|
WINDY CITY TIMES
|
|
|
THEATER REVIEW
Rapture,
Blister, Burn
by Mary Shen Barnidge 2015-02-04
|
|
This article shared 2799 times since Wed Feb 4, 2015
|
|
Playwright: Gina Gionfriddo. At: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St. Tickets: 312-443-3800; www.goodmantheatre.org; $25-$81. Runs through: Feb. 22
If you've never seen a Gina Gionfriddo play before, be wary of hasty impressions based on her work for television. Left to her own devices, this mischievous playwright displays a fondness for luring audiences into anticipating one kind of story, then abruptly changing directions to refute our initial assumptions.
First we are introduced to Catherine Croll, a glamorous high-profile scholar celebrated for her feminist analyses of sexy topics like pornography and slasher movies. Next we meet her former grad-school chum, Gwen Harper, now a micromanaging wife-and-mommy in the college town that Catherine abandoned in pursuit of greater rewards. Also lending their presence are the latter's mother, Alice, still spry despite having recently suffered a heart attack, along with hipster student Avery Willard. The occasion of Catherine's homecoming is a contract for her to teach a seminar in her subject of expertise, a premise leading us to expect a flood of the what-do-modern-empowered-women-want polemics currently in fashion, safely proclaiming the answer to be "a man"in this case, represented by Gwen's sluggish husband Don, whose early promise has faded under the challenge of the overachievers in his purview.
Gionfriddo's three-generation symposium devotes a modicum of performance time to parsing feminist theory in the 1960s, the 1980s, and the present daydiscussion encompassing a generously revisionist read of Phyllis Schlafly, whose gospel of women-as-keepers-of-civilization-and-tamer-of-cave-men contrasts vividly with Avery's equation of alcohol, sex and hormones as impairments to rational decisions. ( "The love-drunk lasts six monthsjust long enough to get knocked up and trapped." ) Only after Gwen and Catherine cook up a scheme to swap lifestyles for the summer do we see their choicesand their alleged regrets over roads not takenput to the test. In the end, it comes as small surprise when everybody winds up exactly where they started, albeit now content with their mid-life status.
Under Kimberly Senior's direction, the all-star cast assembled for this Goodman production are careful not to prejudice playgoers through exaggerated caricature, but instead allow each of us to revere or revile, guided by our individual experience. Ironically, even the overheard-in-the-lobby responses to Gionfriddo's manifesto defy predictability, with AARP-level spinsters cheering on young Avery's brutally unsentimental assessments, and males of all ages expressing sympathy for the unprepossessing Donbut isn't that what the freedom to follow your own bliss was always about? |
|
|
|
This article shared 2799 times since Wed Feb 4, 2015
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | 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 ...
|
| | 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 ...
|
| | 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 ...
| |
|
|
|
|