‘Bastards of Young’
Written by Susan Myburgh, S.L. Daniels, Bob Fisher…
Showing: The Side Project, 1439 W. Jarvis, through Nov. 8.
Tickets: $10-$15
Contact: (773) 442-2882; tympanictheatre.org

Reviewed By Brian Kirst

CFP Contributor

Like the strangely classic television show “The Outer Limits”, the unusual pieces in Tympanic Theatre Company’s first night of ten minute plays, “Bastards of Young”, can be fairly hit and miss.

Always interesting, (hapless robbers being helped by their GDS; the savage, verbal courtship of two assassins), these shorts do not always live up to the dramatic inventiveness of their subjects—particularly in the first act. There, only a sensually blunt monologue (S.L. Daniels’ dark and amusing “Night Vision”) about a sex worker’s abilities to discern the hidden monsters within her partners has any long-term resonance.

The projects in the second act, though, twine around each other with a beautiful sense of paranoia and lyricism. A German child’s fevered dreams of nightmare elves, in Susan Myburgh’s taut “The Elf King”, produces some truly frightening images (both visual and sonic) while also maintaining a strongly poetic edge. Beautifully choreographed by director Chris Acevodo, the piece also features strong performances from Kasia Januszewski as the child and Jonathon Harden, Lyn Scot and Megan Gotz as the venomous, syrupy creatures that haunt her.

Actors Danielle Forrester and Adam Cobb also produce laughs and chilling association games in Bob Fisher’s “Personal Apocalypse.” Any employee feeling overwhelmed and manipulated by his corporate activities will surely sigh in recognition as this tale unfolds.

Lauren D. Yee’s “Zachary Zwillinger Eats People” is highlighted by a sparklingly energetic cast and by the playwright’s notion that love can be sweetly devouring. Josh Mikel’s “The Great Black Vulture” ends things on a lyrically cannibalistic note insuring that “Bastards of Young” becomes a truly visionary evening of theater.

‘Fedra, Queen of Haiti’
Written by J. Nicole Brooks
Showing: Lookingglass Theatre, 821 N. Michigan Ave., through Nov. 15.
Tickets: $28–$62
Contact: (312) 337-0665; lookingglasstheatre.org

Reviewed by Web Behrens

CFP contributor

Political palace intrigue, star-crossed lovers, sexual obsessions: Those ancient Greek myths have it all. Now Lookingglass ensemble member J. Nicole Brooks mashes it all up with pop-culture references and gut-punch idioms, transforming the legend of Phaedra into “Fedra, Queen of Haiti.”

The story’s skeleton remains the same: The goddess of love curses Phaedra to fall for her stepson, Hippolytus, rather than remain happy with her heroic husband Theseus; the subsequent series of lies and calamities naturally reap a harvest of pain for all. If you can put aside the story’s dreadful sexual politics (sex and love make women cray-cray), which Brooks exacerbates by turning Fedra’s conniving nurse lesbian, there’s plenty to enjoy in this straightforward soap opera. I wouldn’t make a steady diet of such fare, but there’s an unabashed allure to the Petulant Vindictive Diva, be they named Scarlett O’Hara or Erica Kane, Hedda Gabler or Fedra.

Unfortunately, Fedra boils over into chaos too quickly; neither Brooks’ script nor Laura Eason’s direction allows enough time for Fedra’s turmoil to simmer. Thankfully, Lisa Tejero lends some calculating brains to Fedra’s heart-driven histrionics, while the always-watchable Anthony Fleming makes an excellent tragic hero. (He even nails a silly but entertaining twitching shtick.) Morocco Omari injects a roaring new energy when his Theseus arrives. As Afrodite (whose hair aptly matches her name’s new spelling), Tamberla Perry looks fabulous and gestures dramatically. It all plays out with typically gorgeous Lookingglass visuals, including Meghan Raham’s set, Christine Binder’s lights and Alison Siple’s costumes—and the stakes feel as dire and dangerous as can be, thanks partly to the actors’ commitment to Matthew Hawkins’ killer fight choreography.

‘The Flowers’
Written by Adam Bock
Showing: Stage Left Theatre, 3408 N. Sheffield, through Nov. 7.
Tickets: $20
Contact: (866) 811-4111; stagelefttheatre.com

Reviewed by Web Behrens

CFP contributor

“What kind of faith do you have?” asks the protagonist at the start of “The Flowers,” the premiere that anchors About Face’s XYZ Festival of New Works. Actually, those words are spoken by a character played by the main character—this show, about a small theater company in crisis, folds layers of theatrical reality upon each other—but the question reverberates throughout: Do you have faith in community? In your partner? In yourself?

The couple at the heart of this engaging drama, Hal and James, struggle with those questions. Hal, the artistic director, seems content with the sacrifices necessary to keep his chosen family happy—even when he has to sacrifice his own new play for the safe choice of yet another “Romeo and Juliet” production. But James yearns for new frontiers beyond the confines of their cozy theater and small-city life. (In an odd misstep, New York-based playwright Adam Bock and director Trip Cullman shoot for a incongruous moment of local identification, placing the company in Chicago. The world depicted here feels far too small for this premiere theater city.)

With its glimpses of key moments during a momentous year, Bock’s bittersweet play packs both genuine laughs and some poignant sorrows. The fine About Face cast makes good on the script’s promises—especially Bruch Reed’s Hal, whose sense of responsibility is both admirable and limiting; Reed demonstrates the beauty and the sadness in Hal’s choices. Caron Buinis ultimately shows us the hidden heart of her starved-for-attention actress, while Merrina Millsapp balances the overdramatic archetypes with her humorously down-to-earth lesbian stage manager. The result is 90 minutes (or so) of thought-provoking, heartfelt character study.

‘Heroes’
Written by Gerald Sibleyras, translated by Tom Stoppard
Showing: Remy Bumppo Theatre Company at Greenhouse Theatre, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., through Nov. 29.
Tickets: $35-$50
Contact: (773) 244-8119;
remybumppo.org

Reviewed by Lawrence Bommer

CFP Theater Editor

“Heroes” is a misleading title for this unpretentious and unironic character comedy. The original, “The Wind in the Poplars,” is truer: It evokes a tantalizing vision of escape for three French war veterans in 1959 who feel trapped on the back terrace of an old soldiers’ home (appropriately, in the autumn). The waving trees beckon them as if they were boys again. Gerald Sibleyras’ 90-minute drama consists entirely of their hilariously human chat as they barely remember, conveniently forget and keep each other bracingly sane.

James Bohnen’s pitch-perfect staging combines with Tom Stoppard’s sprightly translation to produce a very French (as in whimsical, spun-silver and perhaps a tad precious) divertissement. If the conversations create the characters, they get rich help from veteran actors with consummate comic control. Roderick Peeples is fragile Philippe, subject to sudden blackouts and convinced that a stone replica of a greyhound keeps moving slightly. David Darlow is aristocratic and misanthropic Gustave, whose dour attempts to overcome his disdain for humanity prove surprisingly touching in their unpredictable pathos. Finally, wonder-actor Mike Nussbaum is practical Henri, who remains rightly skeptical of the others’ crazy scheme to escape to Indochina—or even to the poplar hill across the cemetery (where you know they will soon continue to keep company). Alas, for them not even a picnic proves possible.

The laughs are very real as these cantankerous survivors bicker and surprise, complain and delight. They’ve been retired from battle for, respectively, six months, 10 years and a quarter century and have still failed to exhaust the wonderful quirks and animated differences that keep them together and apart. It’s enough that they’re human: The heroism is, as the French say, “de trop.”