Hephaestus By
the Lookingglass Theatre At he Goodman(Owen) By Dan Zeff CHICAGO—The circus
is back in town, under the appropriately descriptive title of “Hephaestus: A
Greek Mythology Circus Tale.” The Lookingglass Theatre first presented the show
in 2005 and remounted it in 2008. Now a third version is being presented at the
Goodman Owen Theatre. It was a remarkable 80 minutes of entertainment the first
two times around and it’s even better now, circus wizardry at the very highest
level. The show begins quietly enough with a little girl in her
nightdress fearfully overhearing her offstage parents quarreling bitterly. The
child then starts reading from a book on Greek mythology to escape the tensions
of the parental hostility. Specifically, she reads about Hephaestus, the lame
blacksmith to the gods on Mount Olympus who was flung from the heavens to earth
by the goddess Hera, his mother, who was repulsed by his physical deformities. Once we get through the prologue, the circus acts take over,
within the context of the Hephaestus’s workshop beneath a volcanic island where
he produces miraculous inventions at his forge. And what circus acts they are—a
graceful ensemble ballet on fabric hangings above the stage, high wire walking,
bungee jumping, hand balancing, tumbling, contortion, gymnastics, a performer
rotating within a giant metal wheel—all up close and personal in the intimate
space of the Goodman Owen Theatre. The breathtaking finale is a seven-person
pyramid that travels across a high wire above the stage. The show is nonverbal except for some narration and singing
provided by the little girl. The setting is highly dramatic, thanks to
expressionistic lighting effects, science fiction style costumes and makeup,
and a terrific New Age musical score. A trapdoor provides an entrance and exit
to and from a mysterious underground workshop evoked through smoke and
lights. Periodically drummers pound away
at stage level or on a balcony above the action. Visually and aurally,
“Hephaestus” is the complete package, creating a magical mythical world where
mind-boggling feats of grace and daring are part of the natural order. Unfortunately, the playbill does not match the performers
with their individual circus acts so I can’t place most of the artists by name
with their contributions. There are three members of the famous Wallenda family
of circus aerialists—Erendira Vazquez Wallenda, Lijana Wallenda-Hernandez, and
Nik Wallenda. Other featured artists include Katia Dmitrieva, Rani Waterman,
and Almas Meirmanov. Let their names stand honorably for the 20 or so
performers who collectively make up this memorable presentation. Which brings us to the Anastasini brothers from
Spain—Guiliano and Fabio. Their act consists of Fabio lying on an incline
board, using his feet to juggle his brother while Guiliano performs somersaults
and twists in mid air, each time miraculously landing on the soles of his
brother’s feet. It is a truly astonishing act that produced some of the most
fervent audience cheering I have heard in a theater in a long time. It should be noted that all the acts are performed without a
safety net or safety cables, adding an edgy element of danger to the grace and
creativity and athleticism of the performances. The high risks embodied in most
of the performances had the audience alternately holding its breath and
squealing in apprehension. The mastermind behind “Hephaestus” is Tony Hernandez, who
created the production, co-directed with Heidi Stillman, and plays the crippled
title character. He is aided immeasurably by Brian Sidney Bembridge’s scenic
and lighting design, Lijana Wallenda-Hernandez’s costume design, and the
brilliant sound and music accompaniment by Ray Nardelli, Andre Pluess, and Josh
Horvath. They all make “Hephaestus” a feast of the theater arts as well as a
celebration of circus performance of wondrous achievement. An organization called Silverguy Entertainment gets
co-production credit for the show and contributes many of the performers. They
hire themselves out for parties and similar events and based on their work in
“Hephaestus” they must put on quite a show. Regrettably, “Hephaestus” is being offered for a limited run.
It would be an irresistible attraction for summer tourists roaming the Loop and
near north side. You couldn’t ask for a better family show. “Hephaestus” runs through May 23 at the Goodman Owen Theatre,
170 North Dearborn Street. Performances are Tuesday through Friday at 7:30
p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 to $70. Call
312 443 3800 or visit www.lookingglasstheatre.org. The show gets a rating of four stars. April 2010 Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com
. ****************************************************************************** At the Lookingglass Theatre By Dan Zeff CHICAGO - ‘Trust’ at the Lookingglass
Theatre is informative, engrossing, disturbing, and superbly staged. It’s informative in revealing one of the most
insidious plagues of our high tech age, sexual predators using the Internet to
prey on teen-age girls. It’s engrossing in dramatizing the psychological toll
the predator takes on the victim and her family, and disturbing because this is
a social problem that flies under the radar of national concern. ‘Trust’ was co-written
by Lookingglass ensemble member David Schwimmer and Andy Bellin and co-directed
by Schwimmer and Heidi Stillman. The
production is as up to date as its subject, utilizing a back wall of
projections, videos, photographs, and texting in that arcane condensed language
that young people use to communicate with each other. Annie is a 14-year old girl, apparently
well adjusted but inwardly insecure about her looks and her place in the popularity
pecking order among her peers. Her parents give her a laptop computer for her
birthday and Annie soon makes a connection with a male who at first claims to
be a teenager. They build up a highly erotic Internet relationship, though the
audience learns about the development and nature of the relationship after the
fact.
Trust
The predator sets up a face-to-face
meeting at a mall where the Internet correspondent turns out to be a 35-year
old man who takes her to a motel and seduces her. That all takes place in the
first half hour of the 105-minute intermissionless production. The rest of the play
concentrates on the impact the seduction has on Annie’s father, who becomes
consumed with rage and guilt at his daughter’s violation. His obsession with the predator
threatens to destroy the father’s career and tear his family apart. So ‘Trust’
becomes as much a drama about the consequences of the seduction on the victim’s
extended family as it is about the trauma inflicted on the girl. Indeed, for
much of the play Annie is in denial about the nature of her seducer. She
angrily defends him in the pathetic conviction that the man is not a pervert
but really loves her and is being driven away from her by the meddling of her
father and the investigation conducted by the FBI. ‘Trust’ originated as a screenplay and it
has a cinematic flow with its short scenes and its emphasis on visual as much
as verbal presentation. Six actors in the nine-member ensemble play multiple
roles like friends of Annie, an FBI agent, a counselor, and the father’s boss.
