Items filtered by date: November 2007

The award winning Natya Dance Theater, performed The Seventh Love at the Harris Theater.  The Seventh Love is an appealing show for all ages, spanning different continents of culture, through Bharata Natyam dance from one of the most established traditional Indian dance companies in the United States.  The style originating in Southern India, the Bhrata Natyam, is a graceful and subtle dance, expressing the dancers’ emotions and surroundings through the expression of their hands, of their faces and the timing of the bells chiming to the stamps of their feet. 

The Seventh Love, explores some of the deeds of Krishna and his belief in the different loves.  Embedded within the traditional Indian stories of Krishna, we are also able to apply these lessons through the eyes of the King (David Kersnar, also the writer and director) requesting the wisdom of his wise and knowing Sage.  The Sage, Krithika Rajagopalan (Natya Associate Artistic Director & Principal Dancer) works with the King on how to fill the void in his heart since he has lost a recent love.  The two make a compelling and dynamic pair, effortlessly flowing from current difficulties in finding love, to keeping love, earning love and at most accepting oneself in order to be able to love.

The hour and a half show moves quickly, with bright and bold colors, heart beating music and beautifully times dancers intricately weaving patterns of movement telling stories within their tableaus and with each hand gesture and heeled ring of a bell.

The Seventh Love is a show that leaves you appreciating the beauty of love, culture and how we can all speak the same language, no matter the age, or cultural heritage.  This is an experience not to be missed, but absorbed.

 The award winning Natya Dance Theater, performed The Seventh Love at the Harris Theater.  The Seventh Love is an appealing show for all ages, spanning different continents of culture, through Bharata Natyam dance from one of the most established traditional Indian dance companies in the United States.  The style originating in Southern India, the Bhrata Natyam, is a graceful and subtle dance, expressing the dancers’ emotions and surroundings through the expression of their hands, of their faces and the timing of the bells chiming to the stamps of their feet. 

The Seventh Love, explores some of the deeds of Krishna and his belief in the different loves.  Embedded within the traditional Indian stories of Krishna, we are also able to apply these lessons through the eyes of the King (David Kersnar, also the writer and director) requesting the wisdom of his wise and knowing Sage.  The Sage, Krithika Rajagopalan (Natya Associate Artistic Director & Principal Dancer) works with the King on how to fill the void in his heart since he has lost a recent love.  The two make a compelling and dynamic pair, effortlessly flowing from current difficulties in finding love, to keeping love, earning love and at most accepting oneself in order to be able to love.

The hour and a half show moves quickly, with bright and bold colors, heart beating music and beautifully times dancers intricately weaving patterns of movement telling stories within their tableaus and with each hand gesture and heeled ring of a bell.

The Seventh Love is a show that leaves you appreciating the beauty of love, culture and how we can all speak the same language, no matter the age, or cultural heritage.  This is an experience not to be missed, but absorbed.

For more information on this wonderful dance company, Visit  http://www.natya.com/.

*Above photo by Amitava Sarkar

If you’re looking for a way to add some life to your Monday nights, Barrel of Monkeys is currently providing a very entertaining option – and it’s for a worthwhile effort. Chicago’s Weird, Grandma is a wonderful production that takes the stories from third to fifth graders in the Chicago Public School system and transforms them into very funny plays acted out by their ensemble. The plays are performed verbatim of the received scripts, causing one hilarious – and warm – moment after another.  Barrel of Monkeys, an arts education theatre ensemble, has been working with under-served students in the CPS since 1997 and has since teamed up with many performing arts companies such as The Neo-Futurists, Baliwick Chicago, The Hypocrites and more. Directed by Artistic Director Molly Brennan, Chicago’s Weird Grandma is now playing each Monday night at the Neo-Futurist Theater (5153 N. Ashland) through December 2^nd.

Chicago’s Weird Grandma’s highly comedic cast makes this already great idea work to perfection. The audience is treated to a series of skits throughout the one-hour performance, a different actor announcing the student writer’s name and school before each sketch. The sketches can be inspired by anything from each child’s imagination resulting in such sketches such as LEARN Campbell Academy student Camron F’s “Old Tommy and Brownie the Lost Cat”, Henry Suder School student Chris J’s “The Ant That Bully” and Dewey School of Excellence students Sarronda L, Jaleesa W and Anaya G’s “Bubble Gum Party”.

No two shows can be alike since audience members vote by ballot afterwards to both retain two sketches and remove two sketches, making this a production to take in more than once.

