Critics theater picks for 6/30-7/3
By Kate DriesCritics theater picks for 6/30-7/3
By Kate DriesUpdated at: 2:45pm on 6/30/11 - Now with Jonathan Abarbanel!
Kelly Kleiman
Laura Molzahn
Catch two of Chicago’s funniest groups in a free preview tonight, Thursday. Lucky Plush Productions and members of 500 Clown are putting their heads together to create The Better Half, a take-off on Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play Gaslight, produced on Broadway in 1941 (under the title Angel Street) and made into a film in 1944. Set in 1880, this melodrama involves a husband who schemes to convince his wife she’s mad—but Lucky Plush and 500 Clown are playing it anything but straight. A preview I saw in April had people on the floor. The finished product is scheduled to open at the MCA in October, but you can get a glimpse of the creative process at a one-night-only work-in-progress showing, 6 PM in the MCA theater.Lots of theater romanticizes old age. Not Bruce Graham’s The Outgoing Tide. Directed by BJ Jones and starring John Mahoney and Rondi Reed—funny and horrifying as a long-married couple—it has, not the ring of truth, but the clamorous cacophony of truth. Extended through July 3 at Northlight Theatre, it’s also a true pleasure. I’ll never forget (unless I fall into dementia) the guy shuffling out behind us when it ended, decked out in his WWII veteran’s cap, who called after us, “Hey, kids! Have a wonderful day!”
Jonathan Abarbanel
“Jungle Red!” The very words raise the hair on the necks of those who love bitch wit and revenge served cold (as it should be) and Upper Crust 1930’s women’s fashion. They are (1) the color of a lipstick and (2) a catch phrase from Clare Booth’s quintessential 1936 comedy-of-manners, The Women, and it’s onstage now at Circle Theatre in Oak Park. Given Circle’s sense of production values, one may expect gorgeous gowns. The question is how they will treat the play itself, with its large, all-female cast. Will they serve it up as high camp, as has sometimes been the case? Or as an earnest period piece? Ironically, author Clare Booth was a powerful, independent career woman quite unlike the women of her play, who rely on the unseen men in their lives for validation. The Women runs at Circle Theatre through Aug. 14.The cirques are back in town, both of them. Cirque du Soleil has pitched its iconic blue-and-yellow air-conditioned tent next to the United Center with its latest lavishly costumed and scored opus, Ovo, a fanciful interpretation of insect life, playing through Aug. 21. Meanwhile, Cirque Shanghai is back for another summer-long run at Navy Pier’s Skyline Stage, featuring the best highly physical acts from China’s seemingly-endless supply of tumblers, jugglers, acrobats, aerialists and cyclists through Sept. 5. If Cirque Shanghai is less of a high-concept and unique environment, it counteracts that with truly family-friendly ticket prices. Best four-person family package at Cirque du Soleil is $150, while a four-person family can see Cirque Shanghai for as little as $65.