‘Days To Come’
Written by Lillian Hellman
Showing: The Artistic Home, 3914 N. Clark St., through Nov. 29.
Tickets: $22, $25
Contact: (866) 811-4111; theartistichome.org

Reviewed by Lawrence Bommer

CFP Theater Editor

Like all our best playwrights, Lillian Hellman can connect the private to the public, exposing how social wrongs begin at home even if their ultimate solution is national and political. Though less successful than the later “Little Foxes” at eviscerating a fractured family’s galloping greed, this unsuccessful 1936 potboiler amply displays her ability to humanize the contradictions of a dangerous Depression.

“Things start as hopes and end as habits,” says one character. That suits this dour soap opera in which the richest family in Callom, Ohio, find themselves divided and conquered as they react to a strike against their brush factory for a whopping salary of 60 cents an hour. Old ties are tested as the conflicted factory owner fatally brings in strikebreakers to restore order (a pivotal scene that should have been shown). These scumbag opportunists do everything to trigger violence against the labor leaders, including framing them with the corpse of a scab who was knifed by one of his own.

The play’s problem is that important revelations arrive almost too late to matter. Hellman doesn’t set up what’s at stake early enough for us to care as much as we should about what’s coming. Too many burning discoveries come out of nowhere, rather unconvincing when you realize that’s they’ve probably been festering for years, waiting for the right crisis to explode them.

Kathy Scambiattterra’s well chosen and Equity-laden cast play every tumultuous moment with a conviction that makes everything instantly important. Joe McCauley holds his own as the embattled owner who faces wrenching changes in both his business and his marriage.

‘The Glorious Ones’
Written by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens
Showing: BoHo Theatre, 7016 N. Glenwood Ave., through Nov. 21.
Tickets: $17-22
Contact: (866) 811-4111; bohotheatre.com

Reviewed by Web Behrens

CFP contributor

“Write what you know,” goes the old adage. Which is probably why, sooner or later, most theater creators end up crafting a show about artists. So it is with Flaherty and Ahrens, the sometimes-stellar duo (“Ragtime,” “Once on This Island”) whose latest collaboration examines a roving troupe of 16th-century Italian actors.

In its regional debut at BoHo Theatre, “The Glorious Ones” lauds live performers of all stripes, as the titular group struggle with theatrical growing pains. In the wafer-thin plot (almost covered up by enormous number of songs), the actors are torn between two different forms of their art: bawdy improvisational commedia dell’arte and more genteel, scripted fare.

While this isn’t anywhere close to the composers’ best work, even middling Flaherty and Ahrens is enjoyable. Among the musical numbers, “Armanda’s Tarantella” wins the Best Double Entendres award (as a girl learns the joys of playing piccolo and riding the pony), while “Absalom” and “My Body Wasn’t Why” both nicely address the central themes of the tension between generations and the struggles of aging.

As you might guess from the title, this show is plenty self-glorifying. “If you’re good in bed, you’re good on stage. It’s that simple,” says one character, right at the top of the show. Still, director Stephen M. Genovese has assembled a seven-member cast all deserving of some glory (although not all parts are created equal). After they sing, emote and pratfall across stage for 90 nonstop minutes, you’ll be hard-pressed not to admire actors too. Even if you don’t want to go to bed with all of them. Although, the show’s handful of salacious numbers might just put you in the mood

‘Man of La Mancha’
Written by Dale Wasserman, Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion
Showing: No Exit Cafe, 6970 N. Glenwood Ave., through Nov. 22.
Tickets: $30-35 ($48-53 with dinner package)
Contact: (773) 347-1109; theoubique.org

Reviewed by Web Behrens

CFP contributor

Even before the beginning of Theo Ubique’s “Man of La Mancha,” the actors mill about the intimate No Exit Cafe venue, setting the scene ... of a mental institution. It’s a chilling, thrilling moment when you realize that director David Heimann transposes the action from a 16th-century Spanish dungeon into an modern-day asylum, lit by fluorescent lights, where a lone Cervantes must entertain his fellow patients and the hospital staff with his famous tale.

In this raw interpretation, the opening notes become the wails of a mentally disturbed inmate, and Cervantes conscripts a good-hearted orderly to portray Sancho, while his prime enemy is a cold-hearted doctor. Such daring spin on a much-revived classic will alienate some comfort seekers, but what more appropriate new interpretation could there be for a show that asks its audience to grapple with contending views of reality? Quixote’s declaration, “Facts are the enemies of truth,” now carries a whole new layer of meaning.

In a bold stroke of cross-gender casting that never calls attention to itself, the phenomenal Danielle Brothers disappears into the twin role of Cervantes/Quixote, delivering a subtle performance that earns every ounce of the audience’s unanimous empathy. While the entire ensemble sounds marvelous—from the stirring opening duet, “Man of La Mancha,” through the humorous “I’m Only Thinking of Him” to the full-throated finale—Brothers must anchor the show, which she does without any flash. Her luscious take on “The Impossible Dream” forgoes any bombastic vocals; she sings to our souls, not our ears, finessing its inherent grace—one that sweetly infuses this entire production.

‘1512 W. Studebaker Place’
Conceived by Liz Ladach-Bark and Joseph Riley
Showing: Prop Theatre, 3502 N. Elston, through Nov. 22.
Tickets: $10-$15
Contact: (866) 811-4111; brainsurgeontheater.com

Reviewed by Brian Kirst

CFP Contributor

As America struggles with unemployment, debt and financial disaster, it brings a reassuring sense of comradery and optimistic empathy to witness past generations deal with the same situations on the stage. With “1512 W. Studebaker Place,” Brain Surgeon Theater Company introduces us to a vibrant family suffering through the agonies of the Great Depression. Co-created by the nimble cast, we truly learn to love and care for these characters by the show’s semi-abrupt end.

The Kelly family runs a tiny boarding house for various eccentrics including a mute musician and an anguished writer. While the loving patriarch dreams his days away with various (financially unsuccessful) inventions, the inhabitants begin to pawn off their precious possessions to compensate for the lacking rent. When a devious landlord informs one of Kelly children about a mysterious safe located in the home, the residents’ futures seemingly hinge upon what might be found within its interior, once the safe is cracked.

While the resulting show contains a dozen delightful moments and powerful performances, this presentation of “1512 W. Studebaker Place” ultimately comes off as more of an entertaining first draft than a fully realized event. Part musical, part realistic drama and part “You Can’t Take it With You” comedy, “1512” does not, as of yet, have a consistent tone. The harsh ending, also, does not jive with the joviality preceding it-particularly considering that villainous Maggie Delaney comes off more as Cruella De Vill than a true-to-life monster.

With a way to go to before becoming a unified piece, it is ultimately “1512”’s uniformly excellent cast that keeps one enjoyably involved despite the gaps.