500 Clown Macbeth

500 Clown Macbeth has become something of a phenomenon, with performances stretching over the past three-plus years. In that time it has morphed, as an essentially unscripted performance will, in a variety of ways. Now in a run at Lookingglass Theatre on Michigan Avenue, 500 Clown operates on the general concept that three clowns appear with the intention of performing Macbeth. However, competition among the three, along with a variety of technical problems, eventually causes the performance, and even the set, to collapse.

For those who've seen 500 Clown perform this piece previously, it has developed in some interesting ways. There's more Macbeth in this  500 Clown Macbeth, with references not only to the opening witch speech and "Out, out damned spot," but also to the pre- and post-death of Duncan. The power struggle among the clowns more closely mirrors Shakespeare's story line—a development that lends depth and coherence to what was essentially a collection of lazzi around a central theme originally. The clowns (portrayed by Molly Brennan, Adrian Danzig and Paul Kalina) also speak more than in previous versions. This diffuses some of the humor that arose out of the few words used in earlier versions and doesn't add much aside from shouting. Finally, the performance has picked up a little of the sloppiness that arises all too often late in a run (or in this case, after years of presenting).

This is still an enjoyable production, though, particularly for those who enjoy clowning and Shakespeare in unequal measure. For those who've seen earlier incarnations of 500 Clown Macbeth, enough has changed to keep matters interesting. For those who've never encountered 500 Clown, the Lookingglass space offers a nice playground in which to watch them have at it.

500 Clown Macbeth—500 Clown

Michael Phillips, Tribune—"The 500 Clown troupe has revived this show several times since its initial run in 2000. It is now on stage at the year-old Lookingglass Theatre Company building on North Michigan. If anything, I enjoyed the piece more the second time. It's as bracing as a dip in Lake Michigan, albeit a dip taken sometime in the vicinity of the witching hour, on a stretch of beach being guarded by three of the more indelibly weird performers in town."

Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—"(W)ith little more than a few choice lines from the original, some brazenly deconstructed ad-libs, a hospital emergency room's worth of death-defying gymnastics and off-the-wall stunts, plus a ferociously twisted sense of anarchy, they have turned "the Scottish play" into something fast, furious and insanely true to its core… Directed by Leslie Buxbaum Danzig with a relentless energy that breaks for crucial breathing spots, the show is stuffed with slapstick and a lot of Animal House low humor and big noise. And the whole enterprise is about 10 minutes too long. But beyond all the excess, there also is a kind of brilliant understanding of the dynamics of power, and of the near-orgasmic fury that can overtake both men and women in their quest for dominance."

Rick Reed, Windy City—"The premise here is simple: the trio of exceptionally gifted performers are trying to put on a version of Macbeth, but all three want to be king and it's this quest for power that draws us in and eventually undoes them. In the end, 500 Clown Macbeth is a serious work of art, but along the way, we're treated to some of the funniest slapstick humor since the Keystone Kops. In their quest for the role of king, the story of Macbeth gets a serviceable adaptation and we are treated to genius performance art."

Ain't Misbehavin'—Marriott Theatre

Michael Phillips, Tribune—"At the Marriott, director Dominic Missimi creates plenty of breathing room for his highly skilled quintet, backed by a sharp seven-piece band. The result is one of the most mellow renditions of Ain't Misbehavin' I've ever seen. It's also one of the best. The killer-diller is Eugene Fleming, recently of "Never Gonna Dance" on Broadway. A wonderfully easygoing dancer, Fleming knows how much to deliver from the neck up. He doesn't force the comedy or the good times. His skill simply ensures them. Not far behind we have Cynthia Thomas, Avery Sommers, Angela Robinson and Doug Eskew, working on a broader scale but all fine company."

Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—"The latest sensational assemblage of talent to take possession of Ain't Misbehavin' can be found at the Marriott Theatre, where an in-the-round revival of the show—neatly timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Waller's birth—opened Wednesday night. Director Dominic Missimi (backed by the top-notch choreographer Ron Hutchins) has hired a slew of mostly Broadway veterans to fill the five type-driven slots in the cast. And serving as all-important musical director, conductor and costumed pianist is William Foster McDaniel, whose Broadway, national tour and European experience with the show can be detected here both in the thrilling vocal harmonies and the dynamite sound of his six-piece orchestra. (Diane Ferry Williams' splendid lighting design also is invaluable.)"