The story would open up scenically as a motion picture but there is an
immediacy to the tale that profits from the kind of live, intimate staging the
play is receiving at the Lookingglass. ‘Trust’ can be taken as
a cautionary story for parents of girls in their extremely vulnerable teen-age
years. Parents should monitor, or at least be aware, of their daughters's activity on the Internet, more easily said than
done with girls jealously protecting their privacy from adult eyes. The play profiles a probable victim as a
girl in her early teens looking for love and acceptance beyond her social
circle. The girl is not beautiful or a member of the school 'in' crowd, at least
in her own eyes. That makes her prime pickings for the predator, who conducts
the electronic relationship with sophistication and charm until he moves in for
the live kill. The predator probably is very skilled in using the Internet and
thus elusive to corner. He tends to blend into the social landscape, as the
final chilling moments of the play portray. Schwimmer is passionate about this subject
but to his credit he has co-written a work that holds the stage theatrically
and not just as an infomercial for a serious social problem. There is suspense
and tension in the play but no melodrama. For Annie and her father the drama’s
ending might be considered, if not happy, at least setting them on the path to
healing. One wonders how many real life victims and their families enjoy such
an upbeat aftermath.
Allison Torem is beyond superb as Annie, a
mass of conflicting emotions bundled into the mind and spirit of a girl who
shouldn’t have to carry so much emotional and psychological baggage. Torem is
one of the legion of brilliant teen-age actresses with their roots in the
Profiles Theatre and she should be an ornament to the Chicagoland theater scene
as long as she stays in the area. Philip R. Smith is memorable as the father,
possibly sacrificing his job and the mental health of himself and his family in
his single-minded search for revenge against the predator. Raymond Fox is
totally persuasive in his few scenes as the villain, a low-keyed and unsettling
performance. Amy Carle is strong as Annie’s mother, desperate for both her
daughter and her husband. Morocco Omari, Dorcas Sowunmi, Christine Dunford, and
Keith Kupferer play multiple adult characters and Spencer Curnutt, Marianna Oharenko,
Zanny Laird, and Zoe Levin effectively play assorted young people in Annie’s
life. The story must give the young performers some uneasy thoughts. The outstanding physical production is the
combined work of designers Dan Ostling (scenery), Mara Blumenfeld (costumes),
Chris Bindert (lighting) and Michael Griggs and Rick Sims (sound), all led by
the multimedia design of Bridges Media. ‘Trust’ runs through April 25 at the
Lookingglass Theatre at the Water Tower Water Works, 821 North Michigan Avenue.
Performances are Tuesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at
3 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $28 to $62. Call 312 337 0665 or visit www.lookingglassgtheatre.org The show gets a rating of 3 1/2 stars. March 2010 Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com. **************************** Icarus At
the Lookingglass Theatre By Dan Zeff CHICAGO—For
about half of its 90-minute running time, the Lookingglass Theatre production
of “Icarus” is at the top of its game in conveying beautiful visual images and
striking physical action. The other half is lumbered by a striving for the
poetic that dissolves into the pretentious, or is just plain boring. “Icarus” is the company’s take on a group of interrelated
ancient Greek myths, and woe to the spectator who doesn’t have at least a
passing familiarity with Daedalus, King Minos, the Minotaur, Theseus, the
Labyrinth, and the title character. Author-director David Catlin presents “Icarus” as a kind of
psychodrama. In the opening scene, an unnamed man (Lawrence DiStasi) is wheeled
out on a hospital bed, the person bound in a straightjacket. Through a mumbo
jumbo of simultaneous voices on stage, we learn that the man is in a catatonic
state, his condition produced by a recent trauma. To draw the man back to the
real world, the medical staff retells the story of Icarus. As the play unfolds, Icarus is only one of a dozen characters
from Greek mythology, and not the most important one in the narrative. Icarus
is the son of Daedalus, a genius architect and artist in the ancient world.
Through a convoluted series of events, Daedalus and Icarus are imprisoned in
the fortress of King Minos in Crete, a fortress designed by Daedalus himself.
Daedalus devises an escape by making wings of feathers and beeswax for himself
and his son so they can fly to freedom. He warns Icarus not to fly too close to
the sun, which would melt the wax in the wings. Icarus disregards the warning,
his wings melt, and he plunges to his death in the sea. That’s just one thread in the play’s narrative. The storyline
presents problems for the uninformed viewer because the six members of the
ensemble shift from character to character without changing appearance. Indeed,
everyone dresses in ostentatiously modern informal dress, with some performers
wearing Chicago Bulls basketball jerseys. So viewers may have a hard time
following when Anthony Fleming III shifts from Minos to Theseus or Lauren Hirte
from Autra to Androgeus. Plus the ensemble performs on a square open stage that
gives little indication of changing locations in the story. The show gets off to a slow, not to say tedious start. There
is much pseudo lyricism in the dialogue but very little happens and what does
happen was intelligible, at least to me. The tale kicks into higher gear with a
sequence of those beautiful and theatrical physical displays that make
Lookingglass such a one-of-a-kind theater. The three females in the cast
perform acrobatically high above the stage on hanging draperies. The struggle
between Theseus and the Minotaur takes place below the stage, with the audience
following the ferocious battle through an open trap door emitting dramatic
light and smoke accompanied by cries of anger and pain from the two combatants. Some of the visual pictures are brilliantly conceived, though
some of them, like the drapery acrobatics, seem injected as circus acts rather
than as part of the narrative structure. The best part of the storyline comes
with the anger of King Minos over the death of his son Androgeus. In revenge,
he demands Athens deliver 14 of their finest young people to him for sacrifice.
The deaths of the 14 are marked small black children’s outfits hanging on
clotheslines like a bizarre group grave. A palpable sense of grief drenches the
narrative. 
