Defiant Theatre's A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange – Defiant Theatre

Kevin Heckman is on hiatus this week, due to previews for The (W)hole Thing at Stage Left Theatre. Here is what other reviewers have written:

Chris Jones, Tribune—"The show—which is superbly designed in all areas—also is full of the kind of handmade visual tricks that recall such past Defiant causes celebres as Action Movie… For this and other reasons—and for a sense of closure—fans of Defiant shouldn't miss this show. Still, it's the ideas that have all the intensity, not the execution. With a couple of exceptions, the overly enthusiastic acting doesn't even come close to the raw, emotional intensity of this troupe's glory days. In a perverse way, that's the way it should be. One suspects [director Christopher] Johnson tried to get the new people to go to that old place—but realized that times have changed."

Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—"Johnson's staging—the sheer mobilization of his large ensemble—is terrific. There is especially good work by Tammy Stackpoole and Erica Peregrine and by Peter Davis. Andra Velis Simon's choral direction is superb, with backing from sound designer Sean Sinitski. Amy Frangquist's costumes are "choodessny" (wonderful). And David Blixt's fight choreography is "razrez" (ripping), as are both the actors who take it and those who dish it out. The story's ending may be hard to buy, as Burgess goes all sentimental and makes Alec into a sort of Peter Pan. After all, the chap has been to hell, not Never Land. And so has the audience. As for Defiant, it's full of ‘gulliwuts' to the bitter end."

Jack Helbig, Daily Herald—"What makes this production remarkable is how well this ensemble handles the quieter, more thoughtful and thought-provoking second half of the story. This is the part of the story where Alex, trained to hate violence, becomes instead the victim of the very people he used to victimize. The ending also contains a heavy dose of political satire, which skewers sacred cows on both the left and the right, and which is surprisingly current considering that the novel is almost 50 years old. It was the grace and the intelligence of this ending to the play that moved me the most, both because it captures so well Burgess' brilliant ending, and because it was a brilliant way for a talented theatre to bow out, with a bang not a whimper."

Albert Williams, Reader—"The suicides and slaughter that drive Antigone are never shown onstage; the Greeks knew that fake swordplay could never match the horror of the real thing. Defiant's A Clockwork Orange proves the point. The fight scenes go on too long, inflating the 165-minute running time by a good 20 minutes, and there are too many of them. Worse, the elaborately choreographed fights are neither shocking nor titillating; instead they merely confirm the actors' stage-combat skills. Still, this scruffy, sprawling production communicates Burgess's satire and philosophical speculation. It's far truer to the material than Steppenwolf's 1994 Chicago debut of the play, an effects-laden theme park of a show."

King Lear – Vitalist Theatre

Lawrence Bommer, Reader—"Vitalist Theatre's three-hour modern-dress treatment is as energetic as it is eloquent, a gift from a cast who, as directed by Elizabeth Carlin Metz, know exactly who their characters are, how they differ, what they're saying, and why. Though not old enough to earn the full measure of pity, Don Bender as Lear is as honest in the anger he inflicts on himself as in the easier rage against those who betray him. Though there are many standouts, Lori Myers wins the bravura award for delivering both an affecting Cordelia and a supple Fool."

Web Behrens, Free Press—"Director Elizabeth Carlin Metz follows the playwright's lead, turning up the volume immediately and encouraging Don Bender (Lear) to crank it directly up to 11. Unfortunately, the cast's collective volume and speed sometimes make it difficult to understand their lines. Though it's difficult to find much sympathy for Lear as his life unspools—he's reaping what he's sown—the intense Bender ably finds Lear's humanity (and the audience's heart) near the play's end, when the fallen king and Cordelia are reunited after much heartache. Lori Myers plays dual parts—the wronged daughter and the king's Fool. It's savvy casting, delightfully executed."

Mary Shen Barnidge, Windy City—"Playgoers of academic inclination can peruse director Elizabeth Carlin Metz' Jungian analysis of her text in the playbill, hearkening to her footnotes crediting the numerous other artists influential in her production concept. Missing from the list, however, is Jackie Collins—an inexplicable omission when one considers that the modern descendent of this most Jacobean of Shakespeare's tragedies is the genre encompassing the Dynasty/Dallas/Knots Landing trilogy. Metz' goals might be lofty, but her choice of the razzle-dazzle 1920s as the setting for this lurid tale of the Rich and Glamorous only serves to amplify the sordid motifs employed by the author—all the shivery sensationalism associated with ruthless family members looking out for their own interests."

The Merry Wives of Windsor – Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Chris Jones, Tribune—"It's only when the Mistresses Page and Ford, beautifully and eloquently played by Lise Bruneau and Ora Jones, get down to their comic business with Sir John that [director Barbara] Gaines' production finally comes alive. It's worth waiting for. The second act is far, far better than the first, and the famous fifth act fairy pageant looks simply beautiful, what with pumpkins, lanterns and the warmest of theatrical glows. Even though it's all yet another horrible humiliation for Sir John, the dude takes it in as lovable a part as an overweight pumpkin farm employee who'd just been set upon by a small child."

Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—"Gaines keeps the action moving at a rapid clip, and has made sure that each of the smaller roles is splendidly cast and played. And the production could not look more gorgeous—with unusually lush sets by James Noone and couturier-style costumes of breathtaking beauty, texture, color and detail by Mariann Verheyen. Nevertheless, Shakespeare's comedies could only benefit from being trimmed down considerably for modern audiences. With a running time of nearly three hours, this Merry Wives is a little less merry for carrying on too long."

Kerry Reid, Reader—"This sprightly, well-cast staging by artistic director Barbara Gaines is set in early colonial times, and James Noone's set neatly captures the play's complacent mercantile tone. The autumnal set and costumes allude to the story's (imagined) midlife romances. But even this astonishingly gifted cast has a hard time overcoming the play's essential mean-spiritedness toward Falstaff. Greg Vinkler suffers these indignities with bowed but not broken pride, and Lise Bruneau and Ora Jones are delightfully in sync as the wives, scheming to get back at the knight for his unwanted attentions. A Halloween-inspired fairy pageant is a rich visual treat."

Lawrence Bommer, Free Press—"Barbara Gaines' sumptuous staging of perhaps Shakespeare's slightest comedy is funnier than it has any right to be and gorgeous to behold. These three hours pass faster than the writing warrants… Gaines thrives on directing lesser Shakespeare and finds a ton of physical fun amid the tedious dialogue. It begins and ends with Greg Vinkler's tried and true Falstaff, a role he tackled in the history plays and fully grasps from the (corpulent) inside out."

OZ the Urbantale – Why A Duck Theatrical Productions

Christopher Piatt, Sun-Times—"There's plenty of wit in director Kevin Foose's script, even though most of it borders on the scatological. But the collective goodwill of the entire Salvation Army couldn't salvage anything here. The direction is nonexistent, the music poorly performed, and the technical elements are so clunky that even the stage management seems to be asleep at the wheel… (F)rankly put, Chicago's homeless deserve better than a show so unprofessional it looks like they might have staged it themselves. This is not to say that political street theatre can't be a potent tool of dramatic change, but when the material is as deluded as it is here, the cradle will suck."

W! – Theater Wit

Michael Phillips, Tribune—"The authors of W! may settle for familiar Bush jokes, yet by the end, the tone has darkened. When Mula's Bush sings that final "misunderestimated," the clouds gather and the laugh catches in the audience's collective throat. It's too little, too late, but it's obvious Mula, Rashid and director Steve Scott have talent. Good, hard political satire needs more than talent, though. It needs to provide a reason we should go out instead of staying in for ‘The Daily Show'."

Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—"Watching the show, it seems clear that one morning during the last year or so Mula must have looked in the mirror as he shaved and caught a glimpse of his square jaw, the crinkly slits of his eyes, and the amiable if not-quite-there childlike look of a winsome cowboy—and decided on the spot that he could adapt himself to "W." And he is complemented at every turn by the side-splittingly funny contributions of veteran actor Ronald Keaton, who turns in bravura performances as an obscenity-spewing, quirkily Machiavellian Karl Rove, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and a blue-collar worker who knows, as "W" might phrase it, ‘how hard it is to put food on your family.'"

Justin Hayford, Reader—"Writer/performer Tom Mula's swaggering, nebbishy George W. Bush opens his ersatz cabaret fund-raiser singing the praises of Texas, where ‘We all love our mamas / We all read the Bible / And we're all rich and white.' This simplistic bit of satire sets the tone for the ensuing 100 minutes, as Mula trots out all the familiar gripes against our ‘Texas kind of prez.' Only the occasional eye-opening fact raises the evening above a potshot. Mula's gleeful performance lacks polish, Steve Scott's staging is bumpy, and Steve Rashid's tuneful songs seem largely unarranged. The show's maudlin finale, sung in the persona of a soldier's mother, is as cheap as the jingoistic Republican rhetoric Mula ridicules."

Venus Zarris, Gay Chicago—"Tom Mula not only penned the witty and wonderful script and song lyrics but is also fantastic as George W. Bush. He looks, sounds and inflects like the original. The only true giveaway that you are not attending a GOP fund-raiser with the President himself is that this George W. can string more than four words together at a time. He's a bit too articulate but accurate nonetheless. This is political satire at its timeliest, finest and most urgent. It articulates what we're all overwhelmed with and lends a hilarious dialogue to the critical dilemma of the upcoming Presidential election. The music by Steve Rashid is playfully perfect."

Quote of the Fortnight

"Once again, Bailiwick Repertory is NOT honoring Stage Door Jonny with its coveted Trailblazer Award. Jonny can't begin to tell you how much this hurts, for Jonny blazed innumerable trails down dark alleys, back streets, shadowy gangways and waterfront warehouses. And Jonny has waited at the stage doors of theatres where angels—and city inspectors—fear to tread. All for naught, apparently. David Zak, next time you're horny don't call Jonny!"—Jonathan Abarbanel in his "Stage Door Jonny" column in Windy City.