Previews: Chicago Theaters Schedule New Works And Classics For Streamed Performances

Chicago IL

03 March, 2021

4:51 PM

Description

By Nancy Bishop, Third Coast Review: Chicago theater companies are scheduling new virtual experiences as we approach the first anniversary of pandemic theater. Some are live streamed and some filmed—all will be available from your living room. In Joffrey's Bolero, Anais Bueno is the featured dancer, performing here with Jonathan Dole, Blake Kessler, Jose Pablo Castro Cuevas and Hyuma Kiyosawa. . Photo courtesy Joffrey Ballet. Joffrey Ballet's Boléro is a world premiere of a new ballet set to Ravel's Boléro. It is available through midnight on Tuesday, March 2. (See our review.) Originally a one-night only premiere last Friday, the company decided to make it available for a longer run. Viewing is free and donations are encouraged. Registration is not required. Running time is 17 minutes. Boléro was created by Yoshihisa Arai and performed in the Gerald Arpino Black Box Theater at Joffrey Tower. Joffrey artist Anais Bueno takes the featured role as "muse, leading the audience on a journey through time and space" with a crew of other dancers. Goodman's Future Labs play reading series. The Secretaries was the first of Goodman Theatre's Future Labs, a free live play reading series. Future Labs is Goodman's newest artistic program, designed to develop works written and directed by Black, Indigenous, Latinx, AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islanders), SWANA (Southwest Asian/North African) and other artists of color. The Secretaries, by Omer Abbas Salem, a Chicago actor, playwright and activist, is set in 1944 Berlin. It's the story of four women in Aryan drag vying to be the Führer's personal secretary as he heads into a bunker with his girlfriend. It about complicity and the lies we tell ourselves. Audrey Francis directed the play, which ran 1 hour and 50 minutes with an intermission. The Secretaries premiered for one night only on February 27. The next Future Labs play reading will be Tokens of Promise, a new play by Ada A., an early-career playwright and director who graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A in anthropology. The storyline begins with one open "diversity" analyst position at this start-up. And the minorities must compete to gain employment. It's a satire about the modern-day job search. Ada A.'s new play exposes the inherent competition in employment that can lead us to forsake our humanity. Tokens of Promise, directed by Sydney Chapman, is a free live reading at 7pm on Saturday, March 20. Free but registration is required. Uprising Theater's The Story of Zahra. Uprising Theater will present a virtual staged reading of The Story of Zahra at 6pm on Thursday, March 4. The play, produced in partnership with San Jose State University, is based on the novel by Hanan al-Shaykh, with the script written by Raeda Ghazaleh and Matthew Spangler, Ghazaleh also directs. . The story follows the relationship of a young woman and a sniper operating on her street during the 1980s Lebanese civil war in Beirut. This will be the first presentation of The Story of Zahra in North America. The reading is free to view but registration is required. Learn more and register here. Court Theatre's An Iliad. Court Theatre will present a filmed streamed version of the theatrical masterpiece, An Iliad, by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare, based on Homer's The Iliad. The one-man production takes audiences on a journey through ancient societies, cultural artifacts and warfare in a thrillingly visceral performance by actor Timothy Edward Kane. The production, filmed in the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, will be available for digital access from March 3 through March 31, The play has been mounted three times in Court's history—twice at Court Theatre and once at the Oriental Institute. This professionally captured, multi-camera stream of the play allows the audience to experience this one-of-a-kind production at home. The original design team includes Todd Rosenthal (scenic design), Rachel Healy (costume design), Keith Parham (lighting design), Andre Pluess (sound design), and Kate Ocker (stage manager). Streaming tickets are on sale now: $15 (1 viewer under 30), $25 (1 viewer), $40 (2+ viewers). Once a ticket buyer begins watching, they will have 72 hours to complete viewing. For more information, call the box office at (773) 753-4472 or visitCourtTheatre.org. Steppenwolf Theatre's Duchess! Duchess! Duchess! Steppenwolf Theatre Company will present Duchess! Duchess! Duchess! by emerging playwright Vivian J.O. Barnes. Duchess! is the fourth of six productions in its Steppenwolf NOW virtual series. Directed by Weyni Mengesha, artistic director of Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto, this world premiere filmed play begins streaming March 10. Chicago artist Sydney Charles plays a duchess meeting the young soon-to-be-duchess portrayed by ensemble member Celeste M. Cooper for the first time. A royal wedding is looming and everyone is watching, as there are rules to joining the family. Duchess! Duchess! Duchess! looks at the hidden costs of being the "luckiest girl in the world." Loosely inspired by Meghan Markle and the royal family, Duchess! Duchess! Duchess! uses the monarchy to investigate how society's institutions of power affect Black women. Running time is about 35 minutes. All six productions are available to stream with purchase of a virtual membership ($75; discounted $50 for essential workers, artists, students, teachers) visit steppenwolf.org/now or call Audience Services at 312-335-1650. Third Coast Review is Chicago's locally curated website, specializing in Chicago-area arts and culture coverage. Read more at thirdcoastreview.com