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Philosophers have likened Time to a river in constant flow, dismissing attempts to circumscribe its boundaries as mere convenience proposed by upstart mortals. This might explain why, for theater artists and audiences, the 2019-2020 season ended in mid-May and didn't resume until JULY of 2021, when the discovery and release of Covid-19 vaccines signaled the beginning of the Great Re-Opening.
No sooner had we heaved our germ-free sighs of relief, however, than we were sucker-punched with the consequences of the rush to cram nearly two years of delayed activity into a mere six months. This latest ambush didn't catch us flat-footed and frightened like last time, though. Confronted a second time by a plague exceeding the one that shuttered London playhouses from 1642 to 1660 in its prohibition against communal activities, we immediately set to work implementing the inventive solutions born of necessity, then and now.
Where Elizabethan theater patrons studied print editions of "dramatic literature" in solitary comfort, our computers streamed us audioplays reminiscent of old-time radio programs and videotaped productions re-scored for monologues literally phoned in from makeshift studios via webcams—an arrangement rendered legal by Theater Wit's Jeremy Wechsler and Actors Equity only weeks after the onset of the Big Shutdown. The "chamber" dialogues once conducted in private homes found their counterpart in community-based Zoomcasts, while street entertainments dating back to medieval market-day faires resurfaced as canteen shows staged on truck-beds in city parks and drive-in movies viewed in parking lots with the aid of Jumbotron screens and CC-band radios.
More important than hearkening to past stratagems, however, was the application of the tools at our disposal—play selections favoring intermissionless running times, for example, and microcosmic narratives reducing density of both front and back-of-house personnel. By August 2021, when the Loop's Goodman Theatre and Uptown's Pride Arts Center opened the first indoor live-action shows in the city for more than a year, audiences had grown accustomed to presenting certification of vaccinations at entrances and covering noses and mouths while inside—measures uniformly adopted by theaters in the city and suburbs.
No one can predict the future, of course, but the brief postponements that marked the year's early weeks are a far cry from the will-this-ever-end cancellations of 2020. Whatever the Unexpected Upsurge of 2022 may bring, we will not have to face—or half-face, rather—its challenges alone.
PLAYS CURRENTLY RUNNING IN JANUARY:
When Harry Met Rehab, Donald Clark Productions at the Greenhouse Theater Center, running through January 30. The smart and funny comedy that "takes sobriety seriously" has been drawing playgoers from as far away as Indiana and Wisconsin, thanks to the ensemble of actors led by Dan Butler (whom you might remember from TV's "Frasier"). Details at www.whenharrymetrehab.com
Bible Bingo, Nuns4Fun Entertainment Inc. at the Greenhouse Theater Center, running through January 29 (in repertory with Late Nite Catechism). This interactive comedy replicates a parish church fundraiser with nostalgic warmth and humor, and if that's not enough for you, the proceeds go toward real-life convents fallen on hard times. Details at www.nuns4fun.com
8 Track, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, running through January 23. Not just a juke-box revue, but a paradigm-shifting re-imagining of an era whose social-consciousness legacy was more than we might admit to remembering. Details at www.theo-u.com
Mary Rose, Black Button Eyes at the Edge Theatre, running to February 12. In Ed Rutherford and Jeff Bouthiette's musical adaptation of James M. Barrie's mythic tale, a remote Scottish island is haunted by a ghost—but does the lovely maiden who sings so sweetly KNOW she is a ghost? Details at www.blackbuttoneyes.com
The Moors, Red Orchid Theatre, running to February 27. On the other hand, Jan Silverman's deconstructive parody of Brontean fiction skewers the postures of Victorian Neogothic Romanticism. Details at www.aredorchidtheatre.org
The Virginian, City Lit Theatre at Edgewater Presbyterian church, running to February 20. Long before there was Louis L'Amour and Larry McMurtry, Owen Wister's nameless cowboy blazed the trail of the wild-west literary genre. Details at www.citylit.org
OPENING SOON (but check box offices for changes):
Relentless, Timeline Theatre at Theater Wit, opening January 26, running through February 26. The year is 1919, when two sisters of diverse ambitions reunite in Philadelphia to discover their mother's diary revealing the secrets of their Black migrant family. Details at www.timelinetheatre.com
Gem of the Ocean, Goodman Theatre, opening January 31, running through February 27. This first chapter in August Wilson's twelve-part saga of his Pittsburgh home returns full circle to the theater where it premiered in 2003. Details at www.goodmantheatre.org
Sons of Hollywood, Windy City Playhouse, opening February 3, running through April 16. Ramon Novarro was the sexiest silent-movie hero in Hollywood, but fame and glamour proved fleeting in an age not yet ready to accept paragons of alternatively erotic mien. Details at www.windycityplayhouse.com
Queen of the Night, Victory Gardens at the Biograph, opening February 5, running to March 13. A father and his gay son come to terms with the definition of Black Masculinity on a wilderness trip in the southernmost regions of Texas. Details at www.victorygardens.org
Women of Soul, Mercury Theatre, opening February 3-4, running through March 6. If you missed this homage to the greatest divas of our time when it played at Black Ensemble in 2018, now is your chance to correct your mistake. Details at www.mercurytheatrechicago.com
Blues In the Night, Porchlight Music Theatre at the Ruth Page Center, opening February 11, running to March 13. Felicia P. Fields, Donica Lynn and Claire Kennedy headline a cavalcade of torchy classics by Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, Alberta Hunter, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen and others. Details at www.porchlightmusicaltheatre.org
ONLINE:
Fillet of Solo, Lifeline Theatre, January 21-February 13. This festival welcomes its 25th year of serving up soliloquies, oratories, elocutions and round-robin recitals performed by 27 soloists and ten group collectives. Details at www.lifelinetheatre.com
A War of the Worlds and The White Whale, Theatre In the Dark, ongoing. After receiving top honors in the Atlanta Audio Fringe Festival and the Thornhill Theatre Festival in 2021, these aural adaptations of, respectively, H.G. Wells and Herman Melville are being aired in encore presentation (look for Theatre Week discounts). Details at www.theaterinthedark.com
Bette Davis Ain't for Sissies, solo show written and performed by Jessica Sherr, ongoing. Fasten your seats belts, because this Hollywood diva pulls no punches in telling how she got what she achieved. Details at www.BetteDavisAintForSissies.com
The Ubiquitous Players, founded by ShawChicago alum Tony Dobrolowski, are a group of professional theater artists keeping their acting muscles in shape with Zoom readings of classic and premiering plays. Details at www.ubiquitousplayers.weebly.com
Mary Shen Barnidge
Contributing Writer