|
|
The Day Maggie Blew Off Her Head
Playwright: Amy Bridges
by Mary Shen Barnidge 2001-07-25
|
|
This article shared 2020 times since Wed Jul 25, 2001
|
|
Maggie Lockesly is fat. Or so everybody keeps telling her. Actually, she weighs 155 pounds...which, while not quite willowy, is still far from obese. Nevertheless, her classmates find it sufficient to justify their scorn. Her dominating mother likewise considers her a candidate for preventative maintenance, feeding her on boiled eggs, grapefruit and warnings to mistrust men. Despite this negativity, however, Maggie dreams of someday becoming Miss America, but instead marries Jim Brickman, has children, and attends a "nutritional lifestyles" support group, with whose encouragement she finally achieves her ideal weight. Accompanying this triumph, however, is the realization of what she has sacrificed in pursuit of this specious goal. Dressed in a lanyard proclaiming, "I Lost" ( as in "I lost weight" ) , she checks into a motel, where she proceeds to blow her brains out with a shotgun.
In her criticism of the skewed priorities inflicted on women by an intolerant society, author Amy Bridges makes use of Brechtian title cards, slide and video projections and other agitprop/guerrilla theater motifs. Maggie's Everywoman-tale of martyrdom is presented in a series of flashbacks mandated by her celestial judges ( characterized as three Brit-twit chorus boys ) . These incorporate commentary by her family members, her peers, obstetric nurses, her husband, the go-go dancer with whom he seeks solace, and other assorted incidental personnel. As well as spoofs of sex-education classes, self-help groups ( in this case, a club calling itself "Waist Watchers" and carefully banning the word "diet" from its canon ) , the cult of Mirabel Morgan's "Total Woman," automation ( in the form of an electronic feel-good therapist that dispenses superficial advice ) , beat poets, lawyers and television commercials.
Running at over two hours ( in Victory Gardens' decidedly warm second-floor studio ) , The Day Maggie Blew Off Her Head could stand some trimming: a childbirth scene wastes time in standard operating-room slapstick, Maggie's dialogue with her mirror-image meanders to no seeming purpose, and Dr. Suess parodies ceased being clever decades ago. But Heather MacDermott lends dignity to a heroine more acted upon than active, while Mike Thornton mounts a fair case for hubby Jim and Serendipity Theatre Company's 11-member ensemble, under Ross Shirley's direction, acquit themselves in their 33 roles with unflagging energy. |
|
|
|
This article shared 2020 times since Wed Jul 25, 2001
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | THEATER 'Mamma Mia!' returns to Chicago with 'Daddyhunt' star Jim Newman 2024-04-24 - "Who's your daddy?" That's the key plot question driving the global hit Mamma Mia! The global smash jukebox musical famously features the song hits of Swedish pop group ABBA, and it returns for a three-week run ...
|
| | Local queer opera composer premiering her first show, a coming-of-age tale with LGBTQ+ themes 2024-04-23 - A Lake View woman is debuting her first opera as a composer, a coming-of-age story with LGBTQ+ themes. Gillian Rae Perry, a fellow with the Chicago Opera Theater's Vanguard program for emerging artists, composed The Weight ...
|
| | The importance of becoming Ernest: Out actor Christopher Sieber dishes about the Death Becomes Her musical 2024-04-20 - Out and proud actor Christopher Sieber is part of the team bringing Death Becomes Her to life as a stage musical in the Windy City this spring. Sieber plays Ernest Menville, who was originally portrayed by ...
|
| | 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 ...
| |
|
|