Displaying items by tag: The Edge Off Broadway

The Tempest is Shakespeare’s final play, and one could argue that he saved the best for last, skillfully presented by Idle Muse Theatre Company. At intermission I overheard two young women expressing surprise at ‘how they can do so much in so little space!’  Clearly, they were habitues of traditional venues like the Goodman and Nederlander theatres, and I simply had to interrupt them to sing the praises of Chicago’s numerous and thoroughly excellent storefront theatres. As I’ve often said, theatre takes on a special glow when you’re watching from within the players’ pheromone clouds.

As with most of the Bard’s works, The Tempest uses many characters to enact a labyrinthine plot. Prospero (Elizabeth MacDougald ^she/her) is the former Duke of Milan, deposed and exiled with his infant daughter Miranda (Caty Gordon ^she/her) to this remote and (seemingly) uninhabited island, where he has raised his child while evolving himself into a powerful sorcerer. As the play begins Prospero is using his magic to create a raging storm to wreck the ship carrying the despots who usurped his dukedom: his conniving brother Antonio (Orion Lay-Sleeper^he/him), King Alonzo (Jack Sharkey ^he/him), with his son Ferdinand (Boomer Lusink ^he/him), and Uncle Tom Cobbleigh and all ….

When Prospero arrives on the island, he finds that, contrary to expectation, it is inhabited, by Caliban (Jennifer Mohr ^she/her), whom Prospero rescues from the spell previously laid on him. Unfortunately, Caliban retaliates this largesse with brutish behavior. Prospero, fearing Caliban’s conduct might injure the growing child Miranda, enslaves him.

Prospero meets yet another islander, Ariel, a cosmically powerful air spirit whom he frees from captivity. Ariel shows more gratitude than Caliban, protecting both Prospero and the child, now seventeen years old (but still, of course, an infant in her father’s eyes).  Ariel is also handy for whipping up tempests at sea and befuddling shipwrecked aristocrats. Director Brandon cleverly casts Ariel six times: Mara Kovacevic ^she/her, Gary Henderson^he/him, Connar Brown^she/her, Emely Cuestas^she/her, Jacque Bischoff ^she/her, and Emily Pfriem ^she/her. These six capering sprites are all equally adroit in the use of magic and music, and all beholden to Prospero for their … well, not actually freedom, as they’re still indentured to Prospero, but at least they’re no longer trammeled in a tree.

[Are you getting the idea that Prospero is a bit of a control freak (to use a common Shakespearian term)?]

Ariel(s) leads Ferdinand (the King’s son, remember?) to meet Miranda, and the two adolescents fall instantaneously, fervently and immitigably in love (as you do). Elsewhere on the island King Alonso, with his friend Gonzalo (Xavier Lagunas ^he/him), his brother Sebastian (Eric Duhon ^he/him), and Prospero’s insidious brother Duke Antonio are having vile and nefarious adventures whilst the heartbroken King searches for his son. Ariel(s) saved these folks from the sinking ship, but also made sure to bespeckle them far and wide across the island. Court jester Trinculo (Joel Thompson ^he/him) and his friend the King’s butler Stephano (Michael Dalberg ^he/him) fall in with Caliban, whom they woo with the barrel of wine Stephano serendipitously rode to shore from the wreck.

There! Got all that? I’ve by no means covered all Shakespeare’s storylines, threads, scenarios and subplots, but you can get those from Cliff’s Notes; I’m here to talk about all the other artists.

As is to be expected from Idle Muse, all were excellent. I admit I’ve come to rather take for granted that the talent on a [small!] Chicago stage will be extraordinary; in particular I trust Idle Muse not to disappoint me. From MacDougald’s Prospero to the six Ariels; from Boomer Lusink’s lordly Ferdinand to Orion Lay-Sleeper’s rascally Antonio, every character was enacted deliciously. Though the story began with darkness, rolling thunder and vast waves, humor began peeking through early, and by Act II we were all laughing.

Those who’ve been reading my reviews know that I don’t pretend to be fair and even-handed; I always have favorites!  In The Tempest my first and foremost fave was Ariel #2, Gary Henderson. His Ariel couldn’t help standing out on account of being the only cis-male Faerie (sic), but I really just liked his style – dancing about the stage with bells, on hands and knees barking at miscreants, snooping into secret plots … whatever Henderson’s Ariel was up to, he was a delight! I also loved Joel Thompson’s Trinculo; paired with Michael Dahlberg’s Stephano they were a swilling and snarfing version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, with terrific comedic timing.

Director Tristan Brandon ^he/him not only directed but adapted this production of The Tempest as well. In his splendid From the Director note he reminds us that The Tempest is about relationships and family, begotten and chosen.  The Tempest illustrates that, as humans can’t help being human, with human virtues and failings, the most critical aspect of relationships is forgiveness: we must be incessantly forgiving each other – and ourselves – for being human. Brandon’s Assistant Libby Beyreis ^she/her was also Violence Designer, appropriately, acknowledging the dichotomous but related aspects of violence and forgiveness. Balancing these was Maureen Yasko ^she/her as Intimacy Designer.

