Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

THEATER REVIEW: Continental Divide
by Jonathan Abarbanel
2008-10-22

This article shared 3441 times since Wed Oct 22, 2008
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


Playwright: Simon Stephens. Playwright: David Edgar. At: Pegasus Players,

1145 W. Wilson ( Truman College ) . Phone: 773-878-9761; $25. Runs through: Nov. 16

British author David Edgar is among the few successful English language playwrights who are defiantly and obsessively political. In Continental Divide, composed of two full-length plays, he turns his piercing gaze on the soul-sucking gamesmanship of the American electoral process in which 'the choice you sometimes face ( is ) between your political beliefs and the principles upon which you base your conduct,' as one character sums it up. You can count on Edgar to state his thesis flat-out.

The plays portray a governor's race in a Western state much like California. Each play fills in part of the backstory of the other, with just enough additional content to stand alone. Mothers Against introduces Republican candidate Sheldon Vine, the son of a late multi-term senator and lumber fortune heir. Sheldon is the kind of liberal Republican the real world hasn't seen in 30 years, intent on running an honorable campaign. But when his poling numbers start to rise, his advisors—among them his closeted brother—urge him to attack using new-found dirt about their opponent.

The Democrat is popular state senator Rebecca McKeene, a one-time radical ( think Tom Hayden ) steadily shifting to the right and delighted to rationalize the shift. The campaign is hers to lose rather than Sheldon's to win. The new-found dirt has to do with an incident in her 1970's radical political past, and in Daughters of the Revolution we learn the history of this event through the eyes of Michael Bern, her one-time radical colleague and now a college professor. While Mothers Against is an examination of the clinical calculations of hardball politics and how far honor will hold, Daughters of the Revolution very much is a quest about the failure of revolutionary movements in the United States, and the costs of personal and political betrayal.

Temperamentally the two plays are excellent contrasting companion pieces that share inherent challenges to successful production. First and foremost Edgar is a didactic playwright. His plays preach and teach no matter how entertaining and stylish they may be, no matter how intelligent and penetrating his observations. Indeed, his plays are too dense with intelligence and the detailed mechanics of political campaigns, and all at the expense of creating full-blooded characters. Inevitably, Edgar's people are stand-ins for positions and points-of-view as Edgar is his own Devil's advocate. You easily could take 20 minutes out of each play without short-changing a character or derailing the central storyline. Daughters of the Revolution, for example, has an amusing but unnecessary scene of the tree-naming rituals of eco-terrorists in a redwood forest, followed immediately by nearly equal time given to a loony white-supremacist terrorist. Edgar's theatrical sense sustains this material, but objectively one says 'This could be cut.'

Under director Alex Levy, Pegasus Players takes on this dense material with a large and mostly first-rate cast, several of whom appear in different roles in both plays. Timothy Hughes as Sheldon Vines and Steve Ratcliff as Michael Berns are quite on top of their big roles and fill them with a great deal of dimension. Karin McKie deliciously channels a young Angela Lansbury at her hard-edged best in different roles in each play. Tien Doman neatly handles different roles and distinctly different looks in each play. Paul Meyer as Sheldon's brother and Ron Quade as his campaign manager provide edgy support. The shows look good, too, on Tim Mann's deep, wide, stone-and-plank set lit by Denise Karczewski.

By any measure, the two plays of Continental Divide make a very big show, and a well-done production. Your enjoyment of it may depend on whether or not you're a serious political junkie and/or wax nostalgic for 1970s revolutionary rhetoric.


This article shared 3441 times since Wed Oct 22, 2008
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

SHOWBIZ Celine Dion, 'The People's Joker,' Billy Porter, Patti LuPone, 'Strange Way' 2024-04-19
- I Am: Celine Dion will stream on Prime Video starting June 25, according to a press release. The film is described as follows: "Directed by Academy Award nominee Irene Taylor, I Am: Celine Dion gives us ...


Gay News

Kokandy Productions now accepting submissions for Chicago Musical Theater Fest returning Aug. 8-11 2024-04-18
--From a press release - CHICAGO (April 18, 2024) — Kokandy Productions is pleased to open submissions for the 2024 Chicago Musical Theatre Festival, returning this summer following a four-year hiatus. Kokandy is thrilled to ...


Gay News

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 ...


Gay News

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 ...


Gay News

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 ...


Gay News

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 ...


Gay News

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 ...


Gay News

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 ...


Gay News

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 ...


Gay News

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 ...


Gay News

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 season—which 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 ...


Gay News

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 ...


Gay News

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, ...


Gay News

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: ...


Gay News

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 ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor
Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.