The terrific Barrel of Monkeys program teaches fundamental writing skills while helping in building self-esteem and confidence to low-income third to fifth graders who are predominantly African-American and Latino. The organization especially reaches out where most needed to serve children who battle the challenges academic skills, emotional difficulties and tough living environments. Such a notable cause coupled with a very funny theatre experience make Chicago’s Weird, Grandma a show entirely worth seeing. I should also add that this is a show that can be thoroughly enjoyed by both children and adults.

Tickets are more than reasonable at just $12 for adults and $6 for children. For more information visit  http://www.barrelofmonkeys.org/performances/chicagos-weird-grandma/.   

*Above photo - The cast of Barrel of Monkeys’ revue CHICAGO’S WEIRD, GRANDMA.  Photo by Beth Bullock.

Hello Dolly, the definitive, feel good play with the theme song that will certainly be stuck in your head, is now playing at Drury Lane Theatre through January 5^th. If you are looking for a show to take in over the holiday season, then Drury Lane’s production of Hello Dolly should be on your radar.

Bringing in Broadway heavyweight Karen Ziemba for the classic role of Dolly Gallagher Levi is all the more reason to put Hello Dolly on your holiday wish list. Winner of a Tony Award in 2000 for her performance in the Broadway musical Contact, Ziemba is nothing short of sensational, brimming with charm and exuding loads of confidence while also captivating the house with her prized singing voice.

We go back to America’s “gilded age” in Yonkers, New York where a scheming, but enchanting, Dolly Levi makes her living Meddling”, or more simply put, matchmaking. Though hired to find a wife for Horace Vandergelder, a grumpy but wealthy business owner, it soon becomes apparent that she plans to marry him herself. Horace wants a wife because “It Takes a Woman” to happily do all the chores around the house. Dolly pretends that she will be setting Horace up with a hat shop owner in New York City, Molly. But Horace’s overworked store clerks, Barnaby Tucker and Cornelius Hackl, also decide to spend a night in New York City where they can have a good meal, spend all their money, almost get arrested and maybe even kiss a girl. Dolly is quick to recommend Molly to Cornelius and recommends the boys visit her hat shop. From that point on it becomes a madcap adventure as the clerks run into their boss and try to avoid him since they were not supposed to leave the store.

The show’s biggest highlight takes place in a New York City restaurant, Harmonia Gardens, where the waiters perform a stunning dance number (“The Waiters’ Gallop”) before going into the classic song, “Hello Dolly”. It is a show of highly produced song and dance numbers with showtune standards such as “Before the Parade Passes By”, “Put on Your Sunday Clothes”, “Elegance” and the aforementioned “It Takes A Woman” and “Hello Dolly”.

Hello Dolly is a fun show that’s all about understanding and the coming together of people from different walks of life, taming the hard-hearted and seizing opportunity. The story is timeless and it sends a message of simple love. Karen Ziemba is undoubtedly fantastic as Dolly Levi, and her supporting cast is good and strong, with a special hat off to Jeff Diebold as “Cornelius” and Lee Slobotkin as “Barnaby”, who are both not only funny, but also get to show off their own dancing. 

Drury Lane Theatre is one of Chicagoland’s best places to see professional theatre productions that are wholesome, ageless and always quality. Hello Dolly is no exception. Tickets starts at $44. For more information visit  http://www.drurylaneoakbrook.com/. 

We Will Rock You is currently being performed in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace for a limited engagement from October 22^nd through the 27^th. And though the songs are probably enough to keep you entertained for the most part, this production just goes to show that a musical doesn’t always need a well-crafted story anymore as long as there is a demand for the music.

In this musical with music by Queen, we are taken to the future to iPlanet where individuality has been stripped and free thinking has become criminal. The story’s hero, “Galileo”, has become a threat to the oppressive government as he receives bits and pieces of rock and roll in his dreams. He soon finds a like-minded girl, “Saramouche” and there adventure to save iPlanet begins. During their mission they come across a band of rebels who live in hiding and worship rock and roll relics and fragments. It’s not long before the iPlanet government led by “Killer Queen” discovers the band of insurgents and the fate of the world falls into “Galileo’s” hands. That about sums it up.   

While the music of Queen is pleasing to the ears and occasionally used with originality in big Vegas-like numbers, we are also subjected to a bevy of contrived one-liners and preposterous situations that fail as campy humor and were instead more along the lines of absurd. Though he carries a legitimate Broadway voice with him, Brian Justin Crum lacks the charisma and rock and roll essence to play such a role as “Galileo”, making it tough to want to cheer for the hero.   

But there is some good in the show, too. Ruby Lewis (“Saramouche”) delivers an astounding vocal performance, as does Jacqueline B. Arnold as the no-nonsense and sassy “Killer Queen”. There are plenty of eye-catching dance numbers that are both sexy and fun, and the band is occasionally visible, which adds a concert-like feel to the show. And let’s not forget that We Will Rock You is one Queen song after another with great selections such as “Somebody to Love”, “Under Pressure” and “We Will Rock You” before an entire cast finale of “Bohemian Rhapsody”.    

In a nutshell, the show is entertaining enough with its dance numbers and the music of queen and though most of the laughs are predictable, there are still a few good hoots that will catch you by surprise. Disappointing is the lack of story writer Ben Elton could manage with all that great music at his disposal.

For more information on We Will Rock You, visit www.BroadwayinChicago.org.   

After an ever-so pleasurable serving of Beer Nuts, I was good and ready to see Here Come The Mummies come onstage at The House of Blues. There are plenty of dirty remarks I can come up with regarding the combo of two band names: Here Come the Mummies with Beer Nuts in the same sentence, or if I were to think of them separately. But, I will refrain and struggle greatly to keep it clean.

This article is to be only about the band Here Come the Mummies, and I can say their name also makes me think of my favorite four-letter-word that starts with a “F.” No, it is not that one! It is “Funk!” Since Here Come The Mummies are a Funk and R&B band.

Mums the word, concerning the real names of the members of Here Come the Mummies. Yet I am able to reveal they are suspected to be winners of Grammies! According to the great vine (Wikepedia), Here Come The Mummies may not say their real names, in hopes of trying to avoid problems, that could arise with other contracts they are legally-binded by.

Thee clever cryptic crew go by the names: Mummy Cassanova (guitar and lead vocals), Eddie Mummy (drums and vocals), K.W. Tut (bass and vocals), Java (percussion and vocals), Spaz (keyboards), The Flu (baritone sax ), Ra (tenor sax),  Teste Verde (trumpet), Hose (sax), The Pole (bass), Ramses (bass), Midnight (baritone sax), Bucking Blanco (trumpet).

Former member, Teste Verdes profile states “More so than Jenna Jameson, this brother can blow…and he was discovered under a mound of camel pubes long ago!” Whoa!

When I arrived for the show at the mega, magnificently magical House of Blues in the Windy City, I was told by die hard Here Come the Mummies’ fans, Peggy Ward and Karen Skarbek, the band’s lyrics are of an adult nature. And if you have a dirty mind, you will like them. I was even more excited then to see Here Come the Mummies after having heard that! Plus, it was a good sign of good things to come, since the band packed the joint.

I was so surprised when I saw Here Come the Mummies’ fans, I kept scratching my noggin - Just because they were all over the spectrum. I happily saw gays, straights, 21-year-olds and up. Additionally there were men and women in their sixties, who I caught singing along to lyrics such as:  “My silver tongue will lubricate her thoughts” and “Can I get some booty?”

The Interaction Here Come the Mummies have with their audience is slightly provocative and puissant playful. Some of the bandaged and face-painted tribe stuck out their tongues in a sexual manner, as well as showed off their masterful hip-thrusting and dry humping skills. Also one of the mummies stuck his big buttocks out often at concert attendees.

Yes, Yes, Yes! There were loads of sexual innuendoes during the show. For instance, a mummie pulled out a dildo, a size fit for ladies and gentlemen who are labeled “As Loose as a goose.” The show also consisted of the following being put onstage: someone in a Gorilla suit with a relatively large concocted strap-on-like whichmagiger that sported special, remarkable abilities.

Furthermore, I could not find any problems when it came to how Here Come the Mummies played their instruments. They can really play, however the vocals could have been a bit better. Yet because these guys were funky to the max, shakin’ what their mama’s gave em,’ wildly and spellbindingly from the start of their performance to the very end, they made up for it. So did the shock factor and belly laughs, from hearing some of their songs’ lyrics!

Deservingly, Here Come the Mummies’ song “Dirty Minds” has been played on popular TV shows, and they have been regulars on the Bob and Tom show. They did the official sound track for the movie “Fired Up,” too.

In addition, Here Come the Mummies has 8 albums, and a few of them are titled: Terrifying Funk From Beyond The Grave, Carnal Carnival along with Bed Bath and Behind. Here Come the Mummies’ most recent album is Cryptic. Oh and their record label is called sphinxter, which is a muscle inside an individual’s butthole.

