Displaying items by tag: Gloria Imseih Petrelli

An Ibsen play on a cold winter’s evening just feels right. Marti Lyons delivers a stylish (and concise) production of “Hedda Gabler” at Remy Bumppo. With an impressive cast of Remy Bumppo ensemble and new faces, this 100-minute version gets right to the point.

Among the countless translations and adaptations of “Hedda Gabler” that have been written, Christopher Shinn’s version makes a bold, modern statement. Taken from a literal adaptation by Anne-Charlotte Hanes Harvey, this telling dispenses with Ibsen’s ambiguity almost entirely. Classic melodramas tend to run long and in this day and age, audiences easily grow frustrated with overly long plays laden with innuendo. Shinn’s version is structured in a way that modern audiences will take more from. While the Shinn script may not have been a success on Broadway in 2009 (even with Mary Louise Parker), Marti Lyons’ revival strikes the right balance with it.

Ensemble member Annabel Armour as Aunt Tesman has the first lines and immediately sets the tone of the new Tesman home, a vibe that’s somewhere between charming and unsettling. Armour captures something both aspirational and pitiful about the character in her reliably masterful way. In this telling, Hedda, who is played by Aurora Real de Asua, is feral, almost manic. Her short temper is always shown through smiling teeth and far-off looks. Hedda here is more certain of feeling trapped in a bad marriage. It’s less of a revelation and more of a palpable sense of dread. The only female character that seems to threaten Hedda is Thea Elvsted played by Gloria Imseih Petrelli, whose raw vulnerability is a counter to Hedda’s rampant cruelty.

Greg Matthew Anderson plays the blackmailing judge Brack with such dastardly charm, it’s almost hard to see what Hedda objects to. In the same way Thea is the counter of Hedda, Ejlert Lovborg (Felipe Carrasco) is the helplessly vulnerable of the two men. Carrasco’s performance is also that of a condemned man. In other scripts, this acceptance comes at a more laborious price. Here his conflict with conventional society feels urgent from the start.

Remy Bumppo brings a lot of humor to “Hedda Gabler”. Hedda’s one-liners have always been amusing, in the same mean-spiritedness of an Albee play. Linda Gillum brings a lot of physical comedy as Berte, the Tesman’s quirky maid. Shinn’s script has a sharp sense of wit, even if the somewhat frank sexual metaphors seem closer to 2026 than 1891.

Along with a more forwardly grown-up script, Kotryna Hilko and Joe Schermoly’s costumes and sets are bathed in a moody purple and when paired with Christopher Kriz' electrifying incidental music brings on the feeling of an impending storm.

“Hedda Gabler” is a divisive play. You can either see her as a victim or a spoiled villain. Shinn makes that decision for you, in at-times clunky divulgences. This particular version might not find you quibbling over the character’s true wants or intentions. Instead, Shinn is cutting away the excess so audiences can focus on the powerful statement Ibsen was making before most women knew true autonomy.

Through March 8 at Remy Bumppo at Theatre Wit. 1229 W Belmont Ave. 773-975-8150

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

“Ripe material for a comedy,” chuckles Atra Asdou, writer and star of ‘Iraq, but Funny” now playing at Lookingglass Theatre. Asdou’s new madcap play is part comedy, part history, part family drama. Directed by Dalia Ashurina, this hard-to-define play feels like the kind of thing we absolutely need more of.

If laughter is said to be the best medicine, then it’s surely a good thing for casual educational experiences too. In under three hours, Asdou (in character as a Bugs Bunny-ish British colonizer) provides the entire history of European imperialism in the Middle East–from the perspective of the victor, as most histories are told. The colonizer, or “Actor 5”, condenses decades of complex conflict into a darkly humorous sketch comedy. The play is balanced with vignettes from a multi-generational family riding the wave of current events that ultimately lead them to 1990s Chicago.

History is more likely to repeat itself if nobody knows the history in the first place. “Iraq, but Funny” seeks to inform a mostly Western audience about how Middle Eastern land and culture have been divided and conquered for centuries by exploitative forces. Asdou’s morally slippery character relays a shocking and brutal narrative with such wry humor that you nearly forget very little has changed in the way the West engages with the rest of the world. What’s even more seductive yet is how much fun her character is to watch. Asdou’s Second City background is on full display.

Susaan Jamshidi plays the matriarch character, “Actor 1” and in every era, life is constantly shifting under their feet. She impresses on her daughter, “Actor 2” (Gloria Imseih Petrelli) that their lives are for the next generation. The central relationship between mother and daughter illustrates the real-life effects of colonialism and the people’s lives it shapes. Both actresses deliver powerful performances as they bring to life a century of family members. 

Omid Akbari whisks the audience around the world with his minimal, but highly effective set in the historic Water Tower Water Works theater. Costumes by Mara Blumenfeld are also a huge asset for the comedic set-ups, particularly the Uncle Sam get-up Asdou sports at one point. 

Lookingglass Theatre’s production of “Iraq, but Funny” belongs among the likes of Cole Escola’s “Oh, Mary!”. The dense and intellectual script along with Asdou’s sidesplitting comedic performance are a special blend you don’t often see. The kind of play that makes you wonder, “how did they come up with this?” Though, there’s an immediacy to this play that can’t be ignored. While it’s written as satire, it’s the kind of thing that’s so tragic if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. This is a play about empathy. What Asdou has effectively done is what SNL does every week, amuse and inform. In comedy, we find our humanity. And with ‘Iraq, but Funny”, Asdou succinctly relays an ugly past, with enough levity to challenge preconceived notions about world history.

Through July 20 at Lookingglass Theatre. 163 E Pearson St. 312-337-0665

*This review is also featured on https://www.theatreinchicago.com/!