What’s New

Never before has my Catholic upbringing been helpful in seeing theater. And yet, my mind couldn’t help but wander back to catechism class during Refracted Theatre Company’s inaugural production, St. Sebastian. Not because I was waxing nostalgic for dry wafers or bitter pinot noir, but because the text of this new work is so mind-bogglingly preachy. 

The new play by Andrew Kramer (directed by Graham Miller) centers on house flipper newbie Ben (Adam Thatcher) and his partner Gideon (Mack Spotts) who inadvertently move into a Black neighborhood in Chicagoland. Gideon’s background as a DEI consultant in this predicament fills him with relentless guilt, which leads to a series of lectures on gentrification and rhetoric. (Even as someone finishing a graduate degree in rhetoric, this was too much.)

St. SebastianThrough 10/2: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee, refractedco.com, $18

Beyond that, there is a dog or wolf or coyote or something that goes bump in the night, a neighbor kid named Reuben (Nolan Robinson) continuously stealing the show, and at least four plot points that go ultimately unresolved. We’re given so many storylines that are fascinating, yet all end up as dead ends. 

So much happens in the course of the 90 minutes that it’s clear the playwright was trying to do far too much. The script needs significant shaping before it’s ready for another full production. 

It’s always ambitious for a new company to do brand-new work. While the trio of performers is excellent in their roles, even their charisma can’t save this script from purgatory. Thatcher and Spotts give so much to these characters without a lot of scripted development to go on. Robinson is an absolute marvel (his love of superheroes makes this pun intended) who warrants his own story. I desperately want to know the backstory behind some of his one-off lines.

 Also, on the subject of actors, please always hire an intimacy director when a script calls for it. The irony isn’t lost that there is a Catholic side story (in a tale called St. Sebastian) and yet there was seemingly no authority on how to do intimacy work safely. Saint Monica, patron saint of patience, help us.

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Never before has my Catholic upbringing been helpful in seeing theater. And yet, my mind couldn’t help but wander back to catechism class during Refracted Theatre Company’s inaugural production, St. Sebastian. Not because I was waxing nostalgic for dry wafers or bitter pinot noir, but because the text of this new work is so mind-bogglingly preachy. 

The new play by Andrew Kramer (directed by Graham Miller) centers on house flipper newbie Ben (Adam Thatcher) and his partner Gideon (Mack Spotts) who inadvertently move into a Black neighborhood in Chicagoland. Gideon’s background as a DEI consultant in this predicament fills him with relentless guilt, which leads to a series of lectures on gentrification and rhetoric. (Even as someone finishing a graduate degree in rhetoric, this was too much.)

St. SebastianThrough 10/2: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee, refractedco.com, $18

Beyond that, there is a dog or wolf or coyote or something that goes bump in the night, a neighbor kid named Reuben (Nolan Robinson) continuously stealing the show, and at least four plot points that go ultimately unresolved. We’re given so many storylines that are fascinating, yet all end up as dead ends. 

So much happens in the course of the 90 minutes that it’s clear the playwright was trying to do far too much. The script needs significant shaping before it’s ready for another full production. 

It’s always ambitious for a new company to do brand-new work. While the trio of performers is excellent in their roles, even their charisma can’t save this script from purgatory. Thatcher and Spotts give so much to these characters without a lot of scripted development to go on. Robinson is an absolute marvel (his love of superheroes makes this pun intended) who warrants his own story. I desperately want to know the backstory behind some of his one-off lines.

 Also, on the subject of actors, please always hire an intimacy director when a script calls for it. The irony isn’t lost that there is a Catholic side story (in a tale called St. Sebastian) and yet there was seemingly no authority on how to do intimacy work safely. Saint Monica, patron saint of patience, help us.

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Factory Theater takes a stab at stories like The Handmaid’s Tale and The Stepford Wives (that suburban dystopia envisioned originally by novelist Ira Levin in 1972, and then translated to screen in 1975 and 2004). In The HOA, written by Angelina Martinez and directed by Christy Arington, a couple of the characters even use “SWP” (for “Stepford Wives Paranoia”) as shorthand for “Things are getting weird, right?” as the story unfolds. 

The HOAThrough 10/20: Fri-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard, 866-811-4111, thefactorytheater.com, $25

Cassie (Jennifer Betancourt) and Steve (Andrew Cawley) are the new kids on the cul-de-sac in a suburb where all the husbands seem to have landed great jobs at nearby companies—jobs so lucrative that their wives don’t have to work. And in fact, Cassie’s desire to keep working as a chemist for a pharmaceutical company is met with disbelief by most of the other women at the block party where Martinez’s play opens. Hosted by HOA president Syd (Eric Fredrickson) and his wife, Stephanie (Moira Begale), it’s clear that this event is almost like a multilevel marketing scheme for roping Steve and Cassie into what Syd and Stephanie are selling. Well, giving away, actually: almost everyone seems to swear by the supplements that Stephanie hands out like Tic Tacs.

