Tag Archive
High Visibility
“I am an invisible man.” To begin a play with that phrase can’t help but raise expectations. Court Theatre’s current run of “Invisible Man” has especially high expectations to reckon with, owing to both the long history of the celebrated novel and the nature of the production: this is the first time the book... »
A Thousand Ships
“An Iliad” tells the story of the last few weeks of the war, when the Acheans Agamemnon and Achilles are fighting over a woman, Briseis. Achilles loses Briseis and refuses to fight in the war. As the struggle within the Achean ranks unfolds, the war wages on outside the walls of Troy. »
It Ain’t Necessarily So
When it first debuted in 1935, the Gershwin brothers’ ”Porgy and Bess” raised one of the biggest stinks in musical theater history. With its controversial portrayal of love in an impoverished African-American community, the work was famously decried by academic Harold Cruse as “the most contradictory cultural symbol the Western world has ever created,”... »
A Tall Order
Few could interpret the nuances of Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize-winning “Three Tall Women” with as much fluidity as director Charles Newell does in Court Theatre’s most recent production. A play which charts the life of an old woman from three different perspectives—the woman’s own, first at the end of her life, next in her... »
No Play Like Home
Wearing a jacket that suits him as poorly as urban life, Cephus Miles is brought to life in Court Theatre’s new production of Samm-Art Williams’s “Home.” Yet the northern metropolis through which he wanders has nothing wholesome to offer the God-fearing farmer Cephus, played masterfully by Kamal Angelo Bolden. The entire production faithfully renders... »
Comedic License
Tucked away on Ellis Avenue, Court Theatre’s mission is summarized well by its claim of taking a “bold and risky approach to the classics.” Its name embraces its grounding in the classic theater and masque that flourished at the 17th-century English court while the slogan in its brochure, “Just minutes from the Loop in... »
What’s in a Name?
Though only two actors command the stage and the set consists of little more than chairs and a backdrop, Court Theatre’s production of “Sizwe Banzi Is Dead” is filled with an energy and charm that belies its spartan setup. Deftly directed by Ron OJ Parson, the play is served well by the intimate nature... »
The Stages of Grief: Joan Didion’s somber “Year of Magical Thinking” plays at Court Theatre
“Can’t you just let things go?” the character Joan Didion exclaims in “The Year of Magical Thinking” at Court Theatre. Didion, played by Mary Beth Fisher, recalls the countless times her husband, John Gregory Dunne, said just that to her after a fight. “Can’t you just let things go? Do you always have to... »