The ensemble, which also includes Adeoye, Nicole Shalhoub,
and Lindsey Noel Whiting, is best in the physical portions of the show. It’s
difficult to assess their acting skills because they speak a stilted language
that sounds like an eighteenth century translation of Homer. The language
archly attempts to create a verbal classical atmosphere but all that archaic
dialogue clashes with the Bulls jerseys and blue jeans. The stars of the evening are Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi, who
created the circus choreography, lighting designer Jaymi Lee Smith, costume and
properties designer Alison Siple, and sound designer and composer Rick Sims.
Even when the story was a total puzzlement or dramatically inert, they gave us
much of interest to see and hear, like when the troupe does clever things with
suitcases, which represent everything from giant boulders to newly born babies.
And in one scene the audience gets to throw paper airplanes onto the stage,
likely a first for every spectator in the room. The playbill prints an interesting interview with David
Catlin. The program should go further and provide a brief outline of
mythological personalities and their adventures to clue in patrons who don’t
know Aegeus from Rod Blagojevich. “Icarus” runs through January 24 at the Lookingglass Theatre
inside the Water Tower Water Works at 821 North Michigan Avenue. Performances
are Wednesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 3 and 7:30
p.m. Tickets run from $18 to $62. Visit www.lookingglasstheatre.org.
or call 312 337 0665. The show gets a rating of three stars. December 2009 ************************** Fedra, Queen of Haiti At the Lookingglass Theatre By Dan Zeff CHICAGO—Spectators ready
to give up on the Lookingglass production of ”Fedra, Queen of Haiti” by the
intermission should stay the course. Morocco Omari enters the drama in the
second act and saves the night, almost. “Fedra, Queen of Haiti” is
an adaptation of “Hippolytus” by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides as created
by Lookingglass ensemble member J. Nicole Brooks, who also takes the title
role. The Euripides original is a towering story of passion that portrays the disastrous
ramifications of Queen Phaedra’s illicit lust for her stepson Hippolytus.
At the
beginning of the Brooks play, Queen Fedra is in turmoil, torn by her secret
love for Hippolytus while facing the probable loss of her husband, King
Theseus, missing in a plane crash and presumably dead. The government council
is meeting off stage to choose a temporary ruler for the kingdom, either Fedra
or Hippolytus. Neither one seeks the position, both being consumed by their
private passions, Fedra for Hippolytus and Hippolytus for Aricia, a young woman
imprisoned by Theseus as an enemy of the state.
The first act is
dreary going. There is much ranting and behind the scenes plotting but little
legitimate dramatic tension. The language steers uneasily between contemporary
facetious and stilted formal. Attempts at humor are peppered throughout the act
that work against the gravity of the main story.
In the second act
Theseus makes his entrance, having survived the plane crash and subsequent imprisonment.
Omari’s imposing and realistic stage presence injects desperately needed
dignity and dramatic weight into the action until the accelerating power of the
original story takes hold and propels the narrative to its intense finish.
To defuse Theseus
hearing about Fedra’s love for his son, the queen’s nurse (Lisa Tejero) urges
Fedra to tell her husband that Hippolytus raped her during his absence. On the
flimsiest evidence, Theseus buys Fedra’s lie. The queen’s preemptive strike
turns the king against his protesting son and leads inexorably to the
conclusion, with the nurse a suicide, the fleeing Hippolytus and Aricia dead in
a hurricane, and Theseus, now aware of Fedra’s deception, stabbing her to death
in a sacred pool on stage. The final image of the distraught king and the dead
queen seated side by side on companion thrones is a master theatrical stroke.
A dominant figure
in the Euripides play is Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual passion. In the
Brooks adaptation, Aphrodite periodically sashays through the action wearing
gaudy gowns and a giant afro without establishing her critical importance in
the story. 
Brooks is miscast as Fedra. She
rants and fumes but she never reaches the tragic heights the role demands.
There are several African American actresses in Chicagoland theater that could
have taken this role to the necessary dramatic
mountaintop. Tejero is the best performer on the stage after Omari. The nurse
is a manipulator out of real life political wheeling and dealing and she also
apparently has a lesbian attraction to the queen. Tejero’s mix of cunning and
passion lifts the action whenever she is on stage.
The
rest of the cast consists of Anthony Fleming III as Hippolytus, Michael Salinas
as a behind the scenes scheming politico in the palace, Lauren Hirte in a
curious role of a white palace maid, Sharina Martin as Aricia, and Tamberla Perry
doubling as Aphrodite and as Aricia’s friend Ismene, a jive talker apparently in
the play for comic relief, all of it inappropriate to the play’s serious tone.
Meghan
Raham designed a set that serves as several rooms in the palace, depending on
the props, along with an upper level platform. Christine Binder designed the
dramatic lighting, Alison Siple the eclectic and colorful costumes, and Joshua
Horvath the sound. Director Laura Eason is a co-conspirator with the author in
allowing the wrong headed comic bits to intrude on the intense thrust of the
narrative.
Curiously,
the adaptation doesn’t capitalize on the Haitian setting. The audience
legitimately can expect voodoo and magical rites to provide an aura of exoticism
and mystery to the action but the play has no real sense of place. Characters
occasionally lapse into French or Spanish but in general “Fedra” is located in any
country prone to hurricanes.
“Fedra, Queen of Haiti” runs through
November 15 at the Lookingglass Theatre inside the Water Tower Water Works, 821
North Michigan Avenue. Performances are Wednesday through Friday at 7:30 and
Saturday and Sunday at 3 and 7:30.Tickets are $28 to $62. Call 312 337 0665 or
visit www.lookingglasstheatre.org.
