Tuesday, January 26, 2010

American Buffalo at Steppenwolf

Hey, we live in Chicago. We should be seeing some Mamet right? With Tracy Letts? Even better? And a really, really terrific turn by Housian Patrick Andrews.








From Chris Jones's review: "Trapped behind a computer, writing Pulitzer Prize-winning plays, Tracy Letts clearly has accumulated some pent-up aggression. Clad in polyester and revealing a few cheesy chest hairs, the actor-writer unleashes some of that energy as Teach , the most colorful of the three messed-up characters in the Lincoln Avenue junk store that holds David Mamet’s “American Buffalo.” ...

Morton has created a very credible world. Thanks also to Kevin Depinet’s very clever set, you feel like this place, and the people who hang out there, could really exist (I’ve always imagined Mamet was writing about somewhere near the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Byron Street in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood).

You do see in Patrick Andrews, though, a hugely promising actor who knows how to inhabit a lonely character, living on the edge. Bob is perhaps one of Mamet’s most autobiographically revealing characters. He looks for a family, a community and finds only Chicago hustlers, who seem to care but don’t know how. The more of his pain we feel, the better.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Cloud Gate at Harris Theatre

We've seen Cloud Gate before, and this piece was really wonderful.














"Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, Asia ’s leading contemporary dance company, returns to Chicago blending Eastern and Western dance styles with Lin Hwai-min's internationally renowned signature work, Moon Water. Moon Water is a contemporary exploration of the Tai Chi Tao Yin movement, set to JS Bach’s exquisite Six Suites for Solo Cello. During this breathtaking performance, water sweeps across the entire stage and is reflected by a wall of mirror suspended midair, creating a stunning on-stage work of art."

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Icarus at Lookingglass

Amazing physical theatre, but the heart of the story didn't quite deliver.














From Chris Jones's review "No troupe in America is more qualified than the Lookingglass Theatre Company to create a show about Icarus, the mythological kid who flew too close to the sun. For at Lookingglass, they really know how to make someone fly. In David Catlin’s new “Icarus,” the sequence in which the overreaching young adventurer with hopeful wings and fickle wax soars and falls to Earth is nothing short of stunning. Thanks to the fusion of choreography and circus skills, you feel as if you really see Icarus (Lindsey Noel Whiting) take wing. And when he crumples and melts above your head, you feel the sudden jolt of pain his loving father Daedalus (Lawrence E. DiStasi) must feel in that moment."