The set was perfect, spare yet evocative, under the combined attentions of Scenic Painter Breezy Snyder ^she/they with Scenic Designers Laura J. Wiley ^she/her and Tristan Brandon; these two, with Artistic Director Evan Jackson ^he/him, also designed the props, and Laura Wiley ^she/her brought the puppets to life.

[BTW, I hope you’re noticing names being repeated. When a relatively small company is mounting grandiloquent and multidimensional productions (like anything by Shakespeare!), considerable multitasking is required. Thus one sees much overlap, as well as inclusion of cast members, in Production.]

I was enchanted by Jennifer Mohr’s ^she/her costumes and Jacque Bischoff’s ^she/her makeup. The Ariels were captivating with twinkle-lights under tulle skirts and transcendental makeup. Prospero’s magical coat was stunning, and I loved that many of the costumes had corset-style lacing in back; creates such a sense of glamorous antiquity (ancient glamor? whatever)! Trinculo sported mismatched socks, with dissimilar shoes as well. The core values of Idle Muse Theatre Company are True, Timely, and Transporting; between them Mohr and Bischoff made each character totally True.

The same can be said for Laura J Wiley’s ^she/her Lighting Design which, with Kati Lechner ^she/her directing L.J. Luthringer’s ^he/him sound and music compositions, created a multisensory domain accordant with all the disparate scenes, from a raging storm to a quiet family home and to the Ariel(s)-bewitched wildwood, certainly fulfilling the core value of Transporting. Much of this I attribute also to Stage Manager Becky Warner ^she/her and her Associate Lindsey Chidester ^she/her. Pulling all these diverse variants together into a smooth, tangible, inclusive Truth can only happen when excellent direction of a superlative cast is so masterfully Managed as to unite all elements.

Idle Muse’s third core value is Timely, and what could be timelier in the American election year of 2024 than a production that transports us to the Truth? It’s tempting to draw comparisons between fictional and political characters, but it’s unnecessary. The Tempest’s fundamental, essential message is about forming and maintaining relationships: between parents and children, teachers and students, leaders and followers. Forming and maintaining relationships is basic, but never simple, and always requires mutual and correspondent forgiveness.

I recently encountered a new word that I like very much: Ubuntu, or ‘I am because we are’. This term originates from the Zulu and Xhosa languages, and it loosely translates to ‘humanity towards others’. In honor of Bilbo’s and Frodo’s birthdays (as well as my own!), I offer it here in Elvish (Ariel-ish?) Tengwar script:

The Tempest is 2½ hours long, including one intermission.

The Tempest plays at The Edge Off-Broadway through October 20; last nights’ performance was sold out so I VERY Highly Recommend you get your tickets early!

I think my favorite thing – well, one of my favorite things – about Wyatt Kent’s take on HAMLET is imagining just how much fun everyone must have been having with it! everyone except Hamlet, of course, but the entire play is about Prince Hamlet (Ashley Fox) having a Very. Bad. Day.

HAMLET is one of Shakespeare’s tragedies, no argument about that, and certainly the corpses littering the stage in the final act [I don’t have to worry about spoilers here, right?] cannot be anything but tragic. But Director Kent broadened the scope, extended our range of understanding HAMLET, by making us laugh.

Yes, I know Shakespeare injects touches of humor into every play – even Macbeth has a few chuckles – but I’m talking about a far more inclusive and deliberate thing here. Last summer I saw Midsommer Flight’s production of Cymbeline, billed as tragedy but staged as comedy. Director Beth Wolf created a totally brilliant comedy while staying true to the Bard’s script word for word. Kent worked the same magic on HAMLET, a categorically tragic work, with sensational results.

In retrospect I realize there was some humor evident as early as Act 1 Scene 1, where Horatio (Reginald Hemphill) sees the Ghost, but I had arrived at the theatre expecting to see HAMLET, a tragedy, so it took a minute to wrap my mind around what was happening up there. And that’s OK! – it worked really well for me to pick up on it only gradually ….

Act 1, Scene 3: Ophelia (Julia Rowley) was saying farewell to her brother Laertes (Ian Maryfield) and, OK, she did go a tad OTT what with leaping into his arms and knocking him to the floor, but I was still considering the desultory laughter misplaced, not to mention rude. Then Polonius (Zach Bloomfield) begins to deliver his loving, solicitous, concerned, pompous, long-winded, verbose, garrulous, interminable paternal speech to his son and at that point it was a no-brainer – the production was categorically comedic. In any production Polonius will be a garrulous guy, that’s who Polonius is, and Bloomfield skillfully played this bombastic buffoon with maximum drollery, making us chuckle all through ‘neither a borrower nor a lender be.…’ Laertes rolling his eyes at Dad’s balderdash was another unmistakable clue as to where Kent was taking us.

I repeat - not one syllable was altered in the script of HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK; it was the artistry of Kent’s vision and the genius of the actors that transmogrified HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK from dramatic tragedy to black comedy. Brilliant!

More giggles in store in Act 2, when Harrison Lampert (Rosencrantz) bumbled, fumbled, and stumbled his way onstage, befriended and ballyhooed by Mary Townsend Cahoon as Guildenstern. Every scene with these two was L.O.L. funny! And again, it was the actors’ postures, expressions and intonation – in a word, their acting – that morphed Shakespeare’s lines into one-liners.

