Tag: theater

The Kite Runner (And How To Feel..)

Back to last week. On Wednesday, my neighbor and I went to see The Kite Runner at CIBS Theater. No, they didn’t make a musical out of this book. The same as with To Kill a Mockingbird, it is a drama, and it was pretty close to the book and very well done.

I know that many readers criticized this book for not being accurate in a number of aspects, but I still find it incredibly valuable in presenting an insider perspective on Afghan society through many years of history. It turned out that my neighbor never read this book, so after the first act she asked me whether it was going to be similarly depressing till the end.

Living through the events described in the book one more time, I have recalled how I felt during the first time reading. Not like I didn’t know at that time about the Soviet aggression in Afghanistan, but it made me feel how Afghans perceived this invasion. I was wondering whether my neighbor would comment on the scene where the refugees are stopped by a Soviet patrol, but she didn’t say a word about it. To be honest, I was relieved. Usually, when we go to concerts or shows together, and she finds from the program that some of the performers are Russian or studied in Russia, she makes a point to mention it to me with a clear intention to please me.

I do not know how to explain to her that these days, I do not feel especially proud of any Russian cultural achievements. And it’s not like I consciously cancel everyone, not like I force myself to dislike anything that comes from Russia. I just genuinely can’t enjoy it; it makes me uncomfortable. I do not think I would be able to attend any concert of any performer who currently resides in Russia, so if I look at the program notes, it’s just to make sure that an artist does not live in Russia at the moment.

The show is great, and I highly recommend it.

More Cultural Activities

Thursday at CSO. A very French concert 🙂 The legendary Jean-Yves Thibaudet (not as young as in the pictures, but magnificent!). Conductor Stephane Deneve. All-French program: Boulanger (a woman composer who died young, I never heard of her!), Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Ravel. It appears to be my last concert of this CSO season: the Sunday concert was unfortunately postponed, and I exchanged all the rest of my tickets for the. next season since I will be out for the second half of June).

Friday: “English” in Goodman Theater. Full house. The audience laughed and cried. The program said that there would be a play discussion after the show, but there was no announcement, so we left. There was still enough to process, even without a discussion.

From the Goodman website:

“English Only.” Four adult students in Karaj, Iran are studying for the Test of English as a Foreign Language—the key to their green card, medical school admission or family reunification. Chasing fluency through a maze of word games, listening exercises and show-and-tell sessions, they hope that one day, English will make them whole. But it might be splitting them each in half.

Theo Ubique Little Night Music

I knew there will be video clips later, and here it comes! Enjoy!

Theo: Little Night Music

I went there with a friend on Friday night: great as always! Unfortunately, they don’t post any videos until the show is almost over, so the only thing I have now is this collage of promotional photos.

My friend said that she feels this show would be better on a bigger stage, but I love how Theo does it in an intimate setting, with the artists moving around the tables. I’ve subscribed for their next season. Unfortunately, I didn’t talk my friend into the subscription, so it looks like I will have to buy an extra ticket for each show separately 🙂

And More Theater!

Firstly, I found a review and a couple of pictures of the Prelude For A Kiss, which I am happy to share!

And a Chicago Reader review, where I can second every word!

Secondly, Igor and I went to see a Thanksgiving Play at the Steppenwolf. I was almost about to give up on the Steppenwolf after several disappointments, and that outing was almost “the last chance.” I am happy to report, that I loved it!

It’s a play written by a Native writer, and it’s about “well-intended white people trying to do right things” and then things going very wrong. It is hilarious. Satirical. Laugh and cry. The characters are remarkably recognizable. Here is a review Igor sent to me after we saw the play. It tells the story of the playwriter, Larissa FastHorse, and how the production came together.

it is still not the end of the theater season. I have a couple of CSO concerts to attend, and two Goodman plays. And then I have to decide whether I am doing any theatrical subscriptions for the next season :).