To wrap things up, the men in bandages are a funkin’ fun bunch, who also wave their Freak Flag highly and proudly. Since seeing Here Come the Mummies perform, I strongly doubt any of their shows would ever be boring, and am sure they could easily make some individuals feel horny. I saw a slew of horn dog-ish behavior not only from Here Come the Mummies, but also from many of their fans during the show, some of which were totally comical! For a good time, go see Here Come the Mummies!

For more information on Here Come the Mummies, please visit: https://herecomethemummies.com 

*Photos by Tracy Walsh Fun Photography

Watching the talented, all female cast of The Odd Couple flesh out Neil Simon’s comedy was a refreshing treat.  What a pleasure it was to see so many mature, funny women on one stage at one time. The Odd Couple is currently playing at Greenhouse Theatre on Lincoln Ave.

Kudos to director and producer, Robert Bills, for choosing this hilarious and female friendly 1985 adaptation by Neil Simon of his original “Odd Couple” written in 1965 about men. Even with my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre History, I was not aware that this play by Simon existed. I recently saw the original by a fine all-star cast at Northlight Theatre and felt that joke for joke, Simon’s female version had more laughs and comedic insights into the difficulties of divorce and the value of real friendship than the all male version we are so accustomed to seeing.

Jeff Citation winning actress, Elaine Carlson, as Florence/Felix Unger was believable and sympathetic, as her character slowly and painfully broke free from her tightly wound ball of nervous tics and OCD inspired cleaning habits. 

The two roles of Florence’s first double date after separation still played by men in the female version were much funnier than the bland/ blonde female dates as written in the original.

Cesar Jaime as “Jesus” and Diagoberto Soto as “Manolo” deadpanned and dropped their few scenes onto the audience like little comedy bombs each one detonating with precision laughter.

I love Neil Simon comedies when they are done well and I highly recommend seeing this rare production of one of his finest, little known comedy masterpieces.

The Odd Couple (female version) is playing through November 10^th and tickets are $28. For more information visit www.greenhousetheatre.org.  

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet is the name of a small but powerful dance company whose company of dancers come from, you guessed it, both Aspen and Santa Fe.

I was thoroughly impressed with the skills and passion of ASFB’s young, and fierce company. The quality of their technique and the choreography of the three pieces presented absolutely rivals that of the bigger, more established companies we are accustomed to seeing here in Chicago. This specific performance took place at The Harris Theater

The three works never before seen in Chicago were, “Over Glow” by Jorma Elo, “Beautiful Mistake” by Cayetano Soto, and “Last” by Alejandro Cerrudo (resident choreographer for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago).

Though I enjoyed them all, “Over Glow” by Finnish choreographer Jorma Elo, really stood out for me as a piece of modern ballet choreography with the most stunning images and subtle messages about human relationships that I have seen in many, many years.

“Over Glow” was set to music by Mendelssohn and Beethoven, yet the dancers were clothed in the simplest modern sea green and pale blue frocks designed beautifully by Nete Joseph.  The women were all in short, modern, sea green, silk dresses and the men, shirtless with pale blue pants set against a bright golden cyclorama that looked like the sun coming up over a western plain.

“Over Glow” begins with six dancers in newly forming couples. Each couple had their own style of meeting and courting.  They couples appear to be awakening each other from a still sleep with the simplest of hand gestures, tiny finger movements that cause their new partner to spark and come to life. The dancers rise up and spin or dance and walk for and with each in the most beautiful organic ways.

Sometimes the couples tease each other and send each other off in the wrong direction, only to pull their partner back in with the most delicate and gentle “kick” or stroke from their partner’s hand or foot.

The brilliance of Jorma Elo’s choreography is how he manages to convey almost an electronic, modern feel to these courtship movements, yet never renders them cold or unfeeling.  The movements imply that the physical awakening occurring between each of these couples is an automatic response of their nervous systems, yet wholly original, naturally beautiful and unique to each of the couples as they occur.

Elo’s stunning and uplifting choreography is both modern and classical, organic and futuristic, almost robotic, at the same time which gives one a marvelous sense of clean, yet vigorous romanticism.

At one point in “Over Glow”, one of the female dancers winds down, or collapses and her male partner falls to the floor and touchingly nudges her lifeless body with his head but cannot reawaken her. Then two of the female dancers come and begin the delicate hand gestures, the finger wiggles, to restart her engine and she does get up and becomes a leader for all of the couples who come back to life fully and dance again as a unified group.

