Graney Steps Down

Well this is news: as first broken by Eric and Andy's Reviews You Can Iews, Sean Graney will be stepping down as artistic director of The Hypocrites, the Chicago theatre company that he founded in 1997. He'll be replaced by Halena Kays, a company member at The Hypocrites and the current artistic director founder of Barrel of Monkeys.

(Confidential to Anderson Lawfer and Eric Roach: screw you guys, with your scoops and your good journalism! You're making the rest of us bloggers look bad!)

I've previously stated my love of the work that Graney does, both with The Hypocrites and at other theatres. (I think I went from cautious admirer to full-on fan with the fall 2008 one-two punch of The Threepenny Opera with The Hypocrites and Edward II with Chicago Shakespeare.) The good news is that this work will continue--he's slated to direct two shows a season for at least the next two seasons with The Hypocrites, and I have no doubt at other theatres as well. It's a good thing--nobody explodes a classic play and picks up the pieces quite like him, and his success rate is astonishingly high. While I don't think I've ever seen Kays' work (or, shamefully, ever gone to a Barrel of Monkeys show), I've heard nothing but good things about her. (I'd be remiss if I didn't mention tireless managing director Megan Wildebour, who will continue to be awesome and make things happen in that way that managing directors of small companies do.)

So congratulations to everyone at the Hypocrites for arranging a smooth and artistically exciting way to continue the strong work that the company does. I look forward to seeing more shows there. (This isn't just me saying that--I'm seeing "The Pirates of Penzance" tomorrow night.) And Sean, if you ever leave Chicago, I'll be very angry. Finally, readers, I leave you with two pictures.

This is what the past looks like:

And this is what the future looks like:

Both photos by Sandro

Before It Hits Home

I've still not been in the bloggiest of moods (it happens), but here are a few things of interest from the past week.

--This past Saturday, July 3rd, was Audra McDonald's 40th birthday. (As she was born in 1970, that means she won four Tonys before her 34th birthday. You may commence hating.) She's a truly stunning performer. Not only does she have a surpassingly beautiful voice, but she acts both songs and scenes with complete commitment and honesty. I have yet to be disappointed by her work--or indeed, be anything other than stunned. So if you have one of her discs, listen to it and wish her a happy belated birthday. If not, order a few, and watch her on youtube until they arrive. Also, hope that Private Practice, her TV show, ends soon, so that she can get back on Broadway and in the recording studio. You'll thank me.

--And this past Sunday was July 4th. A day later, I managed to get to my annual tradition for the day: listening to the original cast album of 1776. What a great play. Tuneful songs, a raft of fantastic performances (I believe that William Daniels' John Adams, which can be heard on the album and seen in the surprisingly good film adaptation, is among the greatest musical theatre performances ever.), and a stunningly crafted book, which somehow leaves the audience in nail-biting suspense as to whether the Declaration of Independence will be signed. It's a show I utterly love, and it may even be in my personal top 10 musicals list. So if you're not familiar with the show, go track it down immediately. If you are, listen to it again.

--The Hypocrites have announced their 2010-2011 season, and it looks facinating (and bizarre).Greg Allen of the Neo-Futurