As a Windy City Times critic, I see about two plays per week, some big productions (touring Broadway, the Goodman, the Steppenwolf), some small (Side Studio, Artistic Home, Pyewacket), and some in between (Famous Door, Timeline, Remy Bumppo). What this adds up to, give or take a few productions, is seeing close to 100 plays a year. I figure any plays that I remember at year’s end have done something right … or terribly wrong. I’m only including plays I’ve reviewed here, which means that, unfortunately, some great shows that I didn’t review will slip through. So, in chronological order, here are my standouts for 2003.
My congratulations or sympathies to the people behind them.
1. Eloise and Ray (Roadworks): Playwright Stephanie Fleischmann’s story of Eloise, a 16-year-old waif with smudged mascara, wild hair, and a costume of ripped fishnets, army boots, and cut-offs, started off promisingly enough, but then got bogged down in unbelievable teenage angst, unsympathetic characters, and pretense. The playwright voice lacked authority when it came to the people and places she was writing about.
2. The Rose Tattoo (Goodman): Tennessee Williams’ candy-colored love letter to the strength of women is remounted in Chicago (it premiered here in 1950). As Serafina, the fiery Sicilian widow at its heart, Alyssa Bresnahan delivered a flawless performance, one that I can say with confidence ranks with the best that I’ve ever seen on a Chicago stage.
3. Puppetry of the Penis (Touring company at the Lakeshore Theater): Ends in an argument to the ‘bigger is better’ question … this BIG hit was a BIG, tasteless disaster. This ‘genital origami’ showcase was not titillating, not funny, and not shocking. It was the kind of things eight-year-old boys in a basement might giggle over. It stooped lower than a snake’s belly.
4. Hannah and Martin (Timeline): Kate Fodor’s depiction of the relationship between Nazi sympathizer philosopher Martin Heidegger and his Jewish protégée, Hannah Arendt, belies the fact that this piece was a debut effort. Fiery, compelling, and deftly staged, this production featured a bravura performance by Elizabeth Rich as Arendt, who should be leading more Chicago productions.
5. Fifth of July (Griffin): Lanford Wilson’s trip back in time to the cultural, political and social void left after the Vietnam war was economically but richly staged by the Andersonville company. Richard Barletta and Jonathan Barry directed an outstanding ensemble.
6. Five Women Wearing the Same Dress (Artistic Home): For sheer comedic and entertainment value, this tiny company made the enjoyment large in Alan Ball’s fun and poignant story of five Southern bridesmaids hiding out in an upstairs bedroom while the reception rages on below them.
7. Symphony of Sex (Blanche Blacke, Shakura Ensemble Ritual Theatre at the Theatre Building): More sexual provocation that didn’t deliver. This piece, using ritual, dance, music, and video projections was a pretentious disaster, which justifiably made no splash. This juvenile, artsy attempt would have been too easy a mark even for parody.
8. The Sound of a Voice (Court): Philip Glass and Henry David Hwang teamed up to demonstrate that east and west, merged, can deliver a modern opera of grace, delicacy and style. Breathtaking and beautiful, this two-part meditation of life and loneliness was awe-inspiring, yet fragile in its intensity and beauty.
9. Our Town (Writers’ Theatre): Under William Brown’s sure-handed, inspired direction, Writers’ Theater not only breathed new life into Thornton Wilder’s 1938 Pulitzer Prize winner, but transcended the realm of the stage to create a wholly touching and important comment on the human condition. This production—with a measured, perfect portrayal of the stage manager by Ora Jones—was a luminescent jewel and one of the most flawless, heartfelt productions I’ve ever seen.
10. disgruntled employees (Athenaeum): What happens when a good comedic idea goes bad. This dark comedy, a send-up of the U.S. Postal Service, failed to live up to its potential, largely because of Second City alum (and current LA resident) Kevin Crowley’s weak script, which went the easy route, with jokes about how the USPS destroys our mail and how civil servants—no matter how psychotic—can never be fired.
11. Nickel and Dimed (Steppenwolf): Smart and simpatico, this production took journalist Barbara Ehrenreich’s book about trying to survive on minimum wage in America and made it powerful and provocative. Natalie West, as a bevy of characters—young, old, privileged, and poor—stole the show.
12. Detective Story (Strawdog Theatre): Director Shade Murray took a taut, noirish 1949 script by Sidney Kingsley, a huge cast, and a flawless tone to create one of the more entertaining pieces of the year, set in a New York City police precinct on a hot August night. This forerunner of TV fare like Hill Street Blues deserved the great production it got from Strawdog.
Twelfth Night (London’s Globe Theatre at Chicago Shakespeare Theater): Using hand-stitched Elizabethan costumes, period music, and a minimal set, this production of Shakespeare’s most luminous and entertaining comedies became the definitive version in my mind. A whip-smart, crackling ensemble had great fun with the Bard, and audiences did, too