Dame Peggy Ashcroft considered the role of Winnie in Samuel Beckett’s notoriously difficult Happy Days a “summit part,” one of those roles, like Hamlet or King Lear, that tests an actor’s mettle and proves her alpha status in the pack. (Ashcroft played Winnie in a 1975 production at the Old Vic Theatre in London.) Chicago […]
Tag: Samuel Beckett
Posted inPerforming Arts Feature
Ventriloquism and Oobleck
When I think of ventriloquism in film, my thoughts flash to the commercials for 1978’s Magic that creeped me out as a kid. I wasn’t alone; according to the IMDb trivia page, the original trailer for this psychological horror film was pulled from broadcast after parents complained. (“Fats,” the murderous dummy who seemingly possesses Anthony […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Theatre Y hosts a virtual birthday celebration
A new video performance art series highlights András Visky’s texts and visions.
Posted inArts & Culture
Nothing happens (twice) in Waiting for Godot
Dennis Začek’s solid staging lets Samuel Beckett’s existential comedy be.
Posted inArts & Culture
The Realistic Joneses face the existential dread of suburbia
Playwright Will Eno establishes himself as the Beckett of the backyard.
Posted inArts & Culture
After all these years, we’re still Waiting for Godot
Ireland’s Druid Theatre brings Samuel Beckett’s forever-relevant play to Chicago.
Posted inBlogs
Theater’s biggest summer drama—Pass Over
Chicago has debated Pass Over all summer, without getting to the merits of the play itself
Posted inArts & Culture
White folks! Prepare to squirm!
Steppenwolf’s Pass Over is unflinching on the war against young black men.
Posted inBlogs
With Untitled (Just Kidding) local artist Jesse Malmed lets you in on the joke of language
Malmed’s program of experimental videos screens at the Museum of Contemporary Art this Tuesday at 6 PM.
Posted inArts & Culture
The Invention of Morel, Monster, and 13 more new stage shows
A world-premiere opera by Stewart Copeland and a Steppenwolf for Young Adults production are among this week’s best bets.
Posted inArts & Culture
Five performance festivals worth your while
With June comes the summer theater season.
Posted inFilm
In The Lobster, if you’re single you might be transformed into an animal
Dogtooth director Yorgos Lanthimos returns with another dark absurdist comedy.
Posted inArts & Culture
In the Hypocrites’ Endgame, the cosmic void crashes a kid’s birthday party
The cosmic void crashes a kid’s birthday party in the Hypocrites’ incongruously cutesified staging of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame.
Posted inArts & Culture
A drag diva descends upon Beaverlick in Music Hall
Jeffrey Binder plays the female Artiste in this drama from TUTA.
Posted inArts & Culture
Where’s the waiting in Court Theatre’s Waiting for Godot?
This production of Samuel Beckett’s absurdist tragicomedy never creates a palpable sense of anyone waiting for anything.