Steve takes the bait faster than Cassie, who finds emotional sustenance with new friends and fellow Stephanie/Syd skeptics Maddie (Brittany Ellis) and Daphne (Ashley Yates). But when they start acting as vacuous and servile as the other women, Cassie leaps into action to save them.

Until she doesn’t. The play works well enough as a pastiche/homage to the brainwashing effects of the inner workings of patriarchy. Begale’s cunning performance suggests that it takes smart women to figure out how to make other women choose the gilded cage. But the ending is confusing, frankly; we are left unsure as to whether Cassie is doing a “defeat them from within” strategy, or if she’s just decided, “Fuck it, this shit’s too hard, I’m just gonna go with the flow.” Either way, it feels overly abrupt and unearned—particularly since we don’t see enough development of Steve and Cassie’s previous relationship to figure out why she’d be willing to give up everything for him. If that’s what she’s doing.

Those caveats aside, the show succeeds at what Factory always does best: high-octane performances that dance along the edge of caricature without falling all the way into the abyss of obvious cheap laughs. The depiction of how an HOA can go from mildly annoying to dictatorial (“Syd’s got a guy for everything,” one character says, by way of explaining why nobody ever hires anyone without clearing it with the HOA honcho) is spot-on. I don’t think we needed the strobe-light effects, but when Factory decides to go over the top, they always do so with gleeful abandon. It’s a fun 90 minutes, even if the last few moments left me scratching my head.

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On the rooftop of a high-rise, one of many in the forest of silhouettes that comprises our city’s skyline, a professor (Dan Hanrahan) and an automotive engineer (Juanjo López) have been locked out for six days, surviving on trickles of water sluiced out of the bottom of a trash can and bread crumbs that appear mysteriously in the night. A red moon has wreaked an undefined havoc, and the mayor has warned everyone to avoid exposure to its light, which is, of course, impossible on the unprotected rooftop. No one can hear the engineer’s frantic knocks on the stairwell door. No one seems to be in the city at all, until about halfway through, a domestic worker (Claudia Urbano) and (later still) a window washer (Ever Monroe) appear on the scene.

Las MigasThrough 10/2: Fri-Sat 8 PM, Sun 6 PM, Chess Live Theater, 3622 S. Morgan, clata.org, $25

The entire drama of Las Migas, cowritten and codirected by Raúl Dorantes and Emily Masó for Colectivo El Pozo and presented as part of the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance’s Destinos Chicago International Theater Festival, hinges upon the opening of the locked door. The characters trapped on the stage develop no relationship; their vacant conversations and the futility of their actions is reminiscent of Waiting for Godot. But here, the question is less of the spirit, more of the circumstances (“In my country, everyone is an engineer or a lawyer, but here we clean windows,” notes the window washer)—the entrapment and paralysis, the stale crunch of the crumbs when they appear, comments on the life and livelihoods of immigrants at the mercy of others’ whims and meager generosities. 

Throughout, a visceral rankness is front and center: they urinate and defecate, the engineer scratches incessantly at his sides and scrotum, the professor retches with vertigo. The appearance of the secondary characters at first promises a shift in dynamics or at least a distraction but ultimately disappoints when no change really registers. It’s just more people—the level of hope remains constant. When it’s time to be released, there is no reason for it—likely no relief, either. 

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Chicago doesn’t have much in the way of immersive theater experiences like Sleep No More in NYC. So when Windy City Playhouse debuted Leslie Liautaud’s Southern Gothic in 2018 it took the scene by storm. Folks were clamoring to get inside the Coutier home to be one of the two dozen houseguests for Suzanne’s 40th birthday party in Ashford, Georgia, in the early 1960s. Drinks flow, tempers flare, secrets spill out. And we’re privy to all of it as we walk about the house.

Since 2018, I’ve made it no secret that I’m an immersive theater fangirl. So when WCP made the announcement that Southern Gothic would receive a remount downtown in the Goodman-adjacent Playhouse at Petterino’s, I was thrilled. The choose-your-own-adventure style show is the same as its predecessor, with plenty of juicy drama to keep even the noisiest houseguests interested. This time, I followed the men with their financial troubles rather than the romantic tête-à-têtes.

