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As someone whose older sisters are over a dozen years her senior, Sancocho (presented by Visión Latino Theatre Company as part of the fifth Destinos: Chicago International Latino Theater Festival) spoke directly to mi alma. Named for a type of beef stew, this show highlights the significance of familia for the best or otherwise. Peppered throughout the show, the dialogue melds between English and Spanish sweetly as the sancocho literally simmers on the stove. (Truly do not come to this show hungry—you will regret it.) The scent made me long to return to Puerto Rico to devour más mofongo y tostones. 

Sancocho Through 10/30: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, no performance Thu 10/13, Windy City Playhouse, 3014 W. Irving Park, visionlatino.com, $30. Performed in English with some Spanish.

Sisters Caridad y Renata (Antonia Arcely and Amber Lee Ramos) are two decades apart in age—more mother/daughter than hermana/hermana. They come together to discuss their papa’s will as he is close to death and they must confront their own familial demons in the process. Christin Eve Cato’s script (directed by Xavier Custodio) showcases the delicate nature de una familia, especially when age complicates our relationships with one another. It felt as if I was watching scenes from mi propio futuro unfold with one of my older sisters—ironic given the producing company is named “Visión.” 

If you don’t speak Spanish, don’t worry/no te preocupes. You might miss a few jokes (though they are good ones) or comments, but you will understand. A two-hander set in a Puerto Rican household, where the actors are literally preparing food, should live in multilingualism. Frankly, it made the sancocho smell aun mejor. 

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J. Nicole Brooks’s adaptation of 1919, Eve L. Ewing’s collection of poems published a century after the “Red Summer” race riot in Chicago sparked by the murder of Eugene Williams, is the first live show since the pandemic for Steppenwolf for Young Adults. There are only a handful of public performances, but it should not be missed. 

1919 Through 10/29: public performances Fri 10/14 7:30 PM, Sat 10/15-10/29 2:30 and 7:30 PM, Steppenwolf Ensemble Theater, 1650 N. Halsted, 312-335-1650, steppenwolf.org, $20

In some ways, Brooks’s piece (codirected by Gabrielle Randle-Bent and Tasia A. Jones) works similarly to Aleshea Harris’s What to Send Up When It Goes Down (running through this weekend with Congo Square at Lookingglass Theatre). One of Ewing’s poems from 1919, “I saw Emmett Till this week at the grocery store,” is part of the Lookingglass lobby display, and it’s one of the last pieces in Brooks’s collage of poems, stories, history, ritual, and movement exploring the legacy of racism and segregation in Chicago and beyond—the very forces that led to Williams’s drowning death when the 17-year-old Black boy floated on a raft across an invisible line in the water on a south-side beach, and was stoned by a gang of white people on the shore.

There are also echoes of Brooks’s own earlier work. Sola Thompson’s scholar/writer who is attempting to give form to Williams’s story (and that of so many others murdered by white supremacy) feels like a more grown-up version of the eager young student in Brooks’s intergalactic Afrofuturist HeLa from 2018. Identified as Humans 1 through 6, the ensemble is far from generic. They function as muses for Thompson’s writer who dubs them “the griever,” “the caregiver,” etc. 

It’s a kaleidoscopic piece that resists the tyranny of linear narrative. You may not learn every fact about the 1919 riots (that’s what history books are for). But you may find a deeper sorrow and knowledge seeping into your bones, thanks to the hypnotic pull of this piece. It’s geared for younger audiences who are being told daily that frank discussion of America’s racist history is too “divisive.” I hope more audiences can see it soon.

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If you’re a fan of The Notebook—either the romantically waterlogged, sugary-sentimental 2004 movie or the Nicholas Sparks novel that prompted it—you’ll probably be swept away by the musical, directed by Michael Greif and Schele Williams and getting a pre-Broadway run at Chicago Shakespeare. 

The love story between rich girl Allie and working-class Noah spans decades, tragedies, and obstacles in a Norman Rockwell world lit like a Thomas Kinkade painting. 

