Displaying items by tag: Steve Pickering

Coincidentally (or not), Victory Gardens’ new play about a controversial campus speaker opens just days after the one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Returning from a lengthy hiatus, Victory Gardens once again lights up the Biograph Theater with the world premiere of Zayd Ayers Dohrn’s new play “The Humanities”.

This thrilling play takes place on an American college campus where an opinionated voice is scheduled to speak. At the top level, an intellectual battle brews between professors and the college administration, while the students openly revolt.

Jonas (Ernest Bently) is a new professor on campus, hand selected by the department chair Martin (Steve Pickering) and his professor wife Margot (Naomi Evans). Jonas is young and ambitious, unwilling to get involved in the petty troubles of students and faculty. Martin and Naomi have other ideas. When Martin invites Luka (Daniil Krimer), an ultra-right-wing speaker on campus he kicks off a series of events that could lead the college, and Jonas, to ruin.

Carole (Sabine Wan) straddles the line between education and commerce as the dean while trying to appease the students and queer professor Milta (Isa Arciniegas). On the ground, students Hampton (Derrick Sanders III) and Xander (Piper Murphy) are taking action into their own hands.

Zayd Ayers Dohrn’s script is densely packed, structured in parts much like a college lecture. Each professor has their own somewhat incomprehensible monolog that speaks to how people can say so little with so many words. That’s not to say these passages are empty, and that’s the point. What college student could actually follow these verbal gymnastics though? Perhaps these speeches say more about how some educators are afraid to share their real opinion. Afterall, feelings aren’t facts.

“The Humanities” is a riveting exploration of the cost of free speech. Of course, our first amendment protects it, but it doesn’t account for good taste. Luka is played so smooth and charmingly by Daniil Krimer that you almost forget he’s a neo-Nazi, until he starts his speech. And that’s the unsettling part; under the law he’s just as entitled to hate speech as to tolerance messaging. And that those who criticize him in this play aren’t exactly perfect themselves.

Dohrn paints a rather cynical portrait of higher education, but in other ways he has a lot of faith in youth. Without the radical intentions of Xander and Hampton, there would be no point in rehashing the systematic problems of American academic institutions. In many ways it’s what makes this play so unique.

For those wondering if Victory Gardens has been restored to its former glory under new leadership, “The Humanities” proves they’ve still got it. Edward Torres directs a great cast. While originally billed as starring SNL alum Nora Dunn, British American actress Naomi Evans seems better fit for the role. She has a sleekness about her that makes some of the sexual plotlines a bit more palatable. Steve Pickering embodies that stodgy professor in this era almost as pitifully as Albee’s George was to the 1960s. There’s a certain tragedy in his performance.

While maybe a bit of trimming could help file this play down to a finer point, Victory Gardens choosing Dohrn’s script as their season opener is a brave choice. Almost an admission of self-awareness in an ever-dividing world in which institutions are no longer held on the same pedestals.

Through October 4 at Victory Gardens Theater. 2433 N Lincoln Ave. (773) 871-3000)

Who’d have thought a Cuban-born playwright could endear an auditorium of liberals to Ronald Reagan. Rogelio Martinez’s new play ‘Blind Date’ is a fictionalized account of the very real first meeting between Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev (William Dick) and President Ronald Reagan (James D. Farruggio). Robert Falls returns to the Goodman to direct this world premiere.

Billed as a comedy, some will wonder what could be funny about a world on the brink of nuclear war? As it turns out, quite a bit. ‘Blind Date’ is basically a drawing room comedy. Most of the scenes are two-person conversations between the various historic players of the time. Beginning with US Secretary of State George Schultz (Jim Ortlieb) and Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze (Steve Pickering) all the way up to the fateful meeting between Gorbachev and Reagan in Geneva.

The narrative structure of this piece is interesting. In some cases, cast members speak their opinions directly to the audience. In other instances, there’s narration by way of British biographer Edmund Morris (Thomas J. Cox). The narration serves the playwright’s thesis that even his own biographer didn’t really understand Reagan. The asides are more often a conveyance for one-liners. Though, they do provide insight into the mindset of the Soviets and Americans in these meetings.

