Lotsa theater in Chicago: Part 2

A few days ago, I posted an article compiling several plays I’ve seen recently. However, I’ve been busy lately, so here’s another bunch. Don’t miss the trailer below for Arguendo, the March production by Elevator Repair Service at the MCA Stage. It’s gone, but still being staged in other cities. You might want to chase it down after you see this.

Water by the Spoonful at Court Theatre

Quiara Alegría Hudes’ play tells several stories of lost souls seeking to find themselves, find redemption or simply a cure for a crack habit. Three of the characters are family members: Elliott, an Iraq war veteran; his cousin, Yazmin, who has an adjunct academic job and seems to speak with the author’s voice; and Odessa, his estranged mother. Odessa moderates a global chat room for recovering addicts.

The chat room concept made the play seem very ‘90s although I know chat rooms still exist. When I tried to find some, they all seemed to be about sex, so the chat room vehicle seemed a little weak. But those scenes demonstrate the value for troubled souls being able to reach out and talk to others without recriminations.

Water is directed by Henry Godinez. Scene and projection design is by the very talented John Boesche, whose projections have embellished Chicago productions for many years. But the jagged hole in the front center of the stage was a little too literal in creating the abyss into which characters might fall.

Water by the Spoonful is touching, thought-provoking and beautifully staged. Its run ends April 6.

Russian Transport at Steppenwolf Theatre

The tough comedy/drama Russian Transport is directed by Yasen Peyankov, who has been one of my favorite Chicago theater artists since I first saw him in shows at the late great European Repertory Company in the 1980s and ’90s. I still get chills thinking about their production of Steven Berkoff’s Agamemnon.

Russian Transport is the story of a Russian immigrant family in Brooklyn who work hard to get along and are joined by Boris, a relative who arrives from Russia. Misha, the father, runs a fairly successful car service out of his home office. His wife Diana (Boris’ sister) keeps tight control on the family cash. Alex and Mira are their children; Mira is still in high school; Alex goes to college part-time, and works a couple of part-time jobs, including driving for his father. They think Boris will need help finding a job and getting set up in America, but it turns out Boris already has a thriving business—which involves young women arriving from eastern Europe. He is by turns friendly, charming and menacing to his niece and nephew. Steppenwolf ensemble members Tim Hopper as Boris and Mariann Mayberry as Diana play roles quite different from their usual style. Both are excellent as are the other three actors.

The play has had mixed reviews but my friends and I thought it was excellent and worth your time and thought. It runs through May 11 in Steppenwolf’s upstairs theater.

More on European Rep. As an aside, this 1987 article from the Chicago Reader is a good overview of European Rep as well as an indictment for the lack of funding for theater in Chicago and the US.

 Thinner Than Water at The Gift Theatre

The headline for my Gapers Block review of this fine play is “not just another dysfunctional family.” Here’s an excerpt from the opening of my review:

“Is blood thinner than water, rather than, as the proverb would have it, thicker? Gift Theatre’s new play Thinner Than Water by Melissa Ross makes us ponder this question as water washes over the family members metaphorically as well as realistically…. So many opportunities for family dissension. But the recipe for a hyper-dysfunctional family might start like this: Take one distant and unloving father and three mothers–and add one child from each. As Thinner Than Water opens, the three half-siblings are arguing about who will handle details of their father’s terminal illness.”

Thinner Than Water has strong performances from all its cast members and John Gawlik’s direction makes it the high-quality production we have come to expect from Gift Theatre. You can catch it at this Jefferson Park storefront until May 25. See my complete review here.

Brahman/i at Silk Road Rising + About Face Theatre

Brahman/i is an unusual production—part standup comedy, part lesson in the history (and mystery) of sexual ambiguity. Its subtitle is “A One- Hijra Stand-Up Comedy Show.” As a co-production of Silk Road and About Face, it involves both storytelling from South Asia and questions of sexual identity. Brahman/i, the sole character, is played by Fawzia Mirza, who has performed at many other Chicago theaters. Brahman/i is an hijra or intersex person, who is considered to be both male and female. (I’m working very hard not to use personal pronouns here.) During the performance, the actor changes from male garb to female with sari and jewelry. A guitarist provides occasional accompaniment and comments.

The story told is interesting and complex and tells us bits and pieces of history and mythology as well as stories of Brahman/i’s middle school and her opinionated auntie. We learn lessons from Odysseus and Galileo and see erotic Tantric images from the temples at Khajuraho. The almost-two-hour show is truly a stand-up comedy performance, not a play, although the stories are engaging and humorous; Mirza’s performance is charismatic and energetic. Brahman/i runs until April 27 at Silk Road Rising’s theater in the Chicago Temple on Washington Street.

 Arguendo by Elevator Repair Service

This play was staged at the MCA Stage for just one weekend in March, but the Elevator Repair Service production of Arguendo was one of the best things I’ve seen lately. I suppose not everyone would be attracted by a theatrical performance of a Supreme Court case, but this New York theater company is smart and innovative and made the lines sing. Barnes vs Glen Theatre Inc. was a 1991 Indiana case questioning the constitutionality of the Indiana law requiring performers to wear something—pasties and a g string, shall we say—rather than performing nude. The suit was brought by the Kitty Kat Lounge and Glen Theatre, Inc., of South Bend, Indiana. The Barnes in the case title was Michael Barnes, then St. Joseph County Prosecuting Attorney.

The show begins with a reporter scrum outside the SCOTUS building as exotic dancer arrives to observe the trial. Then we move to the courtroom where three justices are seated on a raised area above the stage. Proceedings begin in a dignified manner with opening arguments by petitioner and respondent. Shortly, we realize the justices’ chairs are on casters as they come careening down the ramps on either side of the stage. From then on, the scene changes moment by moment as justices and attorneys wheel around the stage to face each other or the audience. The three actors portraying the justices change voice and physical style to mimic the various justices.

The actor portraying Bruce Ennis, the ACLU attorney for the respondents (the dancers et al) argued on First Amendment grounds that the right to nude dancing was an element of free expression. His energetic arguments began to result in his gradual disrobing—first jacket, then trousers, then shirt, then undershirt and shorts—until he was down to a thong. And soon the thong came off too. He completed his arguments as naked as the day he was born.

Unfortunately, the SCOTUS decision, delivered by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, didn’t agree with the First Amendment arguments—and the exotic dancers lost their case.

The 80-minute play was followed by a fascinating discussion and Q&A by director John Collins with Nancy Marder of the Jury Center at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. Other experts joined Collins at other performances.

I first saw the great work of Elevator Repair Service in 2008, when they performed a full staged reading of Gatz, F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. The 8.5-hour production, with meal breaks, was also held at the MCA theater. It was one of those incredible arts experiences that can’t be matched. Except maybe by a terrific rock and roll concert.

 Coming up tonight: Bruce Springsteen on HBO

For fans of Bruce Springsteen and rock and roll: The 30-minute documentary, Bruce Springsteen’s High Hopes, will premier on HBO at 8:30pm tonight (my DVR is set). The making-of film was edited and directed by Thom Zimny, so it will be well done. The new album, High Hopes, was released in January.

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