"Freedom Club' and Fugard's "Statements' at the Fringe (1st rev

Myth vs. realism in political theater

Must political plays be preachy and boring? The verdict is mixed for these two Fringe Festival productions.

Jim Rutter

Sep 04, 2010 · Articles · 3 minute read

Mauckingbird's "Midsummer Night's Dream'

Shakespeare meets Lady Gaga

Mauckingbird's imaginative, gender-bending staging of A Midsummer Night's Dream offers a spectacle that the Facebook generation can sink its teeth right into, notwithstanding the limitations of Mauckingbird's scatterbrained approach to Shakespeare's text.

Jim Rutter

Aug 31, 2010 · Articles · 5 minute read

Iron Age Theatre's "Empress of the Moon'

Men conquer, women suffer. So what else is new?

Instead of delving into the remarkable story of a 17th-Century woman who wrote some of the most popular plays of her era, writer-director Chris Braak trots out the usual feminist complaints.

Jim Rutter

Aug 17, 2010 · Articles · 4 minute read

"La Cage Aux Folles' on Broadway

The film was so much better

The current Broadway production of La Cage Aux Folles won the 2010 Tony for best revival of a musical. So why was I constantly checking my watch through two hours and 40 minutes of this heavy-handed extravaganza?

Jane Biberman

Jul 31, 2010 · Articles · 3 minute read

Shakespeare vs. New York's Jews (2nd comment)

Jews 1, Shakespeare 0

I waited 18 hours to see The Merchant of Venice in New York's Central Park. Al Pacino's signature lion's roar was well worth the wait. But director Daniel Sullivan, by dumbing down the script and softening its anti-Semitism, subverted Shakespeare's clear intention.

Rathe Miller

Jul 31, 2010 · Articles · 5 minute read

Temple Repertory's "Three Sisters'

Fulfillment is out there somewhere

In a Russian garrison town far from the cultural capitals, three sisters dream of a better life. In three hours that end too soon, Temple's staging evokes a world throbbing with a pulse of hope and despair that still beats today.

Jim Rutter

Jul 20, 2010 · Articles · 5 minute read

Temple Repertory Theater's "Measure For Measure'

Is there a hypocrite in the house?

It's a wonder that anyone would take on such a complex and difficult work as Shakespeare's Measure For Measure. Yet director Douglas C. Wager and his new Temple Repertory theater team have navigated this riddle of a play with two original (albeit flawed) features.

Norman Roessler

Jul 20, 2010 · Articles · 4 minute read

Second City's 50th anniversary tour (2nd review)

It's the material, stupid

Great comedians can always elevate even bad material. But in this collection, it's the superb writing that ensures the show's hilarity.

Jim Rutter

Jul 20, 2010 · Articles · 2 minute read

Second City's 50th anniversary tour (1st review)

50 years of taking risks

After 50 years, Chicago's Second City still displays a distinct style of satirical humor that transcends its competitors. Its forte is spontaneous improvisation, but its real distinction is an indescribable weird, dark quality.

Steve Cohen

Jul 20, 2010 · Articles · 3 minute read

Word feast at Canada's Shaw Festival

Where words speak louder than actions

The treat of Canada's Shaw Festival, held annually in the charming, flower-filled town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, is that it offers productions of plays you rarely get to see— not only by George Bernard Shaw, but by his contemporaries like Chekhov, Wilde and Barrie.

Toby Zinman

Jul 20, 2010 · Articles · 7 minute read