I was absolutely delighted and riveted by this piece and by the passionate technique of all of the dancers in Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Company, which I can only describe as meaty, satisfying and fully engaging to ballet aficionados. ASFB’s dancers are young and few in number and I expect great performances will continuously flow from this carefully selected group.

I highly recommend seeing Aspen Santa Fe Ballet while they are here in Chicago and would actively seek out their performances on tour in the future. For more on this wonderful dance company, visit  http://www.aspensantafeballet.com/.

Patrick Swayze fans brace yourselves. Crazy for Swayze – a Swayzical is here and is running at Studio BE through October 26th. Crazy for Swayze is a fun tribute to the late, great Patrick Swayze – one of our most beloved movie stars in the 1980s and 1990s. Even if you were never the biggest Swayze fan on the planet, New Millennium Theatre Company’s Crazy for Swayze is a hilarious production with big laughs from beginning to end for everyone to enjoy – although it does help to know the movie references.

In this original New Millennium’s production directed by Steven Attanasie, all of Patrick Swayze’s greatest movies and characters are taken and are lumped into one insane adventure – and I really do mean insane. Not only do we see “Bodie” from Point Break, “Dalton” from Roadhouse, “Johnny Castle” and “Sam Wheat” from Ghost, but we are also blitzed with some of Swayze’s most colorful costars like Sam Elliot, Gary Busy and Whoopi Goldberg. Though writer Laura Coleman’s plot itself is a more than a bit nonsensical, it’s absurdness actually lends to its overall effect on the audience, which is simple - laughter at the utterly ridiculous. Theatre goers should not see this show with any expectation that the story is supposed to make sense, but with the intent on taking in an evening of silliness, which the show’s title should have already given away.      

Michael Sherwin boldly takes on the role of Patrick Swayze and though he is far from a mirror-like image of the pop culture icon, he more than makes up for it by capturing the essence of Swayze. Sherwin’s over-the-top portrayal of Swayze undoubtedly makes the show but the well delivered campiness of the supporting cast should also be recognized. Many of Swayze’s most notable moments are relived in this 56-minute show, and most of them work. In fact, you’re probably not going to find another show where crying out “Wolverines” or simply replying with a “Ditto” will make you laugh like Crazy for Swayze can.

In the vein of past NMT productions like The Texas Chainsaw Musical, Police Academy: Insurgency Emergency and Plans 1 through 8 from Outer Space, Crazy for Swayze could be the funniest of the bunch. If you are looking for silly amusement, easy hoots and senseless fun for a reasonable price then look no further. Crazy for Swayze: A Swayzical tickets are $18 but can be had for just $15 by pre-ordering through Brown Paper Tickets. For more show information visit  http://www.nmtchicago.org.    

After watching their live show evolve and progress over the years, Avenged Sevenfold has really surpassed, in many ways, the ranks of other major arena bands with their brand new Hail to the King tour. Though their music is already ripping, blazed with relentless smoking hot Synyster Gates riffs and M. Shadows powerfully gravelly vocals, the show is now coupled with a major stage production that rivals the visually stimulating sets we remember from Kiss, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. No view is obstructed like the seating charts may suggest by showing towers of speakers on each front corner of the stage. Instead, the speakers are high off the ground leaving a wide open stage for great views from anywhere in the house.

The Hail to the King tour is beefed up with supporting act, The Deftones, one of frontman M. Shadow’s musical influences. “If you younger fans don’t know much about The Deftones, do yourself a favor go out and buy a bunch of their albums,” Shadows yells out to the crowd. Playing stuff off their more recent albums and of course their signature release White Pony, The Deftones delivered and got the crowd primed and ready to roll for an action packed night that was only just beginning.   

Lights off, fans to their feet with deafening cheers.  Avenged Sevenfold kicks off their Chicago show at Allstate Arena with the pounding, drum heavy “Shepherd of Fire” off their latest release Hail to the King. Without a moment to waste, Avenged Sevenfold kept it in high gear with one of their fist-in-the-air favorites “Critical Acclaim”. While the band plays, fire is shot up from the stage floor and out from the set’s backdrop. Fire and explosions continue throughout the show at a rapid rate while a full on lightshow and flowing images are displayed to complement each song with a perfect touch.  As the band takes on the title track of the new tour and album, a skeletal king somewhere in the neighborhood of two stories high emerges and settles in just behind drummer, Arin Ilejay.  