Contact
Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com . ************************** The Arabian Nights At
the Lookingglass Theatre By Dan Zeff CHICAGO—In
1992, the Lookingglass Theatre premiered its adaptation of “The Arabian Nights”
and the production became an instant classic and the signature show for the
theater and its director Mary Zimmerman. I saw the 1997 revival and was blown
away by its imaginative storytelling. Lookingglass is now presenting “The Arabian Nights” for the
third time and my radiant memory of the 1997 viewing has been reinforced. It
remains one of the most creative shows to bless the American theater in the
past 20 years. “The Arabian Nights” is based on the famous collection of
stories taken from such cultures as Arabia, India, Egypt, and Persia. The
stories are told within a framework that begins with King Shahryar. Because his
wife was unfaithful, he orders her killed and in revenge against the entire
female gender he marries a new wife each night and has her beheaded the
following morning. The beautiful and intelligent Scheherezade is the latest
sacrificial maiden but her skill as a storyteller entices the king, who allows
her to recount her tales from night to night. One story leads to another and
after 1,001 nights the king has fallen in love with her. They marry and live
happily ever after, sweeping aside the fact that the king has been a serial
killer.
The stories dovetail with each other like a narrative
labyrinth. Nearly all the tales deal with love in some manifestation, from the
comic to the romantic to the tragic. Zimmerman excludes the most familiar
stories from the adaptation. We don’t get retellings of Aladdin, Ali Baba, or
Sinbad. But we do hear stories about Sympathy the Learned, and a philandering
pastry cook, and a man falsely imprisoned in a madhouse. Lookingglass performs “The Arabian Nights” on an open stage
with the audience surrounding the action on four sides. There is no real set,
but an exotic environment is created out of props, especially Persian carpets
and furniture and antique lamps that descend and rise from the rafters. The production
features a remarkable number and variety of costumes that evoke the fairy tale
world of mythical Baghdad. Zimmerman employs the full arsenal of theatrical tools—song,
dance, music, and dialogue—in the service of the engrossing and often witty
book. The staging even injects a bit of audience participation without breaking
the once-upon-a-time spell of the narrative. The show has its erotic moments and also plenty of broad
humor. Once story is built hilariously around a case of flatulence. It was preceded
by an improvised scene in which two men try to identify the contents of a tiny
bag with increasingly outlandish descriptions of what it contains. According to
the playbill, different performers will improvise this scene nightly. Usman
Ally and Andrew White set a very high standard on opening night for future
performers with their funny riffs on the bag’s improbable contents. The 15-member ensemble of exceptionally versatile performers
morph from character to character without leaving the stage. The chorus in one
scene provides the leading characters in the next. A small troupe of musicians
on stage performs accompaniment on an array of Middle Eastern percussion and
stringed instruments. There are no stars in the show, or rather, there are 15
stars, many of them of Asian extraction to add authenticity to the background.
Louise Lamson plays Scheherezade and Ryan Artzburger is Shahryar. The couple
establishes the dramatic underpinnings for the evening with Artzburger
particularly effective as the tortured, vindictive king who gradually falls
under Scheherazade’s spell. Among the production’s golden moments is Susaan Jamshidi as
Sympathy the Learned, a young woman of bottomless knowledge who vanquishes all
the scholars at court with her learning. Andrew White and Usman Ally create one
character gem after another. Barzin Akhaven is the noble and sometimes bemused
Harun al-Rashid. Allen Gilmore brilliantly ranges from in character from a
poignant portrait of Scheherazade’s suffering father to a madcap court jester
who comes up with a devious plan to escape from an unwanted marriage.
But the remainder of the cast deserves enumeration by
name—Heidi Stillman, Louis Tucci, Nicole Shalhoub, Emjoy Gavino, David Catlin,
Ramiz Monsef, Ronnie Malley, and Minita Ghandi. The physical production is a full partner in the evening’s
success. That includes the scenic design by Dan Ostling, the evocative lighting
by T. J. Gerckens, the sound design and musical compositions by Andre Pluess,
and especially Mara Blumenfeld’s exotic and colorful costumes. And, of course,
towering over the entire enterprise is Mary Zimmerman’s imagination and
theatrical wizardry. The production does have its sensual moments but it is still
is appropriate for youngsters in their early teens. They will love the
pageantry and the storytelling and the humor (especially the flatulence tale).
It’s an evening to be treasured for everyone. “The Arabian Nights” runs through July 12 at the Lookingglass
Theatre at the Water Tower Water Works, 821 North Michigan Avenue. Performances
are Wednesday and Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday at 3
and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 to $60. Call 312 337 0665 or visit www.lookingglasstheatre.org. The show gets a rating of four stars. June 2009 ******************* Our Town By the Lookingglass Theatre
CHICAGO—The Lookingglass Theatre is
reviving Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” in a warm, honest production. Audiences
with a special affection for the play will be well satisfied. Those who reject
the play as a slice of saccharine and bogus nostalgic Americana with
pretentious philosophical overtones may be converted into the Wilder camp. “Our
Town” carries the burden of countless underperformed amateur productions that
uncritically embrace the play’s simplicity of staging and its
wholesome-sounding message. The Lookingglass company has made its reputation
with innovative, highly theatrical shows but it takes no liberties with “Our
Town.”`The revival respects the play and doesn’t condescend to its
sentimentality. The play has its share of humor, but it ends on a pessimistic
note, castigating humanity for failing to appreciate the wonders of everyday
life. If that sounds like dime-store philosophy, so be it.
The
“Our Town” opening night audience in 1938 must have been startled to see a play
that sidestepped expected rules of stagecraft. There was no scenery, characters
talked directly to the audience, time shifted back and forth—all to recapture
small town American life in the early twentieth century, an innocent way of
life that may have existed only in the more cynical and urban minds of
audiences a generation later. The
play is controlled by the stage manager, who chats with the audience as he
guides them through the existence of the Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, residents
in three acts, set in 1901, 1904, and 1913. He introduces us to the town’s main
and minor characters, all pleasant
and sympathetic. The exception is the tragic Simon Stimson, the town organist
and choir director who commits suicide, an outsider at war with the town’s
sensibilities. H. L. Mencken attacked the play as a celebration of the anti-intellectualism
and small mindedness of middle America. If Mencken assesses the play accurately,
Stimson is a casualty of that intolerance. Joey
Slotnick sets the tone for the production with his genial but no-nonsense stage
manager. Slotnick avoids the pipe-puffing folksiness that afflicts so many
stage manager impersonations. He mixes low-keyed charm with equally low-key
realism as the story turns dark at the end. Slotnick is a little young for the traditional
stage manager, just as many other actors in the ensemble seem a little old. But
chronological age doesn’t matter in performing “Our Town” as the playwright
reaches out for a universality of human experience that makes the age of the
actor a non-issue. Much
of the buzz surrounding the Lookingglass revival comes from the return of
ensemble member David Schwimmer from the fame and fortune of Hollywood and
television back to the local live stage. Schwimmer plays George Gibbs, an
important character but by no means the showiest. Schwimmer plays the young
George with an understatement that verges on self effacement, but his
performance works and allows Laura Eason as George’s sweetheart and eventual wife
to fill the stage with her radiant presence in their scenes together. The
production is a gathering of the clan for the Lookingglass, reuniting company
members who have drifted away over the years to follow other career paths.