The NotebookThrough 10/30: Tue 7:30 PM, Wed 1 and 7:30 PM, Thu-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 3 and 8 PM, Sun 2:30 PM, Chicago Shakespeare, 800 E. Grand, 312-595-5600, chicagoshakes.com, $59-$125

Ingrid Michaelson’s score is packed with yearning, soaring money notes, and romantic lyrics. Bekah Brunstetter’s book highlights endless emotional highs (and lows) as it follows Allie from adolescence to memory care unit (Maryann Plunkett as Older Allie, Jordan Tyson as Younger Allie, and Joy Woods as Middle Allie) and Noah (John Beasley, Ryan Vasquez, and John Cardoza, as Older, Middle, and Younger Noah, respectively) from young infatuation to Vietnam to assisted living facility. 

The titular notebook refers to a diary Younger Allie kept, and which Older Noah reads back to Older Allie in hopes it will cut through the dementia that’s killing her “return” to him.  

It’s no coincidence that The Notebook has roughly the same vibe as This Is Us, the Emmy-winning NBC family drama Brunstetter wrote for years—highly emotional, multigenerational storylines of agony and ecstasy, love and loss.  

The Notebook works hard to push every button required to open the tear ducts. There are long kisses in scenic summer rains. There are virgins having sex for the first time, rapturously and without fumble, backlit by glowing lights. It mostly succeeds. But in the end, The Notebook is escapist fare that’s as pleasant as cotton candy and about as substantial. 

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Those of us of a certain age fondly remember Steve Martin’s appearance on Saturday Night Live as Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber. But women were also all up in the bloodletting and potion-making. Tonight at 6 PM the International Museum of Surgical Science (1524 N. DuSable Lake Shore Dr.) offers a presentation by historian Jennifer Borland, “Women and Medieval Household Healthcare,” drawing upon a late medieval health guide known as the Régime du corps whose illustrations show women involved in consultations with physicians, as well as advice on food and beverages for the sick—all suggesting that women had more agency over health decisions for their families than we might have suspected. The program is free, but reservations are suggested at imss.org. (KR)

The American Writers Museum hosts an author and artist talk tonight with photographer Carell Augustus, whose new book Black Hollywood: Reimagining Iconic Movie Moments was published by Sourcebooks earlier this month. Black Hollywood was a decade-long project for Augustus, who photographed contemporary Black actors and personalities such as Vanessa Williams, Karamo Brown, and Shemar Moore in recreations of iconic scenes from film history. Augustus will sit in conversation with Northwestern University lecturer (and Reader contributor) Arionne Nettles for this event, which begins at 6:30 PM at the museum (180 N. Michigan, second floor); tickets are $9-$14. The program will also be viewable online as a livestream for those who can’t attend in person. This event is presented in conjunction with “Dark Testament: a Century of Black Writers on Justice,” (read Reader social justice reporter Debbie-Marie Brown’s story here) currently on view at the museum. (SCJ)

As the city’s Year of Chicago Dance moves toward its conclusion, the Dance Center at Columbia College participates in the cross-town festival Elevate Chicago Dance 2022, produced by Chicago DanceMakers Forum. It kicks off tonight at 7:30 PM and continues at 7:30 PM tomorrow. The featured artists at Dance Center include Ginger Krebs, Hedwig Dances (choreography by Jan Bartoszek), and Donnetta Jackson with M.A.D.D. Rhythms (the latter reprising A M.A.D.D. Mixtape, which had its world premiere earlier this month during the Chicago Tap Summit). Tickets are $30 ($10 students/$15 Columbia College faculty and staff) at dance.colum.edu. Other Elevate events take place across the city through 10/16 at indoor and outdoor venues; for a complete schedule, see chicagodancemakers.org. (KR)

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Theatre Above the Law returns to the fairy tales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, as adapted again by Michael Dalberg. (Dalberg’s adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is also currently onstage with Idle Muse through October 23.) I saw last year’s outing, and this time the connective tissue in the mostly new round of stories selected by Dalberg (directed by Tony Lawry) seems stronger, more deeply rooted in the theme of loss—particularly sibling loss.

