I am glad that it worked out that I got to stay here in Chicago this week before heading home to New York on Sunday. I got the chance to see two really great productions of two great American plays.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf @ Steppenwolf
On Wednesday I saw the Steppenwolf’s acclaimed production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf. This was my first encounter with the famous theater company, and it seem like this was the perfect show to serve as my “first”. I had actually never seen a production of Who’s Afraid… before. I had seen students do scenes in classrooms, and I read it once upon a time, but I never saw a production or watched the famous film version. The performance were so intricate, delicate and devastating. It reminded me what a great play Who’s Afraid… is. If you have a chance to see it — go! It was one of those punch-you-in-your-gut amazing nights of theater.
Lobby Hero @ Redtwist
My friend Meg texted me with an invitation to see Lobby Hero a couple of hours before curtain. I had been cooped up in the library all day writing and I was desperate to get out in the chilly Chicago night air. I had seen the original production at Playwrights Horizons (actually the first public performance, by pure accident) so I knew the show pretty well. Lobby Hero is one of those shows that gets done by students all the time. It is full of great younger two-character scenes.
New York has off-off Broadway, and Chicago has what it calls, “store-front” theater. Well, Redtiwst configured their space so that the actual door to the building was the main entrance to the stage. Because it takes place in a Lobby, it was a perfect idea. There are also a handful of scenes that are played on the street, right on sidewalk outside. The audience watches through the glass while a microphone outside picks up the dialogue. I usually hate that kind of cute and clever stage trickery (like when actors play scenes in the audience) but I really got on board with watching these scenes through glass.
If you can make it … go see it.