Prelude To A Kiss

Sunday:  Prelude to Kiss at Above the Law theatre. I reallly-really-really liked it! I love Above the Law more than any other storefront theater for its incredible sincerity and the sense of being “in” the show (that’s what all the storefront theaters are good at, but Above the Law is exceptionally good!). The actors were so natural that you would forget to breathe because you did not want to interfere with the life happening before you. We took my mom to that show because she enjoyed it every time we took her before. She would always say that even when she didn’t understand a word, she enjoyed the acting. I didn’t have a second thought, but for some reason, this time, she got really angry that we didn’t tell her what the show was about in advance (we didn’t know). I have an idea why it was different that way, but I am not going to concentrate on that. No matter how others felt, I thought it was amazing:). A beautiful break in the middle of a very loaded weekend!

It is a very thought-provoking play, and I could not believe it was written in 1988 – it sounded so timely! 

Theatrical

Very briefly about my two cultural outings.

We saw Purpose At Steppenwolf with Igor a week ago. I didn’t like it that much. I was hoping I would like it a lot, but in the end, my impressions are inconclusive. The reason might sound ridiculous: I felt like “they talked too much.” But seriously, the play starts with a very long monologue of the main character, and there are multiple very long monologues closer to the end. And also, possibly because it was still a preview performance, many of them didn’t sound natural. All characters were perfectly recognizable, and I liked all the actors, but still, I didn’t get a feeling of play as one powerful piece, as I was hoping for.

Then, I went to see Peter Pan at Nederlander Theater on Thursday, and that was a pure joy! So well put together, the music, the set – everything, The flights are done so naturally, it’s so easy to believe :). Knowing a little bit about young actors and what it takes, I can only admire the work of the producers, especially having how big the roles are.

We went home with some magic dust 🙂

Penelopiad At Goodman

Yesterday, I went to see “Peelopiad,” a play by Margaret Atwood, at the Goodman Theater. I hadn’t been to any of Goodman’s plays for a while, and my experience with this theater during the previous two seasons was mixed. A couple of times, I felt like a total waste of time, and at some point, I regretted getting a “Whenever Goodman” subscription.

This time, however, was different. I liked each and every single thing about this play. Same as in “1776,” which I saw a couple of seasons ago on Broadway in Chicago, it’s all-female cast, and the same as with “1776,” after the first fifteen minutes of the show, you stop thinking about it. I copied all photos and videos that are available on the Goodman’s website, and I know they still do not give a full impression… All women playing male roles are incredible!

Grimm

Theater Above the Law is the best of all Rogers Park small theaters. On Friday, my mom, Igor, and I went to see “Grimm,” and it was flawless! My mom, not being able to understand what’s going on, still appreciates their acting each time I take her to Above the Law. I can’t stop comparing them with the Lifeline Theater – I made the right choice when I decided to subscribe to Above the Law and to hold off with the Lifeline.

It is flattering when the theater director recognizes me even from afar, and waiving: Hi Henrietta, your family is already in!

The play was great. A very accurate take on the Grimm Brothers’ tales, without any “humanization” and “adaptation.” Horrible stories of horrible times.

A Very Short Theater Review

On Friday, we went to the Lifeline Theater to see The Cat’s Cradle. And we didn’t like it. I thought the small storefront theater couldn’t make Kurt Vonnegut bad, but … well, I do not think it was good. I really liked Bokonon (both the actor and how he was presented in this production), and I liked Crosbies, but I didn’t like what they did with the book. For me, “Cat’s Cradle” is about the responsibility of a scientist for the consequences of their discovery, about being a human first and then a scientist. Jonah’s story starts from researching Felix Hoenneker for a reason. This part didn’t get much attention in a play. Instead, they tried to pull more of today’s content into the play, talking about wars and how they are the US Government’s fault.

Even without this latter part, the first act was sort of falling apart; it became better in the second one. I almost regret we went, but at least I didn’t buy a subscription 🙂