Grimm Through 10/30: Fri-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM; also Mon 10/24 7:30 PM, Jarvis Square Theater, 1439 W. Jarvis, 773-655-7197, theatreatl.org, $15-$25

Jacob (James Hendley) is once again in a tavern occupied by characters in the fairy tales he and his dead brother gathered, in hot pursuit of the wolf (Ian Gonzalez-Muentener) he believes killed Wilhelm. “This place is for survivors,” Little Red (Gayatri Gadhvi) tells him. But of course all is not as it seems, and as the ensemble enacts more stories from the Grimm canon (including “The Seven Ravens,” in which a little sister must go to great lengths to save her seven brothers from a curse placed on them by their father), the role of fairy tales as conduits for understanding grief, loss, sacrifice, and redemption becomes more clear to Jacob, especially.

Not that it’s all heavy psychological stuff: Connar Brown as all seven of the aforementioned brothers and as the puppeteer for the Frog Prince delivers assured physical comedy, and Brooks Whitlock’s dry delivery as the wish-granting prince-fish in “The Fisherman and His Wife” remains as droll and on point as I remember from last year. Dalberg’s deft adaptation, Lawry’s staging, and the ensemble combine for an entertaining family show that hearkens back to the work of Paul Sills and his Story Theatre.

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As someone whose older sisters are over a dozen years her senior, Sancocho (presented by Visión Latino Theatre Company as part of the fifth Destinos: Chicago International Latino Theater Festival) spoke directly to mi alma. Named for a type of beef stew, this show highlights the significance of familia for the best or otherwise. Peppered throughout the show, the dialogue melds between English and Spanish sweetly as the sancocho literally simmers on the stove. (Truly do not come to this show hungry—you will regret it.) The scent made me long to return to Puerto Rico to devour más mofongo y tostones. 

Sancocho Through 10/30: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, no performance Thu 10/13, Windy City Playhouse, 3014 W. Irving Park, visionlatino.com, $30. Performed in English with some Spanish.

Sisters Caridad y Renata (Antonia Arcely and Amber Lee Ramos) are two decades apart in age—more mother/daughter than hermana/hermana. They come together to discuss their papa’s will as he is close to death and they must confront their own familial demons in the process. Christin Eve Cato’s script (directed by Xavier Custodio) showcases the delicate nature de una familia, especially when age complicates our relationships with one another. It felt as if I was watching scenes from mi propio futuro unfold with one of my older sisters—ironic given the producing company is named “Visión.” 

If you don’t speak Spanish, don’t worry/no te preocupes. You might miss a few jokes (though they are good ones) or comments, but you will understand. A two-hander set in a Puerto Rican household, where the actors are literally preparing food, should live in multilingualism. Frankly, it made the sancocho smell aun mejor. 

Read More

J. Nicole Brooks’s adaptation of 1919, Eve L. Ewing’s collection of poems published a century after the “Red Summer” race riot in Chicago sparked by the murder of Eugene Williams, is the first live show since the pandemic for Steppenwolf for Young Adults. There are only a handful of public performances, but it should not be missed. 

1919 Through 10/29: public performances Fri 10/14 7:30 PM, Sat 10/15-10/29 2:30 and 7:30 PM, Steppenwolf Ensemble Theater, 1650 N. Halsted, 312-335-1650, steppenwolf.org, $20

In some ways, Brooks’s piece (codirected by Gabrielle Randle-Bent and Tasia A. Jones) works similarly to Aleshea Harris’s What to Send Up When It Goes Down (running through this weekend with Congo Square at Lookingglass Theatre). One of Ewing’s poems from 1919, “I saw Emmett Till this week at the grocery store,” is part of the Lookingglass lobby display, and it’s one of the last pieces in Brooks’s collage of poems, stories, history, ritual, and movement exploring the legacy of racism and segregation in Chicago and beyond—the very forces that led to Williams’s drowning death when the 17-year-old Black boy floated on a raft across an invisible line in the water on a south-side beach, and was stoned by a gang of white people on the shore.

