Displaying items by tag: Sarah Gitenstein
Review: Memorable Show About Online World Asks: Do We Have a Right to Be Forgotten?
‘Right to Be Forgotten ' is a play for our times, in contemporary language and a production at Raven Theatre that is laser-focused on an issue of our day—the inability of the average person to remove online content about themselves that is damaging or even life-threatening.
Directed by Sarah Gitenstein from a script by Sharyn Rothstein, this Chicago premiere features minimalist sets—a simple table and chairs evokes a coffee shop; a desk makes an office—and characters that are quickly recognizable types. The stage features a surround of screens on which social media posts and Google search results are displayed, apropos of the subject: the indelible stamp made by digital records of our lives.
Hapless 17-year-old nerd Derril Lark (Adam Shalzi), who for weeks dogged his first school crush, Jamila Tyler (Eve Salinsky), was called into the principal’s office and set straight. Mending his ways thereafter, his stalking behavior was documented on the ‘High School Girl’ blog, and he soon became a symbol of stalkers despite stopping his behavior.
A decade later Darril Lark is at work on his PhD in literature, and dreaming of settling into a serious relationship. Dating through match-up apps, he meets Sarita (Kelsey Elyse Rodriguez), and the two hit it off. But very soon he divulges to Sarita that his profile carries an assumed name, for his real name is infinitely attached to the hashtag #lurkinlark. The story of his brief high school misstep was subsumed into an onslaught of posts about other heinous aggressions suffered by girls and women everywhere, along with numerous related supportive posts, all of which appear when anyone googles his real name.
The story leads us through Darril's futile attempts to have his history cleared voluntarily by the search engine giant, using their appeals process. In desperation he pleads his case to a lawyer known in the field for battling internet behemoths, Marta Lee (Susaan Jamshidi), who takes his case. The plot now turns on the legal and eventually political jousting around his case, leading us through the twists and turns of a first-rate courtroom drama.
‘Right to Be Forgotten’ is an artful exploration of the dynamics of a fraught societal issue. Threaded neatly with exposition of the subject, we learn that Europeans have the right to be forgotten, and upon request can have their histories expunged from the web. Via the clashes among lawyers, politicos, and individuals online (who are both consumers and suppliers of content) the playwright leads the audience to understand the unresolved tension in the U.S. between freedom of expression, and the right to privacy, both enshrined in the Constitution.
In some respects this script is a series of vignettes, and characters and dialog are lean and purposeful, like a web search result. While not naturalistic—we get just what we need to know, both about the characters, and for scenes to advance the action—the whole of ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ works together to conjure our empathy for individual suffering. And it ends with a satisfying, even optimistic resolution. Running through March 26 at Raven Theatre in Chicago, ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ is unforgettable, and comes highly recommended.
*Extended through April 2nd!
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Review: You Will Get Sick at Steppenwolf Theatre
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Cast and creative team announced for SENTINELS, a play with music celebrating the contributions of women over the past 80 years
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EUREKA DAY WILL PLAY BROADWAY IN CHICAGO’S BROADWAY PLAYHOUSE AT WATER TOWER PLACE JANUARY 13 – FEBRUARY 22, 2026
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“Twihard! A Twilight Musical Parody” Sinks Its Teeth Into Limited Engagement At the Apollo Theater
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Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces cast and creative team for an electrifying world premiere play Billie Jean
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PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE’S BROADWAY IN YOUR BACKYARD RETURNS THIS SUMMER, JULY 14 - 23
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Don't Wait Until It's Too Late: Kimberly Akimbo a Must See at CIBC Theatre
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42 Balloons Soaring High at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
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Hell in a Handbag's QUEEN FOR A DAY - July 9 – August 3, 2025 at the Bramble Arts Loft - World Premiere!
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Review: Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre at Ruth Page Center for the Arts
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Review: Iraq, But Funny at Lookingglass Theatre
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Chasing the White Rabbit into Ballet Brilliance: Joffrey Ballet’s Mesmerizing 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'
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Elizabeth McGovern's AVA: The Secret Conversations to play in Chicago
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THE DEN THEATRE ANNOUNCES JULY COMEDY SHOWS
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OPERA FESTIVAL OF CHICAGO ANNOUNCES THE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM FOR PAGLIACCI, JUNE 27 AND 29 AT THE NORTH SHORE CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
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It's Funny What Can Happen on a "Neighborhood Watch," Now Running at Jackalope Theatre
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Kokandy Productions Presents the Chicago Premiere of AMÉLIE
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MJ THE MUSICAL is On Sale Wednesday May 28th!
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History. Passion. Power. A Love That Changed an Empire - Scandalous Boy at
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Writers Theatre concludes its 2024/25 Season with the World Premiere of Dhaba on Devon Avenue
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TimeLine Theatre Company announces milestone 2025-26 season, culminating with inaugural production at its new home in Uptown
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RAVEN THEATRE ANNOUNCES 43rd SEASON - Dave Malloy's A Capella Musical OCTET and Terry Guest's OAK Get Chicago Premieres; TOP GIRLS Explores Feminism Through History
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Marriott Theatre Continues 50th Anniversary Season with Vibrant New Jukebox Musical, Always Something There…
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Lucid Theater to stage comedy BUDDHA'S BIRTHDAY by WELLS AND WELLES playwright Amy Crider, August 1-17 at the Edge Theatre
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Review: HONEYPOT: BLACK SOUTHERN WOMEN WHO LOVE WOMEN at Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in Evanston
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The Title Says it All in Conspirators Remarkable ‘Chicago Cop Macbeth’
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Written by Bill EslerCourt Theatre has brought back to its stage “An Iliad,” a surpassingly wonderful riff on Homer’s ancient Greek poem, “The Iliad,” starring Timothy Edward Kane in a reprise of his sensational one-man performance as The Poet, directed by Charles Newell.… -
Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces cast and creative team for an electrifying world premiere play Billie Jean
Written by Buzz Center StageChicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announces today the cast and creative team of the world premiere play Billie Jean, about sports icon and equality champion Billie Jean King. Playwright Lauren Gunderson, one of the most-produced playwrights in the US, and director Marc Bruni (Broadway's The Great Gatsby and Beautiful: The Carole… -
PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE’S BROADWAY IN YOUR BACKYARD RETURNS THIS SUMMER, JULY 14 - 23
Written by Buzz Center StagePorchlight Music Theatre is proud to announce the return of its free summer concert series Broadway in your Backyard, July 14 - 23, sponsored by Chicago Free For All Fund. Broadway in your Backyard is directed by Artistic Director Michael Weber, music directed…
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Review: You Will Get Sick at Steppenwolf Theatre
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