|
WINDY CITY TIMES
|
|
|
Inventing Van Gogh
THEATER REVIEW
by Mary Shen Barnidge 2013-08-14
|
|
This article shared 2923 times since Wed Aug 14, 2013
|
|
Playwright: Steven Dietz. At: Strange Bedfellows Theatre at City Lit in Edgewater Presbyterian Church, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Tickets: 773-340-2038; www.strangebedfellowstheatre.com; $20. Runs through: Aug. 24
Three years before the start of our story, art professor Jonas Miller set out in search of Vincent Van Gogh's last self-portrait, a mythical "lost" work whose discovery the scholar hopes to accomplish by re-tracing his subject's footsteps with a devotion that may have spurred him to commit suicide in imitation of his quarry. Our story, itself, begins in the studio of Patrick Stone, whose inspiration has stalled under the loss of his mentor and the estrangement of the latter's daughter. Setting the plot in motion is a crooked art authenticator seeking a hungry young painter to fabricate what he will then sell as the legendary canvas. Soon Patrick's workplace is buzzing with activityalong with the ghosts of Vincent Van and HIS troublesome acquaintances.
Certain artistsCaravaggio, Bosch, Toulouse-Lautrecseem always to have an intoxicating effect on writers proposing to delve the mystery of their creative impulse. The most incendiary of them all, though, is the linseed-slinging Netherlander whose manic genius fuels romantic imaginations to this day. Playwright Steven Dietz may attempt to frame his topic in provocative McGuffins, but this only grounds the action for a short while. Soon Patrick finds himself playing host to furious debates between the sensitive Vincent and boorish Paul Gaugin, not to mention a bevy of quarrelsome sponsors and sweethearts, all catapulting us through time at a velocity to induce vertigo in the most ardent Tom Stoppard fan.
Well, why write about antic visionaries, if not to go a little mad? Director Aaron Henrickson never leaves us to wander alone and confused amid Dietz' historical polemics, nor does his valiant cast, led by Patrick Cameron and Riley McIlveen as brothers-of-the-brush whose ideals span continents and centuries as they struggle to lend form to the fleeting formless, while retaining their integrity in the face of mercenary corruption. Indeed, as the reluctant impostor embraces his missionnot for the money, but to fulfill his teacher's lifelong questhe extends his spiritual kinsman what comfort he can from his 21st-century vantage, even as he also contrives to foil his patron's fraudulent plan.
Introducing us to our dramatic universe are a number of artists (names listed in the playbill), invited by the Strange Bedfellows to set up their easels outside the auditorium and exercise their craft in real time over the evening's duration. Thus are we immersed in an environment teeming with inventive actualizationheady stuff, that artistic impulse. |
|
|
|
This article shared 2923 times since Wed Aug 14, 2013
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | THEATER Blue in the Right Way's 'Women Beware Women' offers feminist, trans take on a troubling Jacobean tragedy 2024-04-18 - "Problematic" is a great go-to adjective to describe Women Beware Women. This 1621 Jacobean tragedy is by English playwright Thomas Middleton, who is probably best remembered as a collaborator with William Shakespeare on their pessimistic tragedy ...
|
| | Hubbard Street Dance Chicago announces programs for May 17-19 season finale 2024-04-17 --From a press release - CHICAGO — Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) announced program selections for Spring Series: Of Joy, the final installment of Season 46, Abundance. The engagement will include four unique works, once ...
|
| | LGBTQ+ film fest Queer Expression to feature Alexandra Billings in 'Queen Tut' 2024-04-12 --From a press release - CHICAGO — Pride Film Fest celebrates its second decade with a new name—QUEER EXPRESSION—and has announced its slate of LGBTQ+-themed feature, mid-length and short films for in-person and virtual events in April and May. QUEER EXPRESSI ...
|
| | Open Space Arts's COCK offers a complex but compelling take on relationships 2024-04-08 By Brian Kirst - Premiering in 2009, Mike Bartlett's COCK was a comic revelation, exploring notions about fluidity and sexual labelling long before they became commonplace discussions. Granted, conversations about these issues will always ...