Southern GothicThrough 11/30: Wed and Fri 7 PM, Thu and Sat 3 and 7 PM, Sun 1 and 5 PM, Playhouse at Petterino’s, 150 N. Dearborn, windycityplayhouse.com, $65-$105

Frequent Coutier houseguests will notice the differences between the latest house and the previous one at Windy City Playhouse’s regular home on West Irving Park. The kitchen and dining room layouts are swapped, for example. And now there are countless reminders to not lean against the walls which (as I recall) was a nonissue during the original run. 

However, the biggest difference in this iteration of Southern Gothic (which, like the first, is directed by David H. Bell, with the concept created by WCP’s artistic director Amy Rubenstein and associate artistic director Carl Menninger) is the accommodation for 15 additional bodies. A capacity of 30 compared to 45 feels huge in such a small space. 

Honestly, there are just too many people now for free movement around the house to feel appropriate. It’s hard to avoid actors or being in the way when there isn’t enough space for everyone to feel comfortable. Plus if you’re unlucky enough to have a group of chatty friends in your audience it can be impossible to hear the dialogue even if you’re right next to the actors. 

With so many flies on the wall in this Georgian home, Southern Gothic loses some of the charms it held during its first open-ended run. Perhaps, in time, it will get that back. 

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Chicago has no shortage of free museums, and the DePaul Art Museum (935 W. Fullerton) is one stunning example. While it’s never a bad time for a visit (hello, it’s free!), their new exhibition “A Natural Turn”is worth checking out. Artists María Berrío, Joiri Minaya, Rosana Paulino, and Kelly Sinnapah Mary use surrealism to explore constructions of beauty and identity. How are our individual imaginations influenced by shared experiences like social, natural, and political circumstances, and how can we use them to reshape those situations? How do they/we shape ourselves? In this group show, the artists create a visual journey about metamorphosis and personhood underscored by a critique of colonialism. The museum is open from 11 AM-7 PM today, but if that doesn’t work, the exhibition is on view until February 19, 2023; check out their website to find a time that works for you. (MC)

Conversations at the Edge, a weekly series of screenings, performances, and talks by media and visual artists organized by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Department of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation, kicks off the fall season tonight with an appearance by artist, scholar, and filmmaker Jessica Bardsley. In much of Bardsley’s work, landscapes like images of the desert and camera explorations through caves serve as a metaphor for human emotional states. Bardsley’s films often borrow images from Hollywood (for example, clips from the film Girl, Interrupted are included in Bardsley’s 2013 short The Blazing World) and combine them with original footage to create visual essays. Tonight Bardsley will present five recent shorts and discuss her work and experimental narrative with the audience. The evening starts at 6 PM at Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N. State) and tickets are $12. (SCJ)

An excerpt from Jessica Bardsley’s 2013 film The Blazing World

It’s day one of Cold Waves, the famed industrial festival that happens in select cities throughout the year. The Chicago edition is hosted at Smart Bar, Metro (3730 N. Clark), the Riviera, and Le Nocturne through Sunday. And while I’m not one to poo-poo the sold out lineup at Metro tonight (TR/ST headlines alongside openers The KVB, Actors, Kontravoid, Leathers, and New Canyons), I’m much more intrigued by the aftershow at Smart Bar. At 11 PM, Andi Harriman will warm up the dance floor with a DJ set followed by a performance by Ritualz. Then Plack Blague, Nebraska’s most exciting disco leather daddy, takes the stage to make you piss yourself with excitement. Trust me, you’ll gladly do it. Tickets are $15 and available to those 21 or older. (MC)

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If you’re looking for a play to prepare you for the Thanksgiving season, you might want to check out STEW, staged by Shattered Globe and now playing at Theater Wit. Written by Zora Howard and directed by Malkia Stampley, STEW tells the tale of the Tucker women, all gathering (and bickering) at the family home for one very important meal. Indomitable veteran Chicago actor Velma Austin plays Mama, the heart and the rock of the family, and of the ensemble of actors. She’s a joy to watch at work, and the stage is clearly her home. Austin deftly plays the overconfident matriarch welcoming her brood home. Though she is aging and just might need a little help around the house, she is too fiercely independent to admit it—to others or herself—consequences be damned. 

STEW Through 10/22: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM; Fri 10/7,6:45 PM touch tour, 8 PM performance with audio description, Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont, 773-975-8150, sgtheatre.org, $45 ($35 seniors, $25 under 30, $15 students)

Jazzma Pryor plays Lillian, expertly embodying the quintessential eldest sister, carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders alone (regardless of whether or not anyone asked her to). As Lillian watches her younger sister Nelly (a wonderfully flighty Jasmine Cheri Rush) indulge in extravagant levels of irresponsibility, the walls begin to crack. Watching it all is Lillian’s daughter, the adorable Lil’ Mama, (a hilarious Demetra Dee) receiving a firsthand primer on who she will grow up to be. 