Slotnick and Eason have moved to the East Coast and Schwimmer’s success in
California is well known. Set director John Musial honored the reunion by
assembling the collage of props and other artifacts from past company
productions that hang from the theater rafters. Jessica
Thebus and Anna Shapiro avoid any forced or false notes in their co-directing.
The production unfolds with a gentle inevitability, no bright concepts and no
easy laughs or false emotionalism. The directors allow the play to speak for
itself, take it or leave it. David
Catlin and Andrew White play Dr. Gibbs and Mr. Webb as sympathetic elders
without descending into gooey “Father knows best” wisdom. The same can be said
for Christine Dunford and Heidi Stillman in the more theatrical roles of the
two mothers. David Kersnar makes a telling impression in his brief stage time
as Simon Stimson, whose desolation and bitterness hint at a back story worth a
play of its own. The
remainder of the ensemble plays assorted denizens of Grover’s Corners with
distinction—Raymond Fox, Thomas J. Cox, Tracy Walsh, Louise Lamson (who also
plays George’s kid sister), and Kevin Douglas. Janice
Pytel costumes the characters mostly in a creamy off white color scheme. The
mournful parade of living characters to the Grover’s Corners cemetery, wearing
identical black coats over their lighter costumes and carrying identical open
umbrellas creates a haunting stage picture of mortality and community grief. J.
R. Lederle designed the lighting, and Kevin O’Donnell designed the sound and
composed the original music.
The
capacity opening night audience watched the play with a rapt attention that was
almost palpable. Whatever one feels about the merits of “Our Town,” the play
still holds the stage, and it’s the hard-hearted spectator who won’t tear up a at
least a little at the end. I
suspect that many of the play’s scoffers haven’t seen a first-rate staging of
the show. The Lookingglass company is remedying that. If you don’t like this
production you just don’t like the show. But check it out. “Our
Town” runs through April 5 at the Lookingglass Theatre inside the Water Tower
Water Works, 821 North Michigan Avenue. Most performances are Wednesday through
Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 3 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets
are $30 to $60. Call 312 337 0665 or visit www.lookingglasstheatre.org. The show
gets a rating of four stars. February 2009 *********************** The Brothers Karamazov At
the Lookingglass Theatre By Dan Zeff “The Brothers
Karamazov” isn’t the kind of play audiences expect in the Lookingglass
Theatre repertory. The Russian novel is long, complex, and filled with dense
discussions about guilt, redemption, religion, and ethics. Where are the opportunities for trapezes,
gymnastics, and other circus like theatricalities that have made Lookingglass
productions so distinctive? Credit the Lookingglass with giving
this almost totally literary exercise an honorable and often engrossing
staging, three hours worth, with two intermissions. No stage version can
encompass all the richness of Dostoevsky’s original work and the Lookingglass
version, adapted by Heidi Stillman, does give cause for concern with its slow
start. But by the end of the evening the attentive viewer will be rewarded with
a real sense of the novel’s scope, humanity, and suspense (the story being a
murder mystery to go along with its other thematic bounties).
The novel weaves several plot lines into a unified
whole about the three Karamazov brothers (four if you count the bastard
Smerdyakov). There is the youngest, the saintly Alyosha. Ivan is the middle
brother, wracked by religious doubts that lead to a self-destructive cynicism
about God and man. Dmitri is the eldest, a volatile man in the grip of a
violent passion for a sluttish young beauty of the town named Grushenka. Towering over the family is the father, Fyodor, a
depraved sensualist who competes with Dmitri for Grushenka’s favors. It’s
Fyodor’s murder that drives the narrative to its gripping finale. For this production the Lookingglass performing space
has been configured into a theater in the round. Props do the work of scenery
in locating the action in late nineteenth century provincial Russia. A
three-walled room is periodically pushed
on and off stage, representing Fyodor’s home where he indulges in his
debaucheries and meets his violent end. The first act introduces the characters, but the
narrative interest doesn’t accelerate until the second act. The adaptation
locates most of the key events from the novel, including fragments of the
theological and ethical discussions that make the book such a feast of
intellectual stimulation. Most of the theological and philosophical discourse
falls to Ivan. He introduces a portion of the famous Grand Inquisitor episode
from the novel, a section often anthologized as a self-contained monologue that
describes Jesus’s return to earth in sixteenth century Seville, Spain. The focus of the adaptation is the interconnected
relationships between Fyodor and Dmitri in their lust for Grushenka, with
Dmitri’s scorned fiancée Katerina watching helplessly and resentfully from the
sidelines. Subplots flow like narrative streams into the main river of the
storyline, and may occasionally overwhelm viewers unfamiliar with the novel. The heart of the drama is Fyodor, an old man of
vicious appetites who wallows in his own degradation. He’s a vile but robust
villain, played with enormous perverse exuberance by Craig Spidle. Another
outstanding performance comes from Doug Hara as Alyosha, a young monk and a
good man who stands outside the emotional upheaval that engulfs his family,
Hara playing him with a striking blend of intelligence and unpretentious piety. The large ensemble generally does well, many of the
performers doubling in supplementary roles. The cast includes performances by
five children, all getting through their roles gamely when they are not
unintelligible or inaudible, a common malady among youthful actors. The women in the story are admirably played by Chaon
Cross as the erotic tease Grushenka who rises to self-sacrifice by the end of
the story. Louise Lamson is the discarded Katerina, a woman who turns
vindictive toward Dmitri after he abandons her for Grushenka. Eva Barr, with
hair dyed fiery red, provides comic relief.
