Remy Bumppo laughs at old people, Isadora Duncan dances at Timeline, and the Goodman tokes up
Theater is touching.
More Footlight Footnotes
Welcome to Footlight Footnotes, The A.V. Club's lowdown on the most interesting and notable productions in the city. Today’s performances: a comedy about three elderly WWI-veterans, a tragic portrait of dance legend Isadora Duncan, and family dysfunction in the Chicago suburbs.
Heroes at Remy Bumppo Theatre in Greenhouse Theater Center
The setting is France, 1959, and three lovable World War I veterans, Gustave, Henri, and Phillipe, reminisce on the terrace of their medical hospital while fantasizing about teenage girls and poplar trees. Together they face their greatest fears, say goodbye to friends and family, write birthday poems for forgotten lieutenants, and dream of freedom beyond the hospital walls. Tom Stoppard's translation of Gerald Sibleyras's script is black comedy in a tweed jacket, sophisticated yet never above the occasional joke about homicidal nurses or anal sex with a prostitute. David Darlow plays Gustave with an icy bitterness that is hilarious in its assholery, but one particular scene, where he is so consumed by his agoraphobia that he collapses to the ground, reveals the vulnerability hiding beneath the cold surface. Heroes: horny old men staring death in the eye while holding on to their last shreds of glory.
Cheapest way to get tickets: Remy Bumppo offers $10 student rush tickets on performance days.
When She Danced at Timeline Theatre
There is one scene in When She Danced when Isadora Duncan "rehearses," but her feet never leave the ground. She stands a few feet away from a grand piano while Alexandros Eliopolos plays Chopin's "Opus 10 Etude No. 9 In F minor" and simply listens; in those moments, the audience watches as Isadora Duncan's life sweeps over actress Jennifer Engstrom and engulfs her in its story of joy and despair. The music surrounds Engstrom and makes her feel the death of two children, the pain of an abusive marriage, the thrill of cheering crowds and bouquet rainstorms. When she dances, Jennifer Engstrom is Isadora Duncan, and it is extraordinary. The heart of When She Danced is not Duncan, but her dance, and director Nick Bowling emphasizes the unifying force that underlines all creative outlets. The characters of the play rarely speak the same language, yet they understand each other through art. Isadora's alcoholic husband Sergei's poetry reveals a broken soul that cannot be heard in his screaming voice. Eliopolos's music soothes an enraged Sergei when words cannot, and it teaches a valuable lesson: Pain, like joy, is universal.
Cheapest way to get tickets: Remy Bumppo offers $10 student rush tickets on performance days.
When She Danced at Timeline Theatre
There is one scene in When She Danced when Isadora Duncan "rehearses," but her feet never leave the ground. She stands a few feet away from a grand piano while Alexandros Eliopolos plays Chopin's "Opus 10 Etude No. 9 In F minor" and simply listens; in those moments, the audience watches as Isadora Duncan's life sweeps over actress Jennifer Engstrom and engulfs her in its story of joy and despair. The music surrounds Engstrom and makes her feel the death of two children, the pain of an abusive marriage, the thrill of cheering crowds and bouquet rainstorms. When she dances, Jennifer Engstrom is Isadora Duncan, and it is extraordinary. The heart of When She Danced is not Duncan, but her dance, and director Nick Bowling emphasizes the unifying force that underlines all creative outlets. The characters of the play rarely speak the same language, yet they understand each other through art. Isadora's alcoholic husband Sergei's poetry reveals a broken soul that cannot be heard in his screaming voice. Eliopolos's music soothes an enraged Sergei when words cannot, and it teaches a valuable lesson: Pain, like joy, is universal.
Cheapest way to get tickets: Students get $10 off regular priced tickets with a valid ID.
High Holidays at Goodman Theatre
The Romans are just another family from the early 1960's Chicago suburbs: younger brother Billy's struggling to learn Hebrew for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah, big brother Rob's back from college wearing stinking rags and facing an identity crisis, father Nate is starting to have a few drinky-drinks before bed, and mother Essie is just trying to keep it together. Happy High Holidays, Alan Gross's new drama inspired by his own experiences as a young Jew growing up in Skokie. Personal obligation to family and religion becomes the topic at hand when Rob announces he's leaving school to become a West Coast folk singer, and the gap between Rob's hippie beliefs and his parents' post-Holocaust dedication to Judaism is a source for contention. The script is far from perfect, though, particularly in the muddy characterization of narrator Billy, who lacks much of an arc at all. Steven Robman directs a solid family drama that has a fair share of impressive moments, particular most scenes with Rengin Altay as Essie, the hard-as-nails matriarch of the house. The role fits Altay like a Rosh Hashanah dress, and whether she's lamenting Billy's potential mental retardation or slapping her family members around with a shoe, she always brings a caring presence that pulls in her fellow actors. Clunky script asie, the best moments come when everyone in the cast simply relaxes and lets moments happen naturally; when the two brothers sit in their backyard, passing a joint, laughing about when Rob pissed his pants during his Torah reading, the Roman family finally comes to life.
High Holidays at Goodman Theatre
The Romans are just another family from the early 1960's Chicago suburbs: younger brother Billy's struggling to learn Hebrew for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah, big brother Rob's back from college wearing stinking rags and facing an identity crisis, father Nate is starting to have a few drinky-drinks before bed, and mother Essie is just trying to keep it together. Happy High Holidays, Alan Gross's new drama inspired by his own experiences as a young Jew growing up in Skokie. Personal obligation to family and religion becomes the topic at hand when Rob announces he's leaving school to become a West Coast folk singer, and the gap between Rob's hippie beliefs and his parents' post-Holocaust dedication to Judaism is a source for contention. The script is far from perfect, though, particularly in the muddy characterization of narrator Billy, who lacks much of an arc at all. Steven Robman directs a solid family drama that has a fair share of impressive moments, particular most scenes with Rengin Altay as Essie, the hard-as-nails matriarch of the house. The role fits Altay like a Rosh Hashanah dress, and whether she's lamenting Billy's potential mental retardation or slapping her family members around with a shoe, she always brings a caring presence that pulls in her fellow actors. Clunky script asie, the best moments come when everyone in the cast simply relaxes and lets moments happen naturally; when the two brothers sit in their backyard, passing a joint, laughing about when Rob pissed his pants during his Torah reading, the Roman family finally comes to life.
Cheapest way to get tickets: Goodman offers half-price mezzanine tickets and $10 student tickets starting at 10 a.m. on performance days.
