12-22-06
Enhancing the Theatre Experience
Dear Santa,
This year I’ve been good. Curbing my desire to compare a singer in a musical to Carol Channing in a review. Sitting through one-note zero-joke shows without wincing noticeably. So, what would I like under the tree this year?
Books. Particularly something about Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright’s work together, a biography of William Inge, one or more of Lillian Hellman’s memoirs, an anthology of Greek mythology, mysteries by Dorothy L. Sayers…and chocolate (of course).
Thank you,
Jenn
Linsey Page Morton in Writers Theatre’s Bus Stop
Yet this woman only picks up books after a show when she feels there was something missing. She said it’s often when she has an emotional and intellectual reaction to a production, but leaves wishing for more. Her solution is to read about the subject; finding another, different connection into the topic.
This surprised me, as I typically respond in the opposite fashion. As my hypothetical Santa list suggests, I too can get inspired by theatrical productions to go and read more about the show’s subjects, or the playwrights themselves. But I tend to do this only for productions that have already drawn me in. (A Couple of Blaguards might be an exception, as it made me want to read the books to pinpoint what was missing from the only mildly funny Royal George Theatre Centre production.)
Both my acquaintance and I are looking for greater insight or emotional connection, but while she’s driven by a desire to satisfy some unfulfilled impulse, I instead am looking to find a way to extend the deep impression a production may have made.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t only appreciate shows that make me want to do extra reading. This year I was thoroughly immersed in productions of Vigils at the Goodman, Jeremy Menekseoglu’s Ismene, Teatro Vista’s Blind Mouth Singing, Richard III at Congo Square Theatre Company and deeply disturbed by Pillowman at Steppenwolf.
But reading a book about Hellman and the family that inspired the malevolent and conniving characters in Another Part of the Forest represents another way for me to recapture that ephemeral experience of sitting absorbed by the action on stage in Writers Theatre’s excellent showing of the play.
I went to Nick Bowling’s interpretation of Children’s Hour at TimeLine hoping to regain that feeling of admiration for Hellman as a writer but was disappointed. While the performances from Halena Kays and Mechelle Moe were strong, I wasn’t fully drawn into the show until the emotional and abstract second act. Yet the companion piece, William Luce’s Lillian, a one-woman show, starring Janet Ulrich Brooks had just the bon mots, personal recollections and name-dropping anecdotes needed to further feed my interest in Hellman’s memoirs.
While I’ve been more impressed by other of Mary Zimmerman’s works, her Argonautika did leave me wanting to return to the source material. The stories were told with such visual flair, fun and elegance by the Lookingglass ensemble, I wanted to go back and enjoy the original texts as a means to better understand and appreciate her vision and remind myself of the undying appeal of these age-old tales.
Most recently, I so enjoyed the family dynamics and ruminations on beauty and architecture in Frank’s Home at the Goodman that I now want to learn more about Frank Lloyd Wright’s personal life. Harris Yullin’s performance of Louis Sullivan in particular captured my imagination also. Sure, like any good Chicagoan I knew the great architect’s name, but that he was a broken man begging for work after the death of his gay lover was news to me, prompting new interest in the behind-the-scenes lives of these master builders.
The aching drama of divergent people trapped by a blizzard in a roadside Kansas diner in Bus Stop (in which Linsey Page Morton was a luminous scene-stealer, as she was again in Writers’ Another Part of the Forest) had me looking for more insight into William Inge. (This on the heels of the still memorable Natural Affection at Artistic Home last year. Too bad neither The Petrified Forest nor Unchanging Love at the Irving Park venue were nearly as affecting in 2006.)
Of course, it’s no surprise that a Lifeline show would have an audience member heading next to the bookstore. Although I was far more impressed with Frances Limoncelli’s adaptation of Strong Poison into a stellar stage yarn years ago, I was still happy to have Gaudy Night as a reason to return again to Dorothy L. Sayers’s mystery books.
The innovation of The Boy Detective Fails at the House appealed enough that I ended up suggesting the novel Joe Meno wrote and adapted for the stage as the subject of discussion for a book group meeting. I’ve yet to host that event, so can’t comment on how my decision to share my play-suggested reading list with others will go over.
However, as another year wraps up and I have a few weeks of down time to curl up under a blanket on my sofa and read, I at least revel in the extra reading that has made it on to my bookshelf in 2006. To think that this stack of books can be traced back to things I’ve seen on-stage…
Maybe while I’m at it, I’ll go back to “Little Women,” too. An illustrated classic version of the story has had a beloved place on my bookshelf since childhood. Then the national touring musical came to Chicago at the start of 2006 and left me wondering what happened to my beloved Jo. Perhaps I’d grown past this return to Louisa May Alcott. Then again, I started this out with a letter to Santa, didn’t I?
Jenn Q. Goddu is a freelance journalist covering primarily theatre and the arts. She reviews regularly for the Chicago Reader and is a frequent contributor to the Chicago Tribune, PerformInk, AOL Chicago and other regional publications. Her writing has also been published in American Theater and Playbill. She is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
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