The glittering indoor Spiegeltent ZaZou has unveiled another entertainment confection for downtown Chicago audiences: TEATRO ZINZANNI has now morphed into CABARET ZAZOU. The latest edition, CABARET ZAZOU’s LUMINAIRE, once again combines powerhouse vocals, breathtaking aerial acts, and a little bit of slapstick comedy for over two hours of dinner theater fun. 

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In CLYDE’S, playwright Lynn Nottage posits that salvation comes in the form of a sandwich…in more ways than one. Clyde, an ex-convict, runs her sandwich shop at a truck stop (expressively also referred to as a “liminal space” in the script) with an iron fist and a sharp attitude. She hires fellow formerly incarcerated employees to whip up sandwiches, and along the way, decide what they’re going to do next with their lives. Thus, CLYDE’S simultaneously pays homage to the transcendent nature of an excellent meal and also the transcendent experience of working at the sandwich shop. The former is a metaphor more grounded in realism; the latter takes the play into a more elusive state. 

Continue reading “Review: CLYDE’S at Goodman Theatre” →

Steppenwolf’s season opener THE MOST SPECTACULARLY LAMENTABLE TRIAL OF MIZ MARTHA WASHINGTON is a wild fever dream of a play. James Ijames’s play asks audiences to grapple with the question of who is truly free in America and at what cost do we perpetuate cycles of oppression and abuse, even though they may fall under the guise of forward movement. 

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Joseph Kesselring’s 1941 play ARSENIC AND OLD LACE combines farce, explicitly dark comedy, and a little murder. Director Ron OJ Parson’s decision to envision the central Brewster family as a wealthy Black American family gives the play a modern twist. ARSENIC AND OLD LACE has historically been performed by mainly white actors—though there’s no reason in the text for this to be so. Seeing the mischievous and murderous sisters Abby and Martha Brewster played by TayLar and Celeste Williams adds to the power dynamic at play: Now it’s two elderly Black women who set on a mission to help elderly white men find peace—with help from some poisoned elderberry wine. 

Continue reading “Review: ARSENIC AND OLD LACE at Court Theatre” →