- The Annoyance's CHUMS + OWLS
- Aston Rep's WIT
- Broken Nose Theatre's FROM WHITE PLAINS
- The Chicago Mammals' ASSKICKING AMAZONS
- The Chicago Mammals' MY DINNER WITH DIVINE
- Cock and Bull Theatre Company's VOOLF
- Dog & Pony Theatre's BREACH
- Duplicity Ensemble's FOLK BOUND
- The House Theatre's ROSE AND THE RIME
- Harold Mendez's TEXTS FOR NOTHING
- Improv Olympic's WHIRLED NEWS
- The Inconvenience's LOVE TAPES
- Interrobang Theatre's IBSEN IS DEAD
- Oracle Production's THE MOTHER
- Prologue Theatre Company's TRAFFORD TANZI
- Promethean Theatre Ensemble's THE LARK
- Redtwist Theatre Company's 44 WAYS TO END YOUR SEX LIFE
- The Right Brain Project's SALOME
- The Ruckus' THE DEER
- The Rum & Coke Collective's ENDLINGS
- Sideshow Theatre Company's THE GOLDEN DRAGON
- Steppenwolf Theatre's THE WAY WEST
- Strawdog Theatre's CHARLES IVES TAKE ME HOME
- Two Tongues Theatre Collective's ALCHEMY OF DESIRE/DEAD MAN'S BLUES
its july which means four in four is halfway through the year! now its time for a "reset" button wherein i allow myself to see another show by a company i've reviewed before, but keeping in mind that variance is key - i'm positive you'll see new companies and new works in the remaining six months of 2014. click below to see my reviews so far, and join me over the next few months as i see more shows.
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thursday night i had the pleasure of seeing steppenwolf theatre's THE WAY WEST.
what: the way west by mona mansour where: steppenwolf theatre in lincoln park accompaniment: emily & ally! drinkability: great! we had free drink tickets, full bar. and they're nice if you spill your drink immediately after receiving it. show length: two hours, ten minute intermission out of four: two/four when you attend mostly storefront theatres around the city with people digging into the bottoms of their pockets and purses to put on the show of their dreams where sets are sparse, costumes are usually owned by the actors, and the entirety of the show is filled out as best as possible- its always a little bit of a shock to walk into a theatre and an open air set that has a lot of money behind it. that, to me is one of my favorite things about attending a show at steppenwolf. the production quality is always tops, sometimes you get to witness celebrities on the stage, the place is pristine, but you can sit so close to the action that you feel like you're in on a secret- peeking through the window as the story unfolds in front of you. THE WAY WEST is a story following a family of three- mom, meesh, and manda, a rag-tag group of women from the west who are not only linked by blood but by life and financial struggles. manda is visiting home to help her mother declare bankruptcy and attempting to help her sister meesh cope with taking care of her aging mother. it's a classic "you left us here to fend for ourselves!" storyline for the first half as we're settling in to the family and their quirks- including breakdowns where acoustic guitars are brought out from unseen hallways and slung across shoulders for a quick song- mostly about heading west and being an individual who forges and fends for themselves. i was excited to see diredre o'connell in the role of the mother, having recognized her for her part in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind - and she did not disappoint. she was by far the most interesting and captivating actor to watch on stage, her ideals and pride in westerners projecting straight out of her as she pleads with her daughters, shares a folktale or breaks out into song. it was additionally exciting to see steppenwolf's artistic director martha lavey step into the role of tress. i had last seen martha on stage in 2010's MIDDLETOWN- unaware that she frequented the stage. tress was the only additional character besides the three women who i felt had any weight and purpose to share the stage with them. while the songs, stories, and dialogue were all individually appreciated and interesting, when combined over this two hour period with the women- they became puzzle pieces that didn't totally fit together, but you smashed them together anyway to achieve the product. the retrieval of acoustic guitars and at one point an auto harp were often clunky, requiring the actors to step into an unseen hallway, briefly play an anecdotal song about heading west and then rid themselves of the instruments, again putting them away in the depths of back/offstage which leaves me wondering why they weren't just part of the set. even the stories told by mom (which i very much enjoyed) were used as more of a gap-filler between scenes rather than a tool to launch the story forward. the star of this show above and beyond was the set. steppenwolf builds sets with a level of detail and perfection that are meant to be marveled at. kevin depinet designed the set, with a slew of prop and set designers employed to fill it out. the three of us sat and admired the tiniest of details - the peek of a discarded crate and barrel box in the top shelf of the closet, the varying magnets and paper accessories slapped organically on the refrigerator, and more. they achieve a 'lived-in' look that isn't necessarily thought possible. THE WAY WEST runs thru june 8th, tickets range from $20-$65 with some discounts over at hottix. ______________________________________ upcoming april shows: -sunday april 27th, 2pm: the ruckus' the deer join me, will you? thursday evening i had the pleasure of seeing harold mendez's gallery show but i sound better since you cut my throat with a bonus performance of texts for nothing.
what: texts for nothing by harold mendez where: three walls art gallery in the west loop accompaniment: emily + megan! drinkability: 0 during the show- there were rumors of wine post-discussion show length: 30 minutes out of four: one/four i have mentioned the facebook group i started a while back on here called "go see shows (with me!)". for a while i was essentially the only one active on it- always pitching shows, sometimes getting people to go. over the last few months a magical thing happened and other people started getting really active and i have found myself at more shows and events that i didn't necessarily pick out- and its an awesome thing. harold mendez's show and the performance of TEXTS FOR NOTHING is a prime example of this. emily expressed wanting to get into more art galleries- and the opportunity to mesh our worlds of theatre and art was an exciting option. so- thats how we found ourselves littered among many art students in a pristine gallery with gorgeous exposed beams on a thursday evening. TEXTS FOR NOTHING is a piece written by mendez heavily inspired by samuel beckett's collection of short prose pieces with the same name. we are spectators of two actors (whose names i didn't catch and don't appear anywhere online or in the large program i picked up) playing two characters ripped from paintings by jean-michael basquait & jim jarmusch. mendez borrowed not only from beckett's texts but also references to tv on the radio, deadwood, jean-paul sartre among many others. they say - 'good artists copy- great artists steal'. maybe i should consider mendez's TEXTS FOR NOTHING as 'great art', but i simply can't. while i support and admire mendez for joining together the ideals of many artists- in my opinion there was too much emphasis put on other people's art versus his own. the two performers moved around the limited room, standing near the few pieces of artwork that we could view from our seat. i found myself wanting to see more of the art that mendez hung on the walls around me rather than the art that he is borrowing from other humans. while the actors did a fine job playing their roles- samuel beckett is renowned for a reason specific to the theatre community- which left me eyeing a lot of blank stares, flipping of programs, and eyeing phone devices in a period of thirty simple minutes from the audience around me. harold mendez's BUT I SOUND BETTER SINCE YOU CUT MY THROAT showing is active at three walls gallery only through this weekend, april 12th. catch it before its gone! _______________________________________ upcoming april shows: thursday april 17th, 7:30pm: steppenwolf theatre's the way west sunday april 27th, 2pm: the ruckus' the deer join me, will you? |