Displaying items by tag: Shane Richlen

I try to attend all performances of Babes w/ Blades Theater Company, but I haven’t seen them in this fabulous venue – The Edge Theater, on Broadway – since 2022. That presentation of Shakespeare’s RICHARD III holds a special place in my heart as one of the finest theatrical productions I’ve ever seen. I can’t say THE MARK quite equaled RICHARD III, but it carried a similar stamp of excellence, no doubt due to the high percentage of artists involved in the two shows. Both were directed by Richard Costes, and Line Bower was Technical Director for both; THE MARK’s fight director Hazel Monson was in the cast of RICHARD III, while Maureen Yasko acted in THE MARK and choreographed the fights for RICHARD III. Playwright Jillian Leff wrote THE MARK but not RICHARD III (duh), but she played a major role in RICHARD. Both casts included Jennifer L Mickelson, Jennifer Mohr, Rose Hamill, and … but you get my drift, yeah? The collaborative efforts of these artists – most of whom, not coincidentally, are members of Babes w/ Blades – are outstanding. [BTW, if I missed you in that list please forgive me -- SO not intentional.]

THE MARK is set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian stratocracy. The Mark decides who gets how much of the strictly rationed food and other essentials. Obviously. members of the Army who have earned The Mark are entitled to special benefits, highly valued in this hardscrabble society.

Members in this elite syndicate are distinguished by a red Mark on the face and selected by brutal tests calculated to glean the most aggressive, volatile candidates. Those who fail a test (or aren’t even chosen to compete) are the Laborers, fated to live precariously on meagre rations. Any Laborer who resists is expelled from the district, to … well, no one comes back to report just what’s out there.

M J Handsome plays the protagonist, Raina, who has been raised by her father Jonas (Tamarus Harvell) in his bakery.  When she hears of a resistance brewing among the Laborers, she rebuffs Jonas (as adolescents will do) for not sharing her enthusiasm for it.

Raina is unexpectedly invited to compete for a place in The Mark, where she meets Jack (Whit Baxter Bates), an ambitious and rather bumptious contestant. The vicious test battles are overseen by staff officers: Nicky Jasper’s expertise with stage fighting is amply demonstrated in the character of bellicose Officer Maxwell while Fin Coe’s Staff Officer Peters shows that Mark officers may be compassionate, but such deviance really should be kept under wraps. Maureen Yasko’s stagecraft in her role as Cain is as notable as her stage fighting, and combat expertise is likewise apparent in each of the Ensemble: Matt Chester, Jennifer L Mickelson, Jennifer Mohr, Izis Mollinedo, and Shane Richlen. Amy J Johnson portrays The Commander as totally professional, pro-Army to the core, and a strict disciplinarian, yet shows us she cares about her recruits.  

At the core of THE MARK is the question of change. The Commander is working to bring about change gradually, addressing one quandary at a time, while many of the resistance advocate a more extremist approach, tearing it all down and building a completely new system.

This duality of views is the basic premise of THE MARK: what’s the best way to address a systemic wrong?  a timely issue! And one that Leffer examines by attaching different ideas to separate characters. I found myself identifying with now one, now another set of views – in itself a worthwhile exercise of flexibility. Yet THE MARK doesn’t oversimplify – there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, and people are brought to their various mindsets by their unique experiences and circumstances

The set, designed by Amy C Gilman and skillfully lighted by Laura J Wiley, was simple yet multifunctional: a few basic shapes from which a desk, a hospital bed, or whatever’s needed may be quickly created. Kasey Wolfgang managed to create costumes that indicated military uniforms while remaining, in my case at least, non-offensive and non-triggering (not an easy feat!) And gratitude goes to Ab Rieve for managing to avoid firearms.  

Hannah Foerschler’s backup sound was so supportive and credible that I find I can’t distinctly recall it – ideal, it seems to me. And as Stage Manager… I once asked a more experienced friend “Just what does a Stage Manager do?” Their succinct reply: “Everything.” Grace Elizabeth Mealy, with Assistant Dylan Hirt, did Everything and did it well.  Intimacy Director Becca Schwartz clearly worked closely with Fight Director Hazel Monson and her Assistant Carly Belle Cason. Fighting and intimacy are closely linked and, as with all Babes productions, they meshed perfectly.  Stage combat is, after all, the Babes’ raison d'etere and they do it superbly.

I was a bit confused about time jumps. There was no direct indication that some scenes were actually backstory. Still, once I muddled it out the storyline progressed smoothly. Perhaps this could be simply indicated using costume and/or props. Also, I couldn’t help noticing a couple of misspoken lines, but that’s to be expected at the start of the run.

