As a Windy City Times critic, I see about two plays per week, some big productions (touring Broadway, the Goodman, the Steppenwolf), some small (Lunar Cabaret, Trap Door, the Chicago Comic Opera Company), and some in between (Roadworks, Next, American Theater Company). What this adds up to, give or take a few productions, is seeing close to 100 plays a year. I figure any plays that I remember at year's end have done something right … or terribly wrong. I'm only including plays I've reviewed here, which means that, unfortunately, wonderful efforts like Court Theatre's production of The Dead, can't be included. So, in chronological order, here are my standouts for 2002, my congratulations or sympathies to the people behind them.
1. Hamlet (Court Theatre): Charles Newell created a stripped-down, sleek and shimmering production that displayed a tremendous stockpile of confidence and creativity. Guy Adkins, one of the most talented actors working in Chicago, took the plum titular role and ran with it, creating an achingly vulnerable Hamlet.
2. To Kill a Mockingbird (Collaboration Theatre Company): Ambitiously creative, this take on a classic was a disaster, due mainly to Wesley Kimler's set design which was so pretentious, it was distracting. Rather than create something that evokes a feel for time and place, Kimler opted to go with more of a "look-at-me-I'm-an-artist" backdrop for Lee's story of a time when ignorance and innocence were at war in the dusty heat of the near-rural south, managing to draw us out of the simple world Harper Lee created so well in her novel.
3. The Tempest (Chicago Shakespeare Theater): Director Barbara Gaines scored another coup with this production, which was ethereal, visually stunning, believable and resistant to going over the top. The choreography, flying effects (the closing aerial ballet by the freed sprites was breathtaking), and every other element that went into this Tempest was completely on the mark.
4. Fucking Our Fathers (Bailiwick Pride Series): This outing let us eavesdrop on the stereotypical lives of two homosexual barflies. The problem with eavesdropping on jaded bitchy queens is that their patter, campy at best, infantile and unwittingly sad at worst, is often not the kind of thing you want to hear.
5. Sock Puppet Showgirls (Harvey Finkelstein's Institute of Whimsical, Fantastical, and Marvelous Puppet Masterage): Thank God someone had the good sense to take Joe Eszterhas' so-bad-it's-good film, Showgirls, distill it down to an essential 25-30 minutes, and act out the whole deliciously wretched mess with sock puppets. It was one of those "it has to be seen to be believed" moments. It was also a great moment in Chicago theater.
6. Galileo Galilei (Goodman Theatre): Combining two such visionary theatrical forces--Philip Glass and Mary Zimmerman--with the life story of one of our most visionary figures, astronomer Galileo Galilei, and one is almost guaranteed something explosive and beautiful. And the Goodman, in this world premiere opera, scored on both accounts.
7. Phyro-Giants! (Roadworks): It was a dream cast, and while Phyro-Giants! may have stretched credibility (more was revealed at this real-time dinner outing with four thirtysomethings than at a group therapy session), we never minded being taken along for the ride. The dialogue here was brilliantly natural, and the characters believable and sympathetic. Add a stunning set designed by Geoffrey M. Curley, and Phyro-Giants! was one of the best offerings in a crowded summer season.
8. Truck in Pieces (Curious Theater Branch): Penned by Beau O'Reilly, this piece followed a day in the life of a washed-up alcoholic boxer named Leonard Bloom. It took its cues from the works of James Joyce and the opus of drunken poet extraordinaire, Charles Bukowski. Credit Joyce with the philosophy for the piece, Bukowski with the milieu of the drunken and disenfranchised, and O'Reilly with melding the two in a superior stroke of artistry.
9. The Time of Your Life (Steppenwolf): Steppenwolf opened its 27th season with a powerful punch: William Saroyan's Pulitzer Prize-winning classic ensemble piece. Under Tina Landau's deft and masterful direction, this story of a depression-era skid-row honky tonk in San Francisco and its denizens was an unqualified masterpiece, brought to achingly beautiful life that would have made Saroyan proud.
10. Book of Mercy (Chicago Dramatists): Playwright Grace Carson Becker needs to learn more about working drama into her dramas. Having people read aloud extensively from a dead character's diary is not dramatic. It's boring. Having people stand around and talk, telling us the playwright's thesis, rather than showing it, is boring. It's the easy way out. The hard work of drama is breathing life into characters, putting them into conflict, and letting the audience sort out the subtext from their actions and interactions. Becker never bothered with the hard work.
11. Secret Rapture (Remy Bumppo): This was the third production of Hare's The Secret Rapture that I'd seen, and it was the best. Remy Bumppo, under the inspired, yet restrained direction of James Bohnen, crafted an elegant, stripped-down vehicle for Hare's involving drama. This production was intelligent, subtle, and best of all, completely convincing. In fact, for most of the play, I forgot my purpose as a reviewer and was simply drawn into the world the company had created.
12. Scapin (Court Theatre): Don't let its 17th century pedigree fool you. This adaptation of Moliere's farce, Scapin, was anything but stuffy classical stuff. Pumped up with music ranging from bluegrass, to gospel, to Motown, to Broadway, this bit of inspired silliness was take-your-breath-away funny, and toe-tappingly musical. Court Theatre, known for countless--and winning--productions of the classics, went out on limb with this one. And succeeded brilliantly.
13. Holiday (Remy Bumppo): 'Tis the season to skewer society's upper crust. And Remy Bumppo Theater Company does it with artistry and style in their production of Philip Barry's 1928 dark comedy. Fans of Hollywood's glory days may be familiar with the cinematic version of this tale, with leads played by Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. Thankfully, director James Bohnen hasn't aped the film; instead, he and his talented ensemble have taken the venerable story of cultures clashing over young romance and made it their own.
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