Polonius again exercises his loquacious and circumlocutory logorrhea to alert King Claudius (Robert Koon) and Queen Gertrude (Kelly Levander) that Prince Hamlet has gone mad. Furthermore, Polonius posits the pathogenesis of Hamlet’s madness is none other than that enigmatic enchantment that oft-times doth drive strong men nuts … love.

Right then, that covers the major players. Others included Josh Razavi (Gravedigger et al), Tatiana Pavela (Player etc.) and Tulsi McDaniels (Osric and others) and all did colossal justice to their multiple roles in many scenes.

I can’t leave the cast without some shout-outs to my favorites – you all know I unapologetically play favorites in my reviews! First is Ashley Fox as Hamlet; he is the sole character who doesn’t participate in the farcical variation, and I imagine it was a challenge for Fox to retain that bleak and gloomy aspect amidst the hilarity of her fellows. She truly did a stellar job! 

I already mentioned Lampert and Cahoon’s (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s) wonderful waggery – by their third or fourth appearance we were laughing in anticipation as soon as they took the stage! Likewise, Zack Bloomfield’s Polonius – even his mustache was weirdly chucklesome.

Alarum: I had a bag of Skittles and (probably channeling Rosencrantz) dropped it! Losing the Skittles was oh-so-what, but they rolled like BB’s into the aisles where actors were dashing about. Just my luck if an actor slipped on my sweets and the evening relapsed back into tragedy! From my seat I couldn’t reach to sweep ‘em away, but Ian Maryfield, lovely Laertes, stepped off the stage [and, more difficult, out of character!], to scrape the treacherous little treats out of harm’s way. Gratitude galore to the gallant Laertes! And, just BTW, his performance was every bit as striking as his chivalry. Ian, if you’re reading this: 

I’ll begin my production plaudits with Casting Director Becca Holloway for assembling this phenomenal team. I’ve seen lots of gender-bending casting, particularly in this PC (post-Covid) era, but it seemed that Holloway was simply gender- as well as color-blind, selecting the actor best suited for each role without regard to anything but their talent. I don’t know if that really was her strategy, but it certainly was the outcome.  

And naturally the finest cast won’t deliver the finest production without the finest Direction, which Wyatt Kent delivered, assisted by Sean William Kelly (Assistant Director) and Technical Director Andy Cahoon – who also collaborated on Props with Mary Townsend Cahoon – who also sparkled as Guildenstern. This production was all about multi-tasking, yeah? For Fight and Intimacy Design, I just last week saw Babes With Blades do The S Paradox, so my bar was set really high, but Jamie MacPherson and Fight Captain Ian Maryfield cleared that bar with room to spare!

Pictured left to right - Kelly Levander as Gertrude, Ian Maryfield as Laertes, Ashley Fox as Hamlet

Dr Lexi Signor’s Music was flawlessly selected, and Text Coach Meredith Ernst conveyed excellent translations of iambic pentameter. Sebby Woldt (Sound), Derryl (Lighting) and Rose Johnson (Scenic Design) generated an impeccable environment to sustain both the indigenous tragedy of HAMLET as well as Kent’s comic interpretation – no mean feat, that! In addition, have I mentioned that HAMLET was performed in the round?!  I felt smug at having got a seat in the perfect spot – until several people seated elsewhere said the same thing. How did dey do dat?

No, I haven’t forgotten Costume Designer Madeline Felauer, I was just saving the best for last. Felauer chose to bedizen the characters with a surrealistic thread. Hamlet wore a shapeless moth-eaten sweater, while Queen Gertrude was in a dress Jackie Kennedy might have worn, a mink stole, and 3” pumps. For Ophelia, picture an exceptionally odd floor-length orange fishnet … um, thing … over a miniskirt. Other characters ran the gamut from ugly plaid business suit to crisp, scarlet-trimmed military-style jacket, and blue jeans abounded. Overall, the effect coordinated perfectly with the mind-f*ck tragedy cum farce aspect of the production.

And of course, nothing gets to the box office without the guidance and oversight of a good Stage Manager. I once asked a friend with lots of theatre experience, “Just what does a Stage Manager do, anyway?” to which they replied, “Everything.” So … Tessa Huber did Everything, with a lil’ help from Assistant Junipero “Juni” Cruz.

I hope you have gleaned from this that I really reeeeeeally liked Red Theater’s HAMLET. This gig as a reviewer has certainly broadened my artistic horizons, particularly of The Bard. Everyone knows Shakespeare was a magnificent playwright, but I suggest that one can’t truly appreciate his works until you’ve seen them produced on Chicago’s iconic storefront stages with cast from Chicago’s wicked assemblage of outstanding actors.

I leave you with two take-home messages: (1) keep your skittles in your pocket; and (2) SEE HAMLET!!!

Playing at The Edge Off Broadway Theater Mondays and Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30, and Sundays at 3

Running through Sunday May 19.

VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!  

And with more than a dozen performances coming up you have no excuse not to go!