In essence THE MARK is a relevant and thoroughly entertaining show, an excellent vehicle for the special magic of the Babes w/Blades.

Playing at The Edge Theater through November 22                                                                                                       

Highly Recommended!

"Duchess of Malfi" is another winner from Babes with Blades Theatre Company, a troupe I have loved for 20 years. As part of its core mission, Babes With Blades uses stage combat to "tell stories that elevate the voices of underrepresented communities and dismantle the patriarchy." Stage fighting is an interesting vehicle for social justice; the mere existence of an all-woman stage fighting company is a statement in itself.

Another reason I love Babes With Blades is the consistent excellence of their work. I’ve never seen a bad production. John Webster's Jacobean-period play "Duchess of Malfi," written in 1613, is also set during that period, an age characterized by corruption and immorality in the upper classes of society. Major themes of Jacobean drama included injustice, religious conflict, and questioning of the social order. Both tragedies and satires were popular. "Duchess of Malfi" is a little of both.

The plot has numerous convolutions but the basic theme is: the widowed Duchess (Carrie Hardin), a woman of noble character as well as birth, loves her humble steward Antonio (Clara Byczkowski). Her brothers Ferdinand (Shane Richlen), and the Cardinal (Carlos Wagener-Sobrero) vehemently oppose any remarriage of their sister—for obvious dynastic and estate purposes—and they hire ex-con Bosolo (Maureen Yasko) to spy on the couple. The lovers—no fools they—suspect chicanery, and Antonio dispatches his cherished friend Delia (Hazel Monson), to Rome, there to meet with Delia’s friend (and ex-lover) Julia (Carina Lastimosa), who is the Cardinal’s current mistress.Surely she can winkle out what the dastardly duo is up to.

One can see how this imbroglio is destined inevitably to end in the sort of carnage that The Babes do best. 

But let’s discuss the production first. The crew of "Duchess of Malfi" includes no specific vocal coach, but the players mastered Webster's "anfractuous" (to use an 18th century word) and highly convoluted language. But here the problem is not the language but the script itself. Playwright John Webster is besotted with his own voice. Shakespeare’s ornate language never loses track of the story, but Webster has a lamentable tendency to throw in superfluous verbiage simply because he can, resulting in a nearly inscrutable script.  

Director Hayley Rice and Technical Director Line Bower made shrewd use of the limited stage area to tell the story. Adroit blocking created narrative sketches through cunning placement of individuals and groups. Scenic Designer Marcus Klein and Props Designer Meg X. McGrath brought the story to life with minimal but eloquent objects. I had a bit of pregame instruction in lighting; enough to let me know Lighting Designer Laura J Wiley used them adroitly. The special lighting of the first murder was both powerful and poignant.

Fight Choreographer Maya Vinice Prentiss, with Assistant Stephanie Mattos and Fight Captain Hazel Monson, collaborated to make each fight purposeful. Intimacy Designer Jennifer L Michelson with Intimacy Captain Shane Richlen made every touch, every kiss, tell its own story. The effectiveness of Sound Designer Kiera Battles’ music is best described by saying I didn’t hear it; it simply wove itself into and through the action. This production would have been an ordeal for any but the best Stage Manager. Happily, Esau Andaleon rose to the challenge magnificently.

I’ve saved my fave for last: Jennifer Mohr’s costumes were absolutely sensational! Elizabethan Burlesque is the best descriptor for her masterful compilations of velvet trunkhose, starched linen ruffs, and brocade doublets with fishnet stockings and high-heeled boots. And Bosolo’s hair! – I can’t describe it, you’ll just have to go see it for yourself. The overall effect was garish, incongruous, disquieting – and perfect!

Best of all, of course, were the actors, who acted through the script so effectively that words were barely necessary. Yasko (Bosolo) absolutely rocked my world -- not surprising, as her 10 years with BWBTC have given her prodigious expertise on and behind the stage. Richlen (Ferdinand) underwhelmed in the first act but Act Two gave him the material he needed to shine. I absolutely loved Monson as Delia, that devoted friend. Wagener-Sobrero’s Cardinal was the only time I’ve seen a Bible wielded as a weapon! and not just a bludgeon, mind.

I loved absolutely everything but the play itself, which would definitely have benefited from judicious editing. But Webster has been dead four centuries so rewrite is a no-go. It takes a genius to make a mess into a masterpiece, and the Babes totally nailed it!

Very highly recommended, "The Duchess of Malfi" runs through October 21 at The Factory Theatre, 1623 W Howard Street in Chicago.