Strawdog Theatre presents the World Premiere of FAIL/SAFE. FAIL/SAFE, the 1962 best selling novel was made into movies in 1964 and 2000. The story is about a mechanical error that triggers missiles to attack Russia. The incident threatens to initiate WWIII. Director and co-adaptor Anderson Lawfer stages the action in three rooms: the flight control room, ...
The Fourth Walsh
Theatre with a side of life
Category The Fourth Walsh
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“Ernest Bloch’s Macbeth” (Chicago Opera Theater): Modern Marvel
Reviewed by Sara Eisenbaum Chicago Opera Theater presents Ernest Bloch’s Macbeth Ernest Bloch’s rendition of Macbeth was a modern marvel. Far and away one of the best scores I’ve heard from a play, and no less stunning with the addition of a choir at poignant places throughout the text. I was able to attend the opera without ...
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Review “Women Beware Women” (Two Pence Theatre): Lusty, Ambitious and Sometimes Ruthless
Two Pence Theatre presents the Chicago Premiere of WOMEN BEWARE WOMEN. Penned by Playwright Thomas Middleton in 1621, WOMEN BEWARE WOMEN has waited almost 400 years to make its Chicago debut. Middleton wrote this tale from the perspective of the ladies. Although mired in a male dominated world by their gender happenstance, his female characters coerce ...
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Review “The Whaleship Essex” (Shattered Globe): See-Worthy!
Shattered Globe Theatre presents the Midwest Premiere of THE WHALESHIP ESSEX. Founding member of Shattered Globe Joe Forbrich melded his theatrical and nautical experiences to pen this whale tale. In 2008, Forbrich was an apprentice shipbuilder by day and an actor by night. During this East Coast stint, he became versed in the shipwreck of the ...
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Review “Ecstasy” (Cole Theatre): Inaugural COLE!
Cole Theatre presents its inaugural production, ECSTASY. It’s 1979. Do you know where your life is? Jean doesn’t. Playwright Mike Leigh drops us into her flat. Her dismal efficiency is decorated in Mid-Century spinsterhood by Scenic Designer Grant Sabin. The room is cluttered with empty beer bottles, mismatched furniture and gin-soaked novels. A singular drip of ...
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“My Name is Asher Lev” (Timeline Theatre): Thought-Provoking Tribute
Timeline Theatre presents the Chicago Premiere of MY NAME IS ASHER LEV. Art?! At what cost to the artist?! Award-winning novelist Chaim Potok explored a painter’s obsessive turmoil. A conservative Jewish boy must express his artistry despite its opposition to his religion, community, and parents. Playwright Aaron Posner boils down the essences of Potok’s novel into ...
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Review “The Arsonists” (Strawdog Theatre): Ignites and Sizzles
Strawdog Theatre presents Max Frisch’s THE ARSONISTS. Why would anyone knowingly invite trouble into their life? Playwright Max Frisch answers that question in absurdity. Frisch sets his tale in a city plagued by arsonists. His protagonist, Biedermann (played with deft by Robert Kauzlaric) gets goaded into defending his morality by the charismatic Scott Danielson (Schmitz). Kauzlaric represents ...
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Review “WITCH SLAP!” (Babes with Blades): A Calderon of Personalities
Babes with Blades presents the World Premiere of WITCH SLAP! Playwright Jeff Goode explores the male corruption by the Puritanical driven witch hunts. The 2013-2014 winner of “Joining Sword & Pen,” WITCH SLAP! is the herstory told from the witches’ perspectives. Goode’s characters represent a wide range of sorceresses: the crone, the gypsy, the vamp, the ...
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Review “Stupid Fucking Bird” (Sideshow Theatre): Sort of Liked
Sideshow Theatre presents the Midwest premiere of STUPID FUCKING BIRD. In the program the phrase ‘sort of’ appears before the adaptation credit. Playwright Aaron Posner uses the basic framework from Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull.” Although Posner sets it in contemporary times, his characters have the same Chekhov conflicts. Dev loves Mash who loves Con who ...