While not a perfect play, STEW is a tasty little spoonful of Black family life, and a reflection on how it takes a combination of the salty and sweet flavors of love and grief to make the most delicious memories. 

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Suicide is an important topic that people are often hesitant to discuss. But the more we talk about it, the more we can break the stigmas, and the more lives we can save. Misinformation surrounding mental health can cause us to downplay the severity of symptoms in friends and loved ones experiencing depression, and perpetuate the myth that seeking help is a sign of weakness. This defies logic when seeking help is among the bravest things a person can do when they are struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide.

While suicides are preventable, they are all too common in our society. According to the 2020 data from the World Health Organization: 

Suicide is the 12th leading cause of death in the U.S. and the 15th in IllinoisIn 2020, approximately 46,000 people died by suicide1 death occurs every 40 seconds and 130 people die by suicide per dayMen are 3.88 times more likely to die by suicide than women.

Even so, many communities lack adequate mental health resources, especially low-income communities and communities of color. A 2021 study from the CDC showed that while there was an overall decrease in suicides in the U.S. between 2019 and 2020, there were spikes among Black, Latino, and Indigenous populations. 

National Suicide Prevention Awarenss Month was established in 2008, and held in September to coincide with World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10. Every year since, people around the country gather to remember those lost to suicide, celebrate those who have survived suicidal thoughts or attempts, educate communities about suicide prevention, and show compassion. 

When thinking about suicide prevention, it’s important to remember that mental illness can affect anyone—it does not discriminate based on gender, race, religion, class, age, or any other factor. 

People who are contemplating suicide often exhibit warning signs, some of which might include:

Changes in behavior or moodMaking verbal statements, such as “I want to kill myself”Withdrawal from previously enjoyable hobbies and activitiesIncreased risky behaviorIncreased feelings of guilt and hopelessness

If you or someone you know is battling depression or suicidal ideation, talk about it! And if someone opens up to you about their struggles, give them your full attention and listen without judgment. Help them access resources and mental health services, and always show empathy and compassion. 

 “A seed neither fears light nor darkness, but uses both to grow.”

― Matshona Dhliwayo

Sources:

https://afsp.org/what-to-do-when-someone-is-at-risk

https://www.iasp.info/WSPD/about/

https://nationaltoday.com/national-suicide-prevention-month/

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/darkness-quotes

https://afsp.org/988-suicide-and-crisis-lifeline

Be sure to follow @naturesgraceil on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

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Suicide is an important topic that people are often hesitant to discuss. But the more we talk about it, the more we can break the stigmas, and the more lives we can save. Misinformation surrounding mental health can cause us to downplay the severity of symptoms in friends and loved ones experiencing depression, and perpetuate the myth that seeking help is a sign of weakness. This defies logic when seeking help is among the bravest things a person can do when they are struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide.

While suicides are preventable, they are all too common in our society. According to the 2020 data from the World Health Organization: 

Suicide is the 12th leading cause of death in the U.S. and the 15th in IllinoisIn 2020, approximately 46,000 people died by suicide1 death occurs every 40 seconds and 130 people die by suicide per dayMen are 3.88 times more likely to die by suicide than women.

Even so, many communities lack adequate mental health resources, especially low-income communities and communities of color. A 2021 study from the CDC showed that while there was an overall decrease in suicides in the U.S. between 2019 and 2020, there were spikes among Black, Latino, and Indigenous populations. 

National Suicide Prevention Awarenss Month was established in 2008, and held in September to coincide with World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10. Every year since, people around the country gather to remember those lost to suicide, celebrate those who have survived suicidal thoughts or attempts, educate communities about suicide prevention, and show compassion. 

When thinking about suicide prevention, it’s important to remember that mental illness can affect anyone—it does not discriminate based on gender, race, religion, class, age, or any other factor. 

People who are contemplating suicide often exhibit warning signs, some of which might include:

Changes in behavior or moodMaking verbal statements, such as “I want to kill myself”Withdrawal from previously enjoyable hobbies and activitiesIncreased risky behaviorIncreased feelings of guilt and hopelessness

If you or someone you know is battling depression or suicidal ideation, talk about it! And if someone opens up to you about their struggles, give them your full attention and listen without judgment. Help them access resources and mental health services, and always show empathy and compassion. 

 “A seed neither fears light nor darkness, but uses both to grow.”

― Matshona Dhliwayo

Sources:

https://afsp.org/what-to-do-when-someone-is-at-risk

https://www.iasp.info/WSPD/about/

https://nationaltoday.com/national-suicide-prevention-month/

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/darkness-quotes

https://afsp.org/988-suicide-and-crisis-lifeline

Be sure to follow @naturesgraceil on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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