On the positive side, D’Ysquith is a fun word to say. Pronounced dies-k-with, an audience member viewing A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder will hear actors sing and speak this word several hundred times (it seems like thousands) during the course of this over-stretched musical.
Continue reading “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder–Bank of America Theater (10/8/15)”
Peter and the Starcatcher begins exactly where it needs to begin—a world that bears minimal semblance to Peter Pan. Eleven actors (10 males and one female) stand at the front of a stage made of thick wood planks and dive headfirst into their well-rehearsed exchanges of dialogue and movements. They drive through the exposition at breakneck speed, explaining that two ships are leaving port from London at the same time carrying identical wood crates. The wood crates are switched, with the more important crate landing on the slower ship called The Neverland, and thus emerges the first hint of Peter Pan.
Continue reading “Peter and the Starcatcher — Drury Lane Oakbrook (10/3/15)”
After Miss Julie marks my second Patrick Marber play and the second Patrick Marber show that I viewed in a theater with under 100 seats, and in this regard the Strawdog Theater Company has done justice to what should be an intimate production.
Continue reading “After Miss Julie — Strawdog Theater Company (9/28/15)”
Art. Law. Religion. The Yankees. The Cubs. Banana pudding (mentioned, but not actually seen on stage).
Disgraced fits in a set of plays in which intelligent, successful people sit together and bate each other on topics like race and religion and justice and order, and eventually underlying prejudices and tensions emerge. At its best, this motif leaves the audience in a state of self-reflection that can last for days (Clybourne Park and God of Carnage are two of the best). Disgraced fits somewhere lower on the spectrum despite a promising start. Amir (Bernard White), a renounced Muslim, explains to his wife why he is not offended by people stereotyping him at the supermarket. In a powerful anecdote, Amir explains how his mother spat in his face for flirting with a Jewish girl. Now Amir is hoping to become a partner in a law firm showcasing Jewish names on its letterhead.
The most memorable aspect of Funnyman is the back-story that inspired it – which is not a condemnation of this new play at the Northlight. The play itself is a fascinating exploration of the paradoxes of comedians, but the context presented in the play’s program is a case of fact shining brighter than fiction.
Thank you for checking out my blog. My name is Jeff, and I have been an avid theater-goer since seeing Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Marriott Lincolnshire when I was about 7 or 8 years old.
My experience with theater is almost completely as an audience member. I performed in two musicals in high school and I performed in the show choir for two years — gratefully, any records of said performances were reproduced on VHS and are now obsolete and forgotten.
I’m creating this blog to celebrate theater in Chicago, which I believe in many respects surpasses New York. My write-ups of the plays and musicals that I see should not be read as reviews. I will be thrilled by some shows and will be less-than-enthusiastic about others (that happens when a person sees 60+ shows a year). I hope that my write-ups (positive or negative) inform you about what is currently playing in Chicago and inspire you to see a show and form your own opinions.
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