REVIEW: Teenage Dick, Livestreamed (sort of) from Theater Wit.

I just got through seeing the Livestreamed production of Teenage Dick by Mike Lew.  I wrote about it a couple of days ago here, and they very graciously offered me a ticket to see the show.

In short, it's a great play, well worth seeing.

The basic idea is that they have transplanted the story of Richard III into high school, where a boy with cerebral palsy (Richard Gloucester, played by MacGregor Arney) has it in his mind to become the class president over the teenage football quarterback Eddie (played by Ty Fanning). Along the way, he reads Machiavelli, confides in his also disabled friend Buck (played by Tamara Rozofsky), falls in love with Eddy's old girl friend Ann (played by Courtney Rikki Green), and dupes his high school teacher Ms. York, played by Liz Cloud.  Also in the mix is Clarissa, a Christian goody-two-shoes who also wants to be class president.  She is played by Kathleen Niemann.


Although the play follows pretty closely the plot of Richard III, it is set in high school, so bullying, twitter, Instagram selfies, online taunting, and hooking up all have their moments in the show.   The play has heightened language (and some swearing, so kids beware).  Richard speaks about half the time as if he were a Shakespearian villain and half the time if he was in the HBO version of Glee. (After the show, during the post-show discussion, I imagined a Glee version of this show, which would be interesting, but not nearly so well written or acted.)

Top Left:  Richard and Eddie.  Top Right: Richard and Buck.
Bottom Left:  Richard and Ann.   Bottom Right: Ann, Buck, and Richard. 
All photos by Charles Osgood.  Provided by the theater.

Richard, very well played by MacGregor Arney.

All of the cast are great, but I thought that MacGregor Arney as Richard did an especially wonderful job of striking a balance between power-mad Richard and a boy trying to be a human.  It's a hard needle to thread, but he manages it. There's a moment at the end where it was a bit of a cliff-hanger as to whether or not the play would follow Richard III's tragic conclusion (and rather than spoil it, I will urge you to watch the play and decided for yourself. )

Ann, played by Courtney Green, in a moment of indecision.

 I was also taken with Courtney Green's Ann, who has a meta-moment late in the play where she tells her story for a minute.  This was haunting and wonderful and reminded me of a moment in another play about disability, The Boys Next Door by Tom Griffin.   In that play, one of the retarded men steps out of his retarded character for a moment, to speak about what it is that he really wants, and I remember wanting to weep.  (The production I saw at Trinity Rep featured the amazing Ed Hall, in what turned out to be one of his last performances there, and it may be a moment in the theatre that I never forget.)  Ann's last monologue had a similar feel, and there was a symbolic moment that gave me chills. At the post-discussion, I wondered if that scene was an homage to the Boys Next Door (there are a number of homages and references to other plays, including Macbeth, Hamlet, and Hamilton  -- Eddie says "Talk Less, Shower More")  The cast didn't know, and the playwright wasn't there, so I will ask him on Twitter and report back in the comments.

Ann and Richard go to the school dance.

The play is not actually livestreamed-- it was filmed the day before all the theaters got shut down with a live audience. 

When you buy a ticket, you get an invitation to login to Vimeo about 15 minutes before showtime.  They ask you to start the video at showtime, and then after the show, there is a GoToMeeting Livestream after the event.  I recommend doing that.  It was interesting to talk to the cast, and see other audience members from far away.  (Seattle, Boston, and Calgary were all in the house that night)


Although I would prefer to see a live play, this is the second-best thing.  You get a lot of the experience of the theatre, mediated by your phone, and you never have to leave your house.  The camera barely moves (Equity rules), but they capture all of the action in a way that is almost as good as being in the room.





Teenage Dick will be playing through April 19 at screens in your house.  Tickets are limited by Equity Union rules to 98 per show, so don't miss out.  To purchase tickets, visit the Theater Wit website.

Macbeth is Magic at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater!

I took my 9 and half-year-old son last weekend to see MacBeth at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre.  The play is getting a lot of ballyhoo (and rightly so)  It is running at  Navy Pier through June 24.

Directed by Aaron Posner and Teller (of Penn and Teller) the show features a fair amount of spooky and macabre magic, as well as some beautifully staged Shakespeare.  READ AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTORS OF THE SHOW.