Philip R. Smith’s Ivan starts slowly, but builds from
cool and matter of fact to a man finally broken by psychological guilt and
spiritual burdens. Joe Sikora bursts with angst and passion as Dmitri, playing
his character at full throttle nearly all his stage time. I would have liked to see
Laurence Grimm given a larger part as Smerdyakov, one of the novel’s most
fascinating characters. The Lookingglass adaptation keeps Smerdyakov in the
background until his third act explosion that is one of the play’s emotional
climaxes. As director, Stillman effectively orchestrates the
large cast through the complex story. The play would need double its present
length to adequately explore the riches of the novel but credit Stillman with
touching all the narrative bases. The backstage staff is led by Daniel Ostling (scenic
design), Mara Blumenfeld (costumes), Chris Binder (lighting), Ray Nardelli
(sound), and Rick Sims (original music).
The Lookingglass
has presented literary adaptations before, but none with the unbroken realism
of “The Brothers Karamazov.” The results
are impressive. Whether the production marks a new direction in the theater’s
artistic life remains to be scene. The next production is a revival of “Our
Town,” with a suggestion that George and Emily will be married on a trapeze, so
apparently the theater isn’t abandoning its dedication to theatrical adventure. “The Brothers Karamazov” runs through December 7 at
the Lookingglass Theatre in the Water Tower Place Water Tower, 821 North
Michigan Avenue. Performances are Wednesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m. and
Saturday and Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 to $60. Call 312 337
0665 or visit www.lookingglasstheatre.org. The show gets a
rating of 31/2 stars. Oct. 2008 Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com . ************************** Lookingglass Alice at
the Lookingglass Theatre By Dan Zeff CHICAGO—The
Lookingglass Theatre is staging its dazzling production of “Lookingglass Alice”
for the third time, and for the second consecutive summer. The theater should
be mandated to bring this show to Chicago every summer, establishing a warm
weather tradition in the manner of winter’s “A Christmas Carol.” That presumes
that the company can retain its extraordinary five-performer ensemble with its
inexhaustible energy and astonishing bag of visual tricks. The show, of course, is the Lookingglass spin on Lewis
Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” in an interpretation that Carroll
likely would not recognize but would heartily endorse. The show captures
Carroll’s whimsy and includes a considerable helping of his original text.
Lookingglass also offers acrobatics and other theatrical embellishments that
make the production so entertaining, and sometimes startling. The Lookingglass production runs about 100 minutes without an
intermission, opening with a stunning visual surprise I won’t spoil by
describing. Let it suffice that the show is worth seeing twice for that opening
moment, one time sitting in rows beginning with A and another time in rows
beginning with E. The story loosely follows the adventures of 7 year old Alice
as she tumbles down that magical rabbit hole into the wonderland of the
Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the White Knight, the Red Queen, Humpty Dumpty,
and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Alice adapts to her dreamlike journey quickly
enough to immediately decide that she wants to become a queen. The narrative
then charts the girl’s progress from chessboard square to square on her way to
her royal coronation. But the story is secondary at Lookingglass to the staging by
adapter-director David Caitlin and carried out by his quintet of athletic and
inventive players. Which brings us to Lauren Hirte, the Alice in the origin al
2005 production and its two summer revivals. Hirte can act, draw gasps from the
audience for her prowess and grace on various trapezes, and even play a decent
clarinet. Hirte captures Alice’s little girl charm and determination and the
production would be unthinkable without her. Hirte’s four colleagues play multiple roles, wear multiple
costumes, and perform with unflagging stamina and enthusiasm. Laurence DiStasi
starts off as a wistful and melancholy Lewis Carroll and steals all the scenes
as the White Knight cavorting perilously on a bicycle and unicycle. We first
see Jesse Perez as a giant and very red Red Queen. Later he joins Anthony
Fleming III as the hip-hop jiving Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Kevin
Douglas rounds out the Fab Five cast as the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, and
other sundry roles. And there are the stagehands who enter the action from time
to time, injecting modern realism into the evening and thereby enhancing the
surrealistic flavor of the action.
The wondrous visual moments include a wicket basket that
spouts a dozen metal folding chairs, Humpty Dumpty plummeting from a ladder through
an open trap door, and each time Hirte ascends from the ground for one of her
aerialist exhibitions (with no safety net or safety cable in sight). I thought this year’s edition was more raucous and busier
than the first two, but that was fine with the bumptious and predominantly
teenage capacity audience. I’m not sure the youthful spectators followed
Carroll’s nonsense poems or Alice’s symbolic march through the chess squares,
but they laughed and applauded all the gymnastics and comic bits, which dominated
the evening. The technical credits remain exceptional, led by Mara
Blumenfeld’s wardrobe of exotic and witty fantasy costumes, and Chris Binder’s
dramatic, occasionally blinding, lighting design. Dan Ostling designed the
scenery and Andre Pluess and Ray Nardelli the sound. “Lookingglass Alice” runs through August 31 at the
Lookingglass Theatre, 821 North Michigan Avenue inside the Water Tower Water
Works. Performances are Wednesday and Friday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday and
Saturday at 3 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $30 to $58. Call
312 337 0665. For more information, visit www.lookingglasstheatre.org.
The show gets a rating of four stars. July 2008 Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.
*************************
Nelson Algren:
For Keeps and a Day
by the Lookingglass Theatre
By Dan Zeff
CHICAGO—The only problem with “Nelson Algren: For Keeps and a Day” is the play’s title. Not only doesn’t it make much sense, it’s beside the point. This show by the Lookingglass Theatre does use Algren’s words, but it’s not about the author, it’s about the city of Chicago, and a remarkable show it is.
The Lookingglass is presenting the 70-minute performance piece at the Museum of Contemporary Art,
just a block away from the company’s normal home at the Water Tower.