It’s no surprise that Falls has assembled some of Chicago’s foremost actors for this new play. Deanna Dunagan plays Nancy Reagan, in a nearly perfect likeness no less, while Goodman favorite Mary Beth Fisher plays Raisa Gorbachev. The two first ladies share a scene in which almost nothing of consequence is discussed, but the slight backhanded compliments and fuss made over tea bags versus loose leaf underscore how tenuous relations between the super powers were. Each thinking themselves superior in domesticity and political ideology. Scenes featuring Dunagan and Fisher are the most engaging as the dialogue sharpens to a point. What few may consider is how much influence these two women had over their husbands. Despite contradicting opinions, both sides desperately wanted to see an end to the nuclear arms race. A noble idea that has unfortunately taken a wrong turn since the mid-80s.

There’s danger in glorifying Ronald Reagan as an innocuous savior from nuclear war. His optimism regarding the Soviets was certainly helpful but in the end, the Soviet Union collapsed from a failing economy, not Reagan’s pro-Democracy initiatives. And yes, it’s easy to look at Reagan and think, at least he’s not our current president, but let’s not forget the homophobic blind eye his administration turned toward the AIDS crisis, and the lasting effects of the unsuccessful war on drugs.

This play is a lot like an average Oscar-bait movie. You know the type: polished historical drama about a specific section of history, usually starring high profile British actors like Judi Dench. Ones that you know you should see, but probably won’t. It’s okay for a play to be ephemeral. In this case, the global nuclear stakes are so high right now that it’s vital for Americans to understand how serious even the tiniest miscommunication could be. It’s important for Americans to remember what diplomacy looked like. Think of the current president’s impulsive behavior on Twitter. Rogelio Martinez’s play may make you giggle at Reagan’s loveable weirdness, but the gravity of this meeting with Gorbachev in 1986 should frighten us all. These were poor leaders who made a very smart decision. It’s a terrifying shame our current leaders would rather go back in time.

At Goodman Theatre through February 25th. 170 N Dearborn. 312-443-3811

Playwright Sean Grennan’s latest work is based on a true story about a successful heart transplant that occurs between two very different people who meet briefly and then go on to complete each other's lives without meeting in this world again.

Joy, played realistically and with dry humor by the playwright's sister, Erin Noel Grennan, has just received a heart transplant and is struggling with depression about why she is still alive and what happiness she can find by continuing to work, make money, spend money and work some more. Joy is a cynical loner, abandoned by her parents with one great friend named Dara, played with great humor by Jeri Marshall.

Joy finds out from her nurse, also played by Marshall (who is great at character studies), that she can write a thank you note to the donors family and does so with wonderful but challenging emotional consequences. 

It turns out her donor, Jack, played with sensitivity by Doogan Brown, a 36-year-old aspiring photographer that she once met in a coffee shop and flirted with, still has a family of three that miss him very much and are devastated by his sudden death caused by a car accident. 

Jacks' mother, father and sister - Hank (Steve Pickering),  Alice (Annabel Armouray) and  Sammy (Kayla Kennedy) are all characters brought to life with precision and care. Outside of a reluctant Hank, the family welcomes Joy into their home, hoping to find some answers or comfort for their loss in this stranger who is  carrying the heart of their child in her chest. 

One of the most touching and poignant moments in the play is when each family member listens to Joy's chest and realize that there is their son and brother, his heart still beating out his particular rhythm into this world.

Jack is shown in flashbacks and as a spirit who is sticking around in this world to oversee the healing process begun by the family meeting and bonding with his donor. 

The Tin Woman is directed with great ease into a thoughtful yet quickly moving pace by Linda Fortunato and is complimented with an all-female tech crew including a great set by Sarah Ross. The play includes set lighting by Shelley Strasser-Holland, sound by Victorio Deiorio (who also composed the original music) and costumes by Brenda Winstead, along with props by Brittney O’Keefe. The Tin Woman is a fabulous example of the success that comes with employing women at every level of theater and allowing them free reign to do their jobs. 

Although I have come to expect the fun and excitement of the large, musical theater type productions from Theatre at the Center, this serious, yet darkly funny play was a refreshing offering. 

The simplicity and universality of the story regarding surviving life after the death of a loved one fell on the audience like a soft, summer rain. 

Grennan's writing combined with his own sister's excellent portrayal of a cynical single woman at a crossroads in her life, cleanses the mind and soul with both tears and laughter so that the hope of emotional healing comes shining through the rain.

The Tin Woman is being performed at Theatre at the Center in Munster, IN through August 13th. For more show information or to purchase tickets, visit www.theatreatthecenter.com.