Rachel Weinberg - Page 11

Launching BoHo Theatre's fifteenth season, Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's BRIGHT STAR is an earnest and charming show that wears its heart proudly on its musical sleeve.

Lynn Nottage's 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning SWEAT, now in its Chicago premiere at Goodman Theatre under the direction of Ron OJ Parson, focuses on a group of blue-collar factory workers in Reading, Pennsylvania. Bound together by the toils of working-class life in the town's steel-tubing factory, these friends and family members gather at a local bar to let off steam and celebrate special occasions. And though the work at the factory may not be fulfilling, Nottage makes clear this work is vital for the characters' livelihoods. For many of them, a life of working at the factory dates back generations. As the play toggles between 2000 and 2008, Nottage also reflects how her characters' lives intersect with current events and questions of race, class, and success in America.

In HANDS ON A HARDBODY, now making its Chicago premiere with Refuge Theatre Project, the mobility offered by that titular hardbody truck is not just of the wheeled variety. Instead, the contest among 10 working class Texans to be the last to have their hands on that Nissan truck also becomes a rather obvious symbol of the American Dream.

It's in the moments of high energy and pure entertainment that A BRONX TALE succeeds the most, and the company finds all the joy in Alan Menken's reliably tuneful score.

Jackie Sibblies Drury's WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT A PRESENTATION…, currently onstage as the second production in Steppenwolf for Young Adults' season, opens up challenging questions about history, who has the right to tell what story, and how best we can represent critical moments from the past without complete information.

AN INSPECTOR CALLS is a gripping theatrical experience from start-to-finish. Director Stephen Daldry's breathtaking revival of J.B. Priestley's 1946 thriller had its origins in 1992 and comes to Chicago Shakespeare Theater now as part of an international tour from the National Theatre of Great Britain. Though Daldry originally conceived of this staging decades ago and Priestly has set his play in 1912, this production possesses both a timeliness and a timelessness that make it deeply impactful now.

TWILIGHT BOWL is a thoughtful and delicate examination of what it means for the young women in the play to find their places in the world, and the fact that 'making it' in life might look quite different for all of them. The play posits that there is no definitive definition of success and that the best outcome for these young women is to figure out where they fit for themselves.

As with THE MADRES, Walker has once again constructed a devastating and empowering portrait of strong women facing unbearably tragic circumstances in THE ABUELAS.

Both profoundly moving and profoundly disturbing, DEAR EVAN HANSEN is one of the most deeply troubling musicals I've seen. I left DEAR EVAN HANSEN with a swirl of mixed emotions. The musical is a meditation on social media and how it makes the social isolation and challenges of high school all the more difficult.

The Midwest premiere of Stew and Heidi Rodewald's THE TOTAL BENT is a meditation on self-expression and the oppressive forces that can stand in the way of that expression.

A DOLL'S HOUSE, PART 2, now in its world premiere at Steppenwolf, explores the gap between society's expectations for the central character Nora and how she perceives herself. Lucas Hnath's sequel to Ibsen's classic, proto-feminist work A DOLL'S HOUSE sees Nora returning through the very door she slammed fifteen years prior. She now must literally face the consequences of her desire to reclaim her identity and her quest to achieve equal rights to the men of 19th century society. In so doing, Hnath reveals that the chasm between Nora's societal/familial obligations and her obligations to herself may never be resolved.

In PIPELINE, playwright Dominique Morisseau reflects on the cracks in the inner-city public-school system, and the ways in which it often functions as a school to prison pipeline for young black men, without vilifying the system's participants. It's a skillfully crafted balance that demonstrates how the brokenness of the system is disheartening for teachers and students alike. And under the direction of Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Victory Gardens Theater's ensemble makes this a very human struggle.

Though the D'Ysquiths may be felled one by one in A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE, nothing can stop Matt Crowle from stealing the show.

Ike Holter's RED REX, now in its world premiere at Steep Theatre, is a delightfully meta-theatrical experience. The play is the sixth in local playwright Holter's ambitious seven-play cycle about Rightlynd, the fictional 51st ward of Chicago. It is one of the most intriguing, brilliant, and solidly constructed plays in the 'Rightlynd Saga.' RED REX is Chicago theater that is quite literally about Chicago theater. Yet Holter never panders to his theater-loving audience in his writing. Watching RED REX is a simultaneously gratifying and challenging experience, and that's precisely what makes this play so powerful.

Lyric Opera announced its 2019/2020 season, and theater lovers (like myself) will find some particular highlights to enjoy in the upcoming season.

Despite the title, Will Eno's THE REALISTIC JONESES, now receiving its Chicago premiere in a co-production between Shattered Globe Theatre and Theater Wit, does not seem to wholly exist in the real world. Though Jack Magaw's tidy set design, Hailey Rakowiecki's quotidian costume designs, and John Kelly's lighting design are all quite realistic, Eno's play dwells in the realm of the absurd. Rather than following any conventional narrative structure, THE REALISTIC JONESES plays out as a series of vignettes between two married couples; both are the Joneses of the title. The elder Joneses, Jennifer and Bob, are long-time residents of the unidentified town near the mountains, while Pony and John are newcomers to the neighborhood.

In DADA WOOF PAPA HOT, now in its Chicago premiere at About Face Theatre, playwright Peter Parnell explores that nagging question of what it means to have it all. The play centers on a gay couple and their circle of friends. Though Alan (Bruch Reed) and Rob (Benjamin Sprunger) have been together for fifteen years, they've been married for a much shorter period of time and must navigate their shifting identities as partners and as parents of their three-year-old daughter, Nicola. (The play's seemingly nonsensical title refers to her first words and attempt at her parents' names.) The characters in DADA WOOF PAPA HOT are clearly well-off, but that doesn't make the ways in which they struggle with the challenges of daily life and parenthood any less human.

Hansol Jung's CARDBOARD PIANO, now in its Chicago premiere at Timeline Theatre Company, centers on historical and contemporary issues in Uganda. Jung's narrative sweeps up much of that nation's recent history of violence, child soldiers, and homophobia into the story of just a few characters inside a church. And CARDBOARD PIANO relays all this alongside lofty themes of forgiveness, the power of religion, and the human need to fix what's broken and right wrongs. While this may sound like a tall order for one play to tackle-and it is-it is Jung's utterly human, multidimensional characters that allow her to find success. Jung also proves a masterful playwright because she knows that the best plays meditate on themes and add more complexity to some of life's biggest questions, without offering up clear answers.

Acclaimed actor Brendan Coyle takes the Goodman stage in Conor McPherson's thoroughly bizarre monologue play ST. NICHOLAS, which combines the innately unsettling and the supernatural. Coyle, known for his work as Mr. Bates in DOWNTON ABBEY (which this critic has admittedly never seen) proves a master at his craft in this production transferred from London's Donmar Warehouse.

Despite the incorporation of modern technology, Allan's iMAGICIAN is purely old-school, family-friendly magic. This makes iMAGICIAN an accessible show for all ages, making it suitable entertainment for families during the holidays.