This is the first live theatrical presentation I’ve seen at the MCA
that effectively utilized the museum’s auditorium.
The
show features Thomas J. Cox in a dazzling performance as Algren. He’s
the only live actor on the stage, delivering Algren’s language in a
continuous stream of poetic prose. Cox nails all the rhythms and
nuances of Algren’s language with such fluency and such narrative vigor
that the audience is liable to take the stunning performance for
granted. The actor and the words are wedded together in a seamless
whole of complete understanding. The memory work by itself must be
daunting. The expressive rendering of the text is astonishing. The play is an impressionistic collage of Chicago
history, Algren’s autobiography, and word pictures of the city and its
people and places. The presentation echoes Carl Sandberg’s 1914 free
verse poem “Chicago,” celebrating the “hog butcher” of the world. It’s
a tough love valentine to the city that Algren wrote. He celebrated the
city’s spirit and the richness of its diverse population. He also
recognized Chicago
as a city of gangsters, hustlers, and corrupt politicians, the city of
the 1919 Chicago Black Sox and of prostitutes who overdose on heroine
in cold dingy apartments. The
format of the show is simple. Cox delivers Algren’s texts either
sitting in front of a typewriter at an old desk or while roaming the
stage. The film images are projected onto a large square of white
fabric, and Cox periodically pulls smaller curtains of cloth across the
stage so we frequently are watching two sets of film images at the same
time. Much of Musial’s film is a cityscape of Chicago,
always in gritty black and white and often at night. There are
autobiographical interludes, especially of Algren as a boy from the
South Side who moves to the North Side and the culture shock that
entails. There are mini scenes from his youth and adolescence that look
like authentic candid camera film shots. The scenes were actually
filmed with local actors but their appearance is always persuasive in
their portrayals of time and place, specifically Chicago in the early years of the 20th century. The
play has the spontaneous quality of a jazz performance, enhanced by
on-stage musicians Kevin O’Donnell (percussion) and Bob Lovecchio
(bass), who lay down a swinging, and sometimes dramatic, carpet of
background jazz sounds composed by David Pavkovic. The
synchronicity between Musial’s film and Cox’s words is brilliant. And
for all the lyricism of the language and images, the play never turns
pretentious or obscure. The result is a comprehensive and convincing
portrait of Chicago, warts and all. But it’s a Chicago Algren obviously
loves: “Once you’ve become part of this particular patch, you’ll never
love another.” “Nelson Algren” thematically is a site specific show for Chicago
audiences, audiences who are likely to recognize the names of the
streets and the names of the ball players and the political figures
that flow throughout the evening. An outsider can still enjoy the play
without recognizing a name like Edward Hanrahan, but this is 70 minutes
directed at viewers who are generally, if not intimately, familiar with
the sights and sounds and personalities of the city. “Nelson
Algren” ultimately is a kind of small classic. Customers are urgently
advised to attend the show during its short MCA run because the
production is unthinkable without Thomas J. Cox and who knows if Cox
will ever return to the vehicle? Let’s just be grateful he’s with us
now. “Nelson Algren: For Keeps and a Day” runs through June 29 at the Museum of Contemporary Art,220 East Chicago Avenue. The performance dates vary. Tickets are $25 to $55. Call 312 337 0665.
The show gets a rating of four stars. June 2008 For more information, visit www.lookingglasstheatre.org. Contact Dan: zeffdaniel@yahoo.com ********************* Around the World in Eighty Days at the Lookingglass Theatre By Dan Zeff CHICAGO—Did Jules Verne write his adventure novel “Around the World in Eighty Days” with the Lookingglass Theatre in mind? The 1872 tale, with its opportunities for special effects and swashbuckling action scenes, is a perfect fit for the kind of creativity and imagination that’s earned the Chicago company its national reputation. The Lookingglass production does offer some eye- and ear-catching set pieces and clever touches throughout its two hours, but the emphasis is on storytelling, with visual whiz-bang coming in an honorable second. Indeed, about five years ago the Lifeline Theatre, with far fewer economic and technical resources, put on its own version of “Around the World” that provided more wry and inventive staging bits than the Lookingglass version. Lookingglass adaptor/director Laura Eason obviously is entranced with the narrative possibilities of the Verne story. She certainly does not neglect the visual opportunities that reside in the story, but her interpretation pays more attention to people than to special effects. That may account for the leisurely first half of the staging, which still builds into a surprisingly emotional and intense (and satisfying) conclusion.
To complicate Fogg’s daunting project, a Scotland Yard policeman named Inspector Fix stalks the Englishman, convinced that Fogg robbed the Bank of England of 55,000 pounds and is using the round-the-world expedition to divert authorities from his crime. Between Fix’s interference and a succession of unexpected emergencies Fogg faces in assorted lands, the story turns into one hairbreadth escape after another as the resourceful Fogg desperately attempts to stay on schedule.
The only visually arresting moment in the first act comes in India where an assemblage representing a giant elephant descends from the rafters to transport Fogg and his party to their next destination. In the second act the actors on stage erect a wind sled to sweep the characters across the frozen plains of America and then construct a sailing ship to carry everyone across the Atlantic. Here audiences can enjoy the Lookingglass at its more stylish and imaginative.The story begins in Victorian London. An unflappable and well-to-do English bachelor named Phileas Fogg bets fellow members of the Reform Club that he can travel around the world in 80 days, an unheard of achievement in those days. So with his French valet Passepartout, Fogg embarks on his daring exploit. The book then recounts all the obstacles that Fogg and his valet endure and overcome before they can return to London in time to win the wager.
