Review: CARDBOARD PIANO at TimeLine Theatre Company
CARDBOARD PIANO is honest, tragic, and raises many important questions without providing answers.
Review: LELA & CO at Steep Theatre
You don’t expect a show advertised with a partially-eaten pink cake to thwack you on the heart – but Steep’s production of LELA & CO does just that.
Steep’s EARTHQUAKES IN LONDON Is a Long and Uneven Journey
Over the course of Mike Bartlett’s three-hour play EARTHQUAKES IN LONDON, now in its U.S. premiere at Steep Theatre Company, he attempts to tackle themes both universal—quite literally atmospheric and cosmological—and personal.
Inside WASTWATER Part 3: Sound
My favorite thing about designing sound is that it exists for an audience in a primal, subliminal way. They can’t see or touch it, but it’s intertwined with all of our perceptions of reality and being.
Inside WASTWATER Part 2: Dialect
The principal mistake that many productions make when using dialects is that dialect becomes an add-on, a superficial layering on character rather than the mode by which a character expresses themself. Just as our respective geographic origins affect the way that we interact with other people, a theatrical character’s cultural, regional, and class background greatly reflect how an individual articulates the value system comprised of those elements. In other words, our dialect in many ways articulates us whether we love that or reject it. So, in exploring dialect work for WASTWATER—set around Heathrow airport—my goal is to mine the dialect of the region for as many tools as possible to help our team unlock that us within the ensemble of characters of this piece.
BAT BOY Provides Delectably Peculiar and Dark Musical Entertainment
Delightfully quirky and darkly comic, BAT BOY: THE MUSICAL makes its Chicago premiere in this Griffin Theatre production with direction by Scott Weinstein. The Den Theatre proves an ideal venue for this strange and wonderful musical with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming. And Griffin Theatre’s ensemble delivers with vocal expertise and keen acting, milking the show’s material for maximum comedic value and audience delight.
INSIDE WASTWATER Part 1: Why This Play? Why Now?
In this 4-part feature, PerformInk continues it’s INSIDE series and takes you behind the scenes of Steep’s production of WASTWATER, directed by Robin Witt.
Chicago Premiere of HEATHERS Triumphs as Both Totally Awesome and Heartwarming
HEATHERS: THE MUSICAL manages to be both satirical and at times legitimately moving, largely echoing the biting tone of the original film.