|
| | Jeff Awards launches submission period for Impact Awards 2024-04-06 - The Jeff Awards announced the opening period for applications submissions for its 2024 honors to help inspire early career artists of color in the Greater Chicagoland area. Two recipients will be selected for awards of $10,000 ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Outfest, Chita Rivera, figure skaters, letter, playwright dies 2024-04-05 - For more than four decades, Outfest has been telling LGBTQ+ stories through the thousands of films screened during its annual Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival—but that event may have a different look this year because ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Dionne Warwick, OUTshine, Ariana DeBose, 'Showgirls,' 'Harlem' 2024-03-29 Video below - Iconic singer Dionne Warwick was honored for her decades-long advocacy work for people living with HIV/AIDS at a star-studded amfAR fundraising gala in Palm Beach, per the Palm Beach Daily News. Warwick received the "Award of ...
|
| | WORLD Israel court, conversion therapy, death sentences, Georgia bill, fashion items 2024-03-29 - Israel's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Population Authority must register female couples as mothers on the birth certificates of their children they have together, The Washington Blade reported. The decision was made following a petition ...
|
| | City Lit Executive Artistic Director Brian Pastor talks theater, comics, queerness 2024-03-26 - City Lit Theater has announced its programming for the 2024-25 seasonwhich will be the company's 44th. It will also be the first season to be programmed under the leadership of Brian Pastor (they/them), who will assume ...
|
| | The Jeff Awards announces the 50th anniversary awards for non-equity theater 2024-03-26 --From a press release - A complete list of recipients can also be found online in the Non-Equity and News and Events sections at www.jeffawards.org. (March 25, 2024 - Chicago) — Celebrating its 50th anniversary awarding recognition for Non-Equity theater, the ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Queer musicians, Marvel situation, Elliot Page, Nicole Kidman 2024-03-21 - Queer musician Joy Oladokun released the single "I Wished on the Moon," from Jack Antonoff's official soundtrack for the new Apple TV+ series The New Look, per a press release. The soundtrack, ...
|
| | THEATER Chicago's City Lit has anxiety on tap with 'Two Hours in a Bar' 2024-03-21 - Two Hours in a Bar Waiting for Tina Meyer by Kristine Thatcher with material by Larry Shue Text Me by Kingsley Day (Book, Music and Lyrics). At: City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.. Tickets: ...
|
| | Jamie Barton brings nuances of identity to her Lyric Opera 'Aida' performance 2024-03-18 - Chicago's Lyric Opera is currently featuring a production of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida starring Michelle Bradley as Aida, Jamie Barton as Amneris and Russell Thomas as Radamès. The opera runs through April 7, 2024, with Francesca Zambello ...
|
| | Queer Eye's Jai Rodriguez is set to slay at The Big Gay Cabaret 2024-03-05 - Out and proud performer Jai Rodriguez is set to play at The Big Gay Cabaret this March for three days. Presented by RuPaul Drag Racer Ginger Minj, this monthly series highlights the wide world of cabaret ...
|
| | THEATER 'R & J' puts a female, queer spin on Shakespeare 2024-03-05 - Romeo and Juliet is the theatrical gift that keeps on giving. It's been reworked for the masses numerous times, whether in direct adaptations or musicals such as West Side Story. Shakespeare's plotline points have even inspired ...
| |
|
|
|
|
| NATIONAL Trans woman killed, Tenn. law, S. Carolina coach, Evan Low, Idaho schools | | Through a queer lens: Photographer Paul Mpagi Sepuya discusses Chicago exhibition | | WORLD Ugandan law, Japan, Cass report, Tegan and Sara, Varadkar done | | Q FORCE launches 2024 election efforts in Chicago | | SHOWBIZ Jerrod Carmichael, '9-1-1' actor, Kayne the Lovechild, STARZ shows, Cynthia Erivo | |
|
|
|
|