The
focus of the story resides in the character of Fileas Fogg, played with
stiff-upper-lip British stoicism by Philip R. Smith. Under Smith’s
beautifully shaded performance, Fogg’s icy exterior gradually melts
under the stresses of his journey and even more from his growing regard
for the beautiful Mrs. Aouda, a young widow he rescues from ritual
death in India. It’s a very different Phileas Fogg we see at the end of
the play, thanks to Smith’s sensitively wrought transformation of
Fogg’s personality. Kevin
Douglas beautifully plays off the phlegmatic Fogg as the bumptious
Passepartout, the acrobatic little valet with his high energy and
heart-on-the-sleeve sentiment. Ravi Batista further enriches the story
with her warm and understated portrayal of Mrs. Aouda. And Joe Dempsey
is a hoot as Fogg’s nemesis Inspector Fix. The
remaining four members of the ensemble portray a dizzying variety of
characters, from Asian exotics to frontier American gunslingers. The
frenzy of costume changes behind the scenes must be orchestrated with
drill team precision to get everyone on stage precisely on cue in their
vast wardrobe of colorful period costumes. The admirable four
complementary performers consist of Rom Barhordar, Ericka Ratcliff,
Nick Sandys, and Anish Jethmalani (especially entertaining as a wry
Indian traveling companion in the early scenes.
Jacqueline
and Richard Penrod are responsible for the sets, abetted by Stephanie
Barkley and Galen Pejeau’s properties designs. Mara Blumenfeld earns
highest honors for her countless authentic looking nineteenth century costumes, East and West. Lee Keenan designed the lighting and Joshua Horvath the sound. Laura
Eason directs with a shrewd eye toward the human element in the story.
She builds the action to a nifty climax, so when Fogg enters his club
to claim his wager with only seconds to spare, the opening night
audience broke into spontaneous applause. “Around
the World in Eighty Days” runs through June 1 at the Lookingglass
Theatre in the Water Tower Water Works, 821 North Michigan Avenue.
Performances are Wednesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and
Sunday at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 to $55. Call 312 337 0665 or
contact www.lookingglasstheatre.org. The show gets a rating of 3½ stars. April 2008
********************************
Hephaestus
at the Lookingglass Theatre
By Dan Zeff
CHICAGO—It’s early in the year but we likely won’t get 70 minutes of more exhilarating entertainment all season than the Lookingglass Theatre revival of its 2005 hit “Hephaestus.” The show mounts stunning circus acts within a slender narrative framework about Hephaestus, the blacksmith of the gods in Greek mythology. Toss in echoes of Ringling Brothers, the Cirque du Soleil, Blue Man Group, and a dash of break dancing and the result is irresistible.
Some audience members may have seen some of the acts in “Hephaestus” in other circus performances, but never in such an intimate setting. Viewers in the first row have to tuck in their legs occasionally to avoid contact with the performers. And with one exception, I saw no safety devices protecting the aerialists from mishap. This is circus up close and personal, without a bleating ringmaster or unfunny clowns.
The show is constructed as a play within a play. A little girl in her nightgown loses herself in the story of Hephaestus to block out the roar of her arguing parents off stage. The girl narrates the story of Hephaestus, born deformed and thrown in disgust from Mount Olympus to the earth by Hera, his mother. The story then turns into a series of hooks for the circus acts, with the performers assuming the role of assorted gods.
By the end of the intermissionless evening, we have enjoyed breathtaking exhibitions of bungee jumping, high wire walking, acrobatics, hula hoops, juggling, and other sundry circus skills. The production was created by Lookingglass company member Tony Hernandez, a former circus performer who takes the role of Hephaestus and co-directs with Heidi Stillman. Hernandez the only true actor in the production and brings to brooding life the anger and anguish of the crippled god. Hernandez participates in a couple of the circus acts, notably as part of a three-person pyramid on the high wire that must be as dangerous as it looks.
The remainder of the cast is drawn from international circus stars. A Russian named Almas Meirmanov (the war god Ares) does terrific work as an aerialist and is the lead man in the daunting high wire pyramid. Anya Stankus of Ukraine makes a sultry goddess Aphrodite, dancing before Hephaestus, her future husband, with her hula hoops and rubber-jointed acrobatics. Anna Vigeland, a young lady with a Canadian background, performed a show stopping solo as the goddess Iris, twisting and tumbling on a slack rope high above the stage. Lijana Wallenda-Hernandez, of the famous German troupe the Flying Wallendas, does a couple of dazzling aerial turns as Hera and sits precariously on an unanchored chair during the perilous pyramid walk on the high wire.
A group of young men called the Silver Guys (created out of metal by Hephaestus) contribute hand balancing and other feats, all in silver costumes and makeup. Richie McGuire, one of the Silver Guys, performed an extraordinary few seconds of break dancing. The young gymnast’s contribution to the evening’s success, though brief, is extraordinary.
Abigail Droeger is the little girl narrator and the only performer who speaks during the show. She acted well and spoke and sang with clarity, a considerable difficulty in the 2005 premiere of the show.
Everyone on stage deserves mention, so to complete the record, applause also goes to Jarrett Dapier, Nich Galzin, Viktoria Grimmy, and Rani Waterman.
The musical accompaniment leans toward the pulsating rush of percussionists pounding away on giant drums on a balcony above the stage. The stage is bare except for a large trapdoor that represents Hephaestus’s forge and other sites. From time to time performers descend from the rafters, sometimes head first, into the fiery space. Brian Sidney Bembridge designed the setting as well as the highly dramatic lighting and the rainstorm that opens the story. Lilja Wallenda-Hernandez designed the sawdust-and-tinsel circus costumes as well as the choreography for the chorus of young women who opened the show with a lovely ballet-like synchronized act with silk draperies above the stage. The evocative sound design and original music compositions were contributed by Josh Horvath, Ray Nardelli, Kevin O’Donnell, Rick Sims, and Andre Pluess.
While the concept remains the same, the 2008 “Hephaestus” includes several new acts. While I admired the earlier version, the current production knocked me out. The new acts are an upgrade, and the aural and physical staging is much more dramatic. It’s truly a can’t-miss event for the entire family.
“Hephaestus” runs through February 24 at the Looking glass Theatre in the Water Tower Water Works at 821 North Michigan Avenue. Performances are Tuesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 to $60. Call 312 337 0665.
For more information contact: www.lookingglasstheatre.org
The show gets a rating of four stars.
Jan. 2008
Contact us : zeffdaniel@yahoo.com