The band plays a good amount from Hail to the King including “This Means War” and the theatrical driven “Requiem” while also taking on several tracks from Nightmare – “Welcome to the Family”, “Nightmare”, “Buried Alive” and an inspired dedication “Fiction” to former drummer James The Rev” Sullivan who passed away in 2009.

Each member had their game faces on and came to play. M. Shadows showed his continuous growth as not only a vocalist but also in displaying a strong presence as unequivocally one of the most commanding frontmen in music today. Bassist Johnny Christ, sporting a black mohawk, thumped his way around the stage fingering one intricate progression after another and riling up the crowd while Zachy Vengeance pulled off one guitar harmony with Synyster Gates showing why they are currently one of the best guitar duos in heavy music. Gates even treated fans to a sizzling guitar solo that turned into an all-out band jam.

Avenged Sevenfold’s set consisted of a majority of newer material from “Nightmare” and “Hail to the King” and I only regretted the band not playing more from their self-titled release Avenged Sevenfold and City of Evil, playing three songs total - “Afterlife”, “Critical Acclaim” and “Bat Country”. Still, no complaints here – the Hail to the King tour is a massive, fist-pumping ride that gets the adrenalin going from beginning to end.

The band did go back in time ten years and rewarded us long timers by cranking out back to back encores from their Waking the Fallen album “Chapter Four” before closing the show with a balls out version of “Unholy Confessions”.

Seeing the Hail to the King tour will convert the curious onlookers and undoubtedly make current fans even bigger fans.

Setlist - Allstate Arena Chicago, IL October 3rd

$11.       Shepherd of Fire

$12.       Critical Acclaim

$13.       Welcome to the Family

$14.       Hail to the King

$15.       Doing Time

$16.       Buried Alive

$17.       Fiction

$18.       Nightmare

$19.       This Means War

$110.   Afterlife

$111.   Guitar Solo / Band Jam

$112.   Requiem

$113.   Bat Country

$114.   Chapter Four (encore)

$115.   Unholy Confessions (encore)

"The Wheel" is best experienced blank. Martha Lavey, the Artistic Director of Steppenwolf which is staging the American premier of the imaginative play, begins her well-penned program note with a Spoiler Alert. "Part of the wonder and mystery of The Wheel" she writes, "is in the unpredictable way the story unfolds." That epic story begins in a peaceful village in Northern Spain, where Beatriz (the talented and majestic Joan Allen) is preparing for her younger sister's wedding. Suddenly, soldiers appear and Beatriz is unwillingly thrown into a quest to reunite a young girl (Emma Gordon) with her father. That mission is the central thrust of "The Wheel," a symbol-and allegory-laden tale of wavering and enduring compassion in the face of tragedy.

In the two-hour play, Beatriz and the silent girl travel through war zones witnessing a panorama of war and bloodshed. Zinnie Harris's rich and layered script lives in the world of magical realism, as the characters pass through time and space without comment, and fantastical powers are a subject of distrust. This fantastical element serves as both a theatrical device, and a sort of balm to the wounds of war – we witness the carnage, but are ever aware these are actors performing in a magical space. Tina Landau's Brechtian staging contributes to this, giving the audience a front-row experience of the tense, visceral, and often irrational world of war.

Blythe R.D. Quinlan's scenic design is powerful playground for the story to shift from agricultural and wooden to industrial and metallic. Her black pipes and scaffolding, hidden by shards of stretched cloth, appear like spears while also contributing to a Brechtian "backstage" aesthetic. Director Tina Landau's often breath-taking staging shines brightest during scene changes, as the story is thrust forward like soldiers storming a battlefield.

The 17-person ensemble fills the epic stage and transports the action, from Spain to France to Germany to Vietnam. As the ensemble members don varied costumes and characters, the similarities between cultures are realized: we are similar – not in an overly sentimental way, but in a visceral, blood-filled way. We have the same capacity for compassion, just as we have the same capacity to harm and destroy one another. And as we spin between evil and good, Harris seems to suggest the human spirit can triumph – but it is work.

"The Wheel" ends where it begins, just as this review will end with the playbill:

In a printed dialogue between Martha Lavey and Tina Landau, Martha asks:

Martha Lavey: Tina, will you speak to how you hope to make this play available to an audience, so that they will take away something this is nourishment for them, and not just a portrayal of the difficulty of life?

Tina Landau… I want to bring out as much light as we can find in it…the lower the play dives the more it also needs to soar.

Be transported to the world of "The Wheel" at Steppenwolf Theatre through November 10, 2013. More information and tickets at steppenwolf.org