Here's the preview video of the show:

A troubled Lady Macbeth (Chaon Cross) is surrounded by the three Weird Sisters
 (Theo Germaine, McKinley Carter, and Emily Ann Nichelson). Photo by Liz Lauren.

My son was super excited about the show, primarily because it was being directed by Teller, and he loves magic.  I also mentioned there'd be swordfights.  I think I may have oversold it to him, however, and I think he expected to see a magic show that may have had some acting in it rather than a pretty brilliant play that happens to have some very good magic in it.  And there were swordfights, but it wasn't like the whole play was one giant swordfight.

I'd prepared him by telling him the story, which is relatively complicated (explaining the "no man born by woman" was also a little difficult)  but what was true was I hadn't prepared him for the macabre witches who dominate the show and seem to appear everywhere.  If it were a Greek play, they'd be the Chorus.  They are still a chorus because they do sing throughout the show, accenting some of the scarier parts.  (There's also an excellent percussionist, who plays a lot of sound effects in full view of the audience)  He thought the witches were "Creepy"  I will give it to him, they really are.

The Weird Sisters (McKinley Carter and Theo Germaine) confront Macbeth
 (Ian Merrill Peakes) with a prophecy of epic proportions. Photo by Liz Lauren.

I hadn't prepared him for some of the brutality in the show.  There's a fair amount of gore, and death, and just cruelty.  I wasn't quite prepared myself. I knew it was coming because I know the play pretty well, but I'd forgotten the extent of it.  When the murderers come and kill MacDuff's family, it happens right on stage, and as the child's neck gets cracked, it's a chilling moment- I held his hand and winced.

Lady Macbeth (Chaon Cross) commands her husband (Ian Merrill Peakes) to return the daggers to the scene of their crime. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

This play has a lot of classic lines (Is This a Dagger I see before me?  Out OUt Damned Spot, A Tale told by a Madman, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.)  The language is wonderful, and although a little hard for a 9 year old to parse, he did a great job at sticking with it.

The other thing that I'd forgotten is how much humor there is in the show.  The directors do a great job of eking it out.  The scene with the drunken Porter was hilariously funny (played by Mathew Floyd Miller) as were a few of the asides by MacBeth.  These moments of comedy set in relief the doom and gloom that make up a good portion of the play and brighten it (at least for a brief moment.)

Macbeth (Ian Merrill Peakes) and Macduff (Timothy D. Stickney) fight to the death. Photo by Liz Lauren.

The performances by everyone were quite good, with a special shoutout to the witches McKinley Carter, Theo Germaine, and Emily Ann Nichelson.  Of course the two Scots Mr. Mac and his lady were quite good (Ian Merrill Peakes and Chaon Cross, respectively)  I also want to shout out the scene between Duncan's son Malcolm and MacDuff.  MacDuff comes to England, and there's a scene in which Malcolm plays it off as if he was a spoiled brat.  I don't remember this scene from previous shows I've witnessed, and the scene is palpable and full of delicious tension.  It is quite well done.  (Later in that scene, MacDuff gets the word that his family has been murdered, and it is again heart-wrenching.)

Macbeth (Ian Merrill Peakes) weighs the consequences of the path he has taken in MACBETH, adapted and directed by Aaron Posner and Teller, in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, playing now through June 24, 2018. Photo by Liz Lauren.

I highly recommend seeing the production, and yes, bringing your kid.  You will have plenty to talk about on the ride home!

To find out more and to purchase tickets, visit https://www.chicagoshakes.com/plays_and_events/macbeth

Tickets start at $40, although there are special prices for under age 35.

Travelogue: London (part 2): Tower of London, Golden Hinde, the play that goes wrong.

Because of the recent train disaster, I didn't really get to talk about the stuff we did Wednesday-Saturday (well briefly, about Harry Potter on Saturday) but wanted to chronicle more thoroughly our London adventure.  I'm getting further and further behind on my travel chronicling!  I will endeavor to catch up.

OUR LONDON TRIP This post is part of the travelogue of our London Trip 2017. If you'd like to read the posts in chronological order they are below. Part 1:Travelogue London: Arrival Part 2: Travelogue London: The Tower of London/Golden Hind/Play That Goes Wrong Part 3: Travelogue London: Hampton Court Palace Part 4: Travelogue London:  Buckingham, Hamley's, Posh Tea, and an Old Enemy Part 5: Travelogue London: The Making of Harry Potter (coming soon) Part 6: Travelogue London: 48 hours of very hard travel by train.