Brutality of Fact—Eclipse Theatre Company

Chris Jones, Tribune—"This being a [Keith] Reddin piece, comic absurdism fights for attention with realism. In this play, where the best moments are all credibly realistic, that stylistic tick can irritate. [Director Nathaniel] Swift's show doesn't have much visual sophistication, and it's probably also fair to say that the work's conclusion — something along the lines of Rodney King's infamous "Can't we all just get along" — lacks the sophistication of the actual characters that Reddin invented. But that doesn't detract from the many quietly superb Chicago-style performances—especially from [Julie] Daley and (Kate) Morton—that occupy the theatrical spaces that really matter here."

Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—"The play starts off feeling a bit stiff and stilted—even heavy-handedly absurd. Yet it gradually draws you in to its very particular if oddly recognizable world on its own blackly comic terms. And in the Eclipse Theatre production that opened Monday night at Victory Gardens' Upstairs Studio, Nathaniel Swift's sharp, sustained, neatly measured direction and the exceptionally tight, fine-tuned work of his eight actors combine to humanize and illuminate Reddin's script to impressive effect. (Mike Winkel- man's set design adds to the more otherworldly atmosphere.)"

Kerry Reid, Reader—"(E)ven with a somewhat improved ending, revised by Reddin since the play's 1994 premiere, the piece is unable to overcome Reddin's signature smirky disdain for his characters long enough to create the kind of unease and tension the subject warrants. Most of his characters nurse their petty grievances and self-destructive addictions in equally numbing measure…Given the script's limitations, the ensemble manages to pull off some good work…But the set design by Mike Winkelman is indifferent and Chris Corwin's lighting is dark and seemingly arbitrary. Fanaticism and nihilism are always more frightening in clean, well-lighted circumstances."

Tim Sauers, Gay Chicago—"Although he provides us some glimpses into cultish behavior, the troubled lives of these people and their inability to bond, this reviewer wondered what the playwright wanted to say about his characters, the subject material and, most of all, what he wanted the audience to walk away feeling and thinking about. There's not a whole lot of depth here, not even a delineated point of view… Eclipse Theatre's rather uneven production, under Nathaniel Swift's direction, can't rise above the flawed material given to it. Rhythmically, the staging is muddled, and acting styles range from the understated to the boisterous."

Rick Reed, Windy City—"Reddin's script is honest and finely honed: in 15 sharply etched scenes, he exposes likable, yet very flawed characters, brings them together, tears them apart, and ends with a credible rapprochement that at once reveals the healing of family pain and at the same time, demonstrates how that pain continues, in the sad, simple gesture of a little girl going through a door. Credit fine direction from Nathaniel Swift in bringing Reddin's sharp script to fluid life. Mike Winkelman's scenic design, corroded and drab, brings a kind of all-purpose surrealism to the events. Eclipse has a winner on its hands in its second production in a season of playwright Keith Reddin's plays. There isn't a weak link in the entire production."

A Midsummer Night's Dream—First Folio Shakespeare Festival

Michael Phillips, Tribune—"The problem with the carnival setting is its strict and narrow parameters. The best Midsummers, even the ones going for a pleasant night out, nothing more, work with a more malleable and spacious concept. Still, (Kevin) McKillip's Puck is a lot of fun. Visual ad-libs like unicycling tend to be easier to take than verbal ones. Even though (Sean) Grennan's pretty funny a lot of the time, he'd be funnier if he found his best six or eight wisecracks and recycled the rest, for a production to be named later."

Jennifer Vanasco, Reader—"The emphasis here, though, is not on the two young couples. Instead Goldberg focuses on the gamboling Oberon (Nick Sandys) and Puck (a wry Kevin McKillip,). The fairy scenes are set at a carnival, where Oberon is the domineering ringmaster and Puck a lusty, mischievous clown complete with red nose. In the cleverest touch, the rude mechanicals are mechanics—in their first scene they work on a car while singing delicious doo-wop (composed by Henry Marsh). Their ribald ad-libs—anachronistic for Shakespeare's time if not the 50s—add to the show's air of cheerful enchantment."

Lawrence Bommer, Free Press—"Director Michael Goldberg's transformation works particularly well, trap doors and all. Setting the action in Athens, Ill., in 1952, Goldberg imagines Theseus and Hippolyta (the appropriately dignified Nick Sandys and Susan Hart) as town celebrities. Dolled up as bobby-soxers and cool cats with poodle dresses and casual clothes, the four lovers betray vintage Eisenhower-Era innocence. It's an obvious and irresistible temptation for meddling fairies intent on midsummer manipulation."

Quote of the Fortnight:

"Even by the typically eclectic standards of Chicago theater, the new musical at the Theatre Building, Africa & Plumbridge is a very strange affair."—Chris Jones reviewing Theatre Building Chicago's production of Africa & Plumridge in the Tribune.