as planned as Frank realizes that he is short of cash to pay Gina (Mary Cross) for her services. She demands cash and Frank must convince the hotel manager to refund him his fee for the NYE’s celebration so he can pay his escort. That is only the beginning of Frank’s troubles that evening. Gina proves to be a feisty, spirited and determined mate.

We quickly relate to the vulnerable salesman, yet we wonder, why he isn’t with his family on New Year’s Eve? Could Gina be more than simply an escort? They seem to have a past history. Frank seems to be limited in his actions by his superstitious beliefs. It seems that his success is based on utilizing his “lucky” order pad or his special blue tie, etc. Gina helps him overcome those limiting beliefs.

As Frank finally gets Gina her cash, we never see their wild sexy play but, after the intermission, we see the room laced with scattered clothing indicating fun in the sack. Don’t expect a raw sensual sex farce because Twisted Knots is a drama about a troubled insecure middle aged man struggling through self  worth issues. Gina, or Carla, as we find out is her name actually is, helps steer Frank into a world based on his personal strengths more than his superstitious foibles.

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By Lucy Kirkwood

Directed by Nick Bowling

At TimeLine Theatre, Chicago

Epic play an ambitious mystery

British playwright Lucy Kirkwood has penned a three-hour mystery-drama, Chimerica,  centered on the events of June 5, 1989, when a man stood in front of three tanks to protest military intervention in a student protect. We meet photojournalist Joe Schofield (Coburn Goss) who, from his hotel room, took photos of the man standing in front of the tank.

Move forward to 2009 when Schofield and his fellow  journalist, Mel Starwyck (Chris Rickett), are headed to China to cover events there. On the plane, they meet British corporate executive Tessa Kendrick (Eleni Pappageorge) who proceeds to drink away her fear of flying via gin. Joe helps her cope with her “white-knuckle” tendencies. The China adventures begin. Joe and Mel pitch a story to their editor about finding and re-visiting the Tank Man from Joe’s photo. The quest for this story obsesses those two, especially Joe.

Over the next three hours, the mystery takes Joe to Beijing and New York City as he tries to find the Tank Man with the help of his Chinese friend Zhang Lin (Norman Yap), an English professor in Beijing. Chimerica keeps moving swiftly with an ambitious use of video to depict China and New York City. I never fully bought Joe’s obsession with the Tank Man story, especially when his editor nixed it. Why?

I also thought that the independent, crusading photojournalist stereotype that was Joe had to have an affair only because playwright Lucy Kirkwood needed to superimpose her British point-of-view on the Chinese-American economic dynamic. I enjoyed the Chinese perspective from Zhang Lin’s character, which Norman Yap deftly presented. I only wonder why Lin didn’t help Joe’s search with the complete truth. Why the mystery was solved in the manner presented here?

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By Dorota Masłowska

Translated by Artur Zapałowski

Directed by Max Truax

Produced by Trap Door Theatre, Chicago

Black Comedy in Post-Modern Poland

Don DeLillo’s post-modernist novel White Noise is made up largely of lists of consumable products Americans obsess over, in DeLillo’s opinion, to distract ourselves from our fear of death. In young Polish author Dorota Masłowska’s 2008 play No Matter How Hard We Try, Or, We Can Exist on the Best Terms We Can, characters take stock of their meager, disgusting possessions and materialistic aspirations in increasingly vain attempts to convince themselves that they care about living. But Masłowska’s play is no mere joyless slog through a post-Communist hell. Director Max Truax’s heavily choreographed direction keeps the play visually interesting, while his ensemble delivers black humor with wicked wit. The result is a harrowing examination of modern Poland, which is all the more alarming for how easily we can recognize our own lives in it.

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By Lorraine Hansberry

Directed by Anne Kauffman

Produced by Goodman Theatre, Chicago

Lorraine Hansberry Needed Better Friends

At one point in The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, the title character mockingly describes his playwright upstairs neighbor as attempting to break the shackles of Ibsenesque naturalism. The Goodman’s supplementary materials for the show say it is reasonable to interpret the neighbor as Edward Albee, whom Hansberry considered emblematic of the cynicism and despair that was trendy at the time, and which she loathed. Hansberry, therefore, firmly in the tradition of Ibsen, wrote a mostly naturalistic drama exploring the conflict between pragmatism and “being true to oneself,” whatever that means, featuring the kind of people she was best acquainted with. Unfortunately, Hansberry was beset by depression and writers’ block brought on by cancer during her years of writing Sidney Brustein’s Window, causing the play to remain unfinished nearly until she was dead.

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By Dana Lynn Formby

Directed by Megan Shuchman

Produced by Chicago Dramatists

Character Make Poor Decisions for Unclear Reasons

One of the most remarkable things about the economic recovery is how few people noticed it. Small towns are still moribund, vast swaths of people are underemployed, and the Trump and Sanders campaigns tapped into enormous discontent across the political spectrum. The newest play from Chicago Dramatists resident playwright Dana Lynn Formby is the story of working women struggling to get by in a small Colorado town following the 2008 financial meltdown. American Beauty Shop is a story of our times, but doesn’t contribute very much to our understanding of financial stress, and the reasons for the central conflict in the play are downright bizarre.

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