On Wednesday, we did quite a lot.  Here's the rough breakdown:

TOWER OF LONDON

We got up a little later than we wanted and made our way over to the Tower of London.  We'd walked by it the day before, it was on our London Pass, and it was something we definitely wanted to do.

It was raining a little bit, but fortunately, we'd brought our umbrellas.  We walked in and even in the rain it was pretty crowded. We wanted to take the Yeoman tour (they are supposed to be funny) but one had just left, so we decided to see the Crown Jewels on our own, and come back for the tour.  There was a line of about 35 minutes (supposedly) when we went in, but we cleared it in about 20 minutes.

We saw the Crown Jewels which were pretty cool, but very crowded.  Sadly I did not get to try on a crown,  although they do have a virtual area where kids can see themselves in a crown.  Weirdly, I didn't even try.  (But my son did!)

Buy this on Amazon.

We came back to the tour of the Yeoman with about 3 minutes to go, and waited for about 20 minutes until a guy came out and said Next tour in half an hour.  So we kiboshed that but instead did the walking tour on our own of the tower walls.  We skipped the dungeon tour (which was supposed to be incredibly gory and torture filled, and AA did not want any of that ("creepy!") so we walked through the tower walls, where the king used to live in the 1300s, then ate lunch at the tower, which was surprisingly good, and probably much better than prisoners were used to getting.  The most fascinating thing to me was how small the king's area for sleeping was (Considering he was a king)  It was probably quite sumptuous in those days, but for us, not so much.

At the gift shop I bought AA a book about all the stuff he missed.  They had a whole series of books about London and England from a kid's point of view- quite funny books in the Horrible Histories series.  I really think they are great.  Aaron complained that this book was too gory but he read it all, and he remembers a lot of it.  They are written very cheekily with a little bit of London attitude and I found them funny and informative.

My son tries on the Crowned Jewels (virtually)
Not sure why I didn't!  Next Time!

One of the things I really liked were all of the myths/superstitions about the Tower.  There's a myth/legend going about that if the Ravens ever leave the tower of London, the Tower will fall.  So to this day, they keep at least 6 ravens in the tower.  It's weird and barbaric and totally in keeping with what I know about England.  Love it!



As we started to exit, there was a little play going on, where the commoners were grousing about their taxes and threatening to rebel (which they actually did in the 1380's, one of the few times the secure Tower of London has been taken over.)

The play was quite fun, and I actually wanted to see more of it.  But we had to get going, because I was going to see one of my old college chums and her husband.

 I would happily go back to the Tower the next time I am in London and spend some more time there.   The architecture is amazing, and the history of it (over 1000 years!) just makes me awed.

(Although there are so many other things I didn't do, that I don't know if it will get first priority next time)

THE GOLDEN HIND

After that, we walked down the road to the City Hall to meet my friend Alison and her husband.  I hadn't seen Alison in about 5 years (she came to NY and we did a walking tour of Battery Park City with AA) so it was nice to see her, meet her husband, and have her see how the boy has progressed.  She was very complimentary about him (and I will take full credit!)

We walked the Southbank of the Thames, through the Clink area (former London Prison) and saw the replica of the Golden Hinde, Sir Francis Drake's ship with which he circumnavigated the globe.  It was pretty amazing to consider how many people would live in these tiny areas for a year or more at a time under terrible conditions.  (Most of the under part of the boat I couldn't stand -under it was too short.

The boat itself has also circumnavigated the globe as well!  The docent told me that it had been to Newport, New York, and lots of other places as well.

If you are on that side of the river, it's a cheap self-guided tour, but the boy and I and Alison's husband Julian had a great time touching every rope, asking the guide about the rope and pulley system, and peering out the tiny windows.

(I just looked it up, and it looks like it may have closed: http://www.goldenhinde.com/.  We asked a lot of questions, but I didn't think it was THAT many to close it down!  Unless this is a different organization, or the website is just old?  I don't see anything in Yelp about it closing.) 

I would happily waste my
time here as well!

After that we continued onward, walking past the Globe theatre, the Southbank theatre, and the Tate Modern.  We didn't go in to any of these (another time) as we needed to take our leave of Alison and Julian to grab a quick dinner and go to the theatre.  Of course I forgot to take a picture with Alison because I am a dolt.