There are also echoes of Brooks’s own earlier work. Sola Thompson’s scholar/writer who is attempting to give form to Williams’s story (and that of so many others murdered by white supremacy) feels like a more grown-up version of the eager young student in Brooks’s intergalactic Afrofuturist HeLa from 2018. Identified as Humans 1 through 6, the ensemble is far from generic. They function as muses for Thompson’s writer who dubs them “the griever,” “the caregiver,” etc. 

It’s a kaleidoscopic piece that resists the tyranny of linear narrative. You may not learn every fact about the 1919 riots (that’s what history books are for). But you may find a deeper sorrow and knowledge seeping into your bones, thanks to the hypnotic pull of this piece. It’s geared for younger audiences who are being told daily that frank discussion of America’s racist history is too “divisive.” I hope more audiences can see it soon.

Read More

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Director Dusty Brown, who makes their Chicago directing debut with Three Crows Theatre’s storefront staging of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, has trimmed the tragedy down to a fast-paced, intermissionless 105 minutes of blood-drenched storytelling. (“Macbeth has sword/dagger violence, onstage murder, and discussions of murder. Recommended for children 12+ due to all the murder happening onstage,” reads a content advisory on Three Crows’s website.) This intimate, economical production boasts spooky visual design by Kellian Keeler (set) and Piper Kirchhofer (lights), who together transform the intimate Redtwist Theatre space into a dungeon-like hellhole well suited to this classic tale of dark supernatural deeds. There’s even an onstage cistern filled with water, from which a macabre apparition or two may arise—or in which a guilt-maddened murderer or two may try, in vain, to wash the blood from their hands.

MacbethThrough 10/30: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM; also Mon 10/24 7:30 PM, Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr, threecrowstheatre.com, pay what you can

But Brown’s editing of the text lessens the moral impact of a drama grounded in Christian notions of free will. Having been promised by three prophetic witches that he will become king, Macbeth, a heroic military leader in 11th-century Scotland, caves in to his wife’s manipulative tactics and resorts to murder (including murder for hire), thereby sullying both his manhood and his immortal soul. By trimming seemingly repetitive arguments between the spouses—and rushing the final action as Macbeth approaches his duel to the death with arch-enemy Macduff—Brown turns Macbeth into a tale signifying, if not nothing, then at least less than it should.

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Playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury had too many things in mind when she wrote this play about Mary Seacole, a real-life Jamaican-born healer who improbably served in the 19th-century Crimean War. Drury wanted to tell the story of this indomitable woman who wouldn’t take no for an answer, even from the equally implacable Florence Nightingale. She wanted to draw parallels between Seacole and modern-day healers, hence the title’s plural “Marys.” She also wanted to explore motherhood and the original meaning of the word “nurse,” comparing Seacole’s choice not to have children to those of the invented characters around her. Drury also wanted to explore the racism that shaped Seacole, including the self-hatred which caused her to emphasize the “good Scotch blood running through my veins” rather than her heritage of healing from her Jamaican mother.   

Marys SeacoleThrough 11/6: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark, 773-338-2177, griffintheatre.com, $40 ($15 students, veterans, and active military)

Despite a powerhouse performance by Stephanie Mattos as Mary, there is simply too much going on here in Griffin’s production (directed by Jerrell L. Henderson and Hannah Todd) to form a coherent play. Further, the actresses’ frequent full-bore use of Jamaican dialect meant that much of the dialogue was lost to the ear of this middle-aged white lady, at least. And the final sequence, in which the cast members speak in unison about the fragility of the maternal body, would be very powerful if the play had clearly focused on that subject. Instead, Marys Seacole is a puzzlement, a series of missed opportunities to explore a range of interesting topics.

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