Fragments and Susan Marshall

This actually turned out to be a great day of theatre, but the matinée production of Samuel Beckett's Fragments at Chicago Shakes was the highlight. Stunning. Stunning. Stunning.














From Chris Jones's review in the Tribune:

"Brook's collection of five short, rarely seen Beckett playlets, mostly penned in the 1950s, lasts an hour. In keeping with the 82-year-old Brook's longtime minimalist aesthetic, which grows ever more minimal, there is, well, a minimum of scenery and other accouterments beyond the voice and body of the actor. Jos Houben, Kathryn Hunter and Marcello Magni, three veterans of the justly renowned Theatre de Complicite, are traversing two oceans and three continents performing and re-performing, and thus perfecting, the same few minutes of acting in "Rough for Theatre I," "Rockaby," "Act Without Words II," "Neither," and "Come and Go." And given that Beckett was notorious for choreographing on the page every beat on the stage, this isn't exactly keep-it-fresh improv. It's a progressive journey into the depths of Beckett's creative soul. Whatever else you may think about this show, I guarantee you'll sense the unusual depth of the subterranean voyage."

In the evening we saw Susan Marshall & Company at The Dance Center with a performance of the Bessie Award-winning Cloudless. From Columbia's blub: "Structured as a collection of poetic short stories, Cloudless consists of 18 brief dances that gather emotional force as the evening progresses. Distilled to the edge of abstraction, the choreography ranges from explosive marriages of physical theatre and formality to intimate dances that use minimal elements to maximum effect."