But I grabbed a bunch of fun pictures, including the Trash cans of the South Bank, a shark tank adventure that we didn't do (supporting some kind of crazy shark movie) and me posing with Laurence Olivier.

Selfie in front of the Globe Theatre.  (hello Mr. Shakespeare!)

Shark tank on the South Bank.  In support of
a dumb-looking movie.  But an interesting idea!

I believe that Sir Laurence and I share a striking resemblance!  (But I'm biased)

 THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG

We stopped at Covent Garden, went into one of my favorite stores in the world (Pollocks Toy Theatre Shop), took an obligatory selfie at the PUnch and Judy Pub.

Surprisingly, there weren't street performers going at the time, so we grabbed a quick dinner, and then headed off to the Duchess Theatre to see THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG.  It was a marvelously funny farce, in which an amateur theatre society attempts to put on a murder mystery and the set literally falls apart.  Seriously, the set is another character in this play.

All of the characters were delightful, really a lot of fun.  My son really loved it, especially the surly working class stage manager, who is constantly looking for (and sometimes playing inadvertently) his Duran Duran CD.

We had a great time at the play, but we were so tired after this pretty busy day that we decided to take a
cab home.  We had an early day planned for the next day too!

The cast of the Play that goes Wrong.  It was very very funny!

Pollocks Toy Shop.  I especially love their Toy Theatres!

Obligatory selfie in front of Punch and Judy Pub.

REVIEW: Romeo and Juliet at Chicago Shakespeare

Through March 25, there's a classic (and abridged) version of Romeo and Juliet appearing onstage at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre on Navy Pier, and its full of love, intrigue, feuds, forgotten letters, sword fights, and a real life bird.

"For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

Well, I can't vouch for the bird at your performance, but at the performance I saw, a real life bird was flying around the theatre,  and seemed to be making its cues on time.  I'm not sure if the bird is an Equity member or not, but it deserves some kudos.  It made the following exchange between Romeo and Juliet particularly apt:

JULIET 

Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day. 

It was the nightingale, and not the lark, 

That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear. 

Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree. 

Believe me, love, it was the nightingale. 

ROMEO 

It was the lark, the herald of the morn, No nightingale. 

Look, love, what envious streaks 

Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east. 

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day 

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. 

I must be gone and live, or stay and die.

Wildlife? Or perhaps a very clever animatronic?  It didn't really matter, because the important part of our delightful afternoon was what was on the stage, not flying over it.

The show is a wonderfully clear and insightful version of Romeo and Juliet.  It's been cut down to 90 minutes, and if you didn't already know the play, you probably won't miss it.  The show is designed for younger audiences (It's part of Chicago Shakes Short Shakespeare Series- they are doing school shows at the theatre during the week, have a public performance every Saturday for 4 weeks, and then embark on a 4 week bus and truck tour throughout the Midwest. )

The opening fight between Montagues and Capulets, with
Benvolio (Andrea San Miguel, center) intervening.
"Do you bite your thumb at me, sir?"
photo by Liz Lauren courtesy of Chicago Shakes

The show starts with a prologue, but not the prologue that Shakespeare wrote.  Rather it is an appeal from one of the actors to listen to the words of Shakespeare, and if you can't understand the words, listen to the tone.  You will figure out what is going on by what we are doing and how we sound, even if you can't get all the words.  It was a very nice opening for a young audience.

About 10 years ago, I toured in a school production of Much Ado About Nothing, also severely cut down (You can read my journal about that process in this open topic on the WELL:  Shakespeare In A Hurry ) We had a similar prologue, but it was not nearly as nicely said or as nicely couched.  We started doing it because we found the better prepared our students were to see the show, the better the show went.

Romeo (Nate Santana) beseeches Juliet (Emma Ladji)
in the famous balcony scene.
photo by Liz Lauren courtesy of Chicago Shakes

But back to R& J.  The acting is all well done.  They've done some gender neutral casting (the Prince is a woman, as is Benvolio. (The woman playing Benvolio is also the fight captain for the whole show!)  And Romeo and Juliet, although not 14 years old as is theorized by Shakespearean scholars, do a great job of showing their instant attraction for one another, and speaking the entirely too florid love poems to each other.  Tybolt and Mercutio are beautifully hotheaded, and the tension between Montagues and Capulets is seen from the beginning.  There's actually quite a lot of stage combat in this show, and that kept my 8 year old son and his 8 year old friend from flagging when the language got a little too much for them.  Chicago Shakes recommends 10+.

The show is of course a tragedy, but there's a lot of comedy in the play as well.  The nurse has some wonderfully comic lines and delivery, as does Mercutio.  The comedy lessens the tension, but also makes the tragedy sadder.  By the end, when [SPOILER ALERT]Romeo poisons himself because he thinks Juliet is dead (he didn't get the Friar's letter), and then Juliet wakes up, and stabs herself because Romeo is dead, I found myself crying.  And I already knew what was going to happen!

Mercutio (Brian Grey, right) has Tybalt (Sam Pearson) at point.
But that's not the way it ends.
photo by Liz Lauren courtesy of Chicago Shakes

I want to make a particular shout out the sound designer, Mikhail Fiksel, who did an amazing job of scoring the show with non-traditional music.  The fight between Mercutio and Tybalt, which has some twists and turns, is made particularly beautiful due to the music, which underscores the menace perfectly.  I really felt that the sound design was an extra and necessary character in the play, and I don't often say that.

At the end of each production, there will be a Q& A afterwards, followed by a "meet the cast" session in the lobby.

In short, I urge you to see it, even if you've had bad Shakespearean experiences previously.  This is a great production to cut your teeth (or bite your thumb) on.

MORE INFO & PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE:   https://www.chicagoshakes.com/plays_and_events/ssromeojuliet

Tickets: Adults $34, Student (18 & under) $22
Run Time: 75 minutes

Public Performances are Saturdays at 11 am through March 25, 2017 at Chicago Shakespeare at Navy Pier.

Review: Othello:The Remix

I saw the Q Brothers production of Othello The Remix and it was absolutely fabulous!

The Q Brothers are actual brothers from Chicago who re-create masterworks (primarily of Shakespeare, but they recently did A Christmas Carol!) They call these productions add-raptations, because they primarily add rap music into the story, and along the way combine it with dance, comedy, soul, music, and just about everything else they can pull out of their hats.  They've got four or five of them under their belt including The Bombity of Errors,  Funk It Up About Nothin', and I <3 Juliet, Christmas Carol, and Othello.

Othello was originally commissioned by the Globe Theatre of London, and has played Chicago Shakespeare once before to sold out shows.  This limited run (show ends May 8) is probably going to do the same so you should get your tickets early.  The word of mouth on these shows is phenomenal!

For this show, they've moved the action to an Empire-style locale (but remember, they wrote this before Empire even started!)

Othello is a hot rap artist with all kinds of juice. (Think Kanye)  He's on tour with his crew when he falls in love with a soul singer named Desdemona (Think Adele).  He's got a couple of his boys who also write/rap/ and hope to make it big in their own right (Iago, a rap purist with a punk/metal edge and Cascio, who would be right at home in a boy band.)  The show then follows Shakespeare's trajectory pretty well, right up until the tragic tragic end.

The acting is phenomenal.  The first song set the scene, and I was worried, because while the raps were clever and set up the situation, I was afraid that's all it was going to be.  My fears were allayed however.  All of the actors (there are 4 performers) play a multiple of roles, including wives and girlfriends, the Oil sheik mafiosi record producer, the dweeby lighting designer, and much more.  All of the guys surprise and amaze with their characterizations and ability to act and portray their distinct characters while rapping, dancing, and doing everything else.

An interesting choice was Desdemona, who never appears on stage, we just hear her sultry voice.  This choice creates a few donut holes in the middle of her scenes, but the performers make it work.  And the symbolism when Othello, moved my Iago's manipulations, kills her out of rage, is simply powerful.

Above it all there is a fifth character, the DJ, who mixes the music and sound for the show live on stage and does a great job of keeping us all in it.

Overall, I can't recommend this show highly enough.  Go see it if you can!

Here's a video montage of the show.

Tickets are available at Chicago Shakespeare  The show runs through May 8.

Find the Q Brothers online at http://qbrothersofficial.com/ 
(Interesting side note:  their family also owns Merz Apothecary in Lincoln Square and does fine men's grooming products as The Q Brothers.  Who knew?)


EDITOR'S NOTE:  AS PREDICTED, THE SHOW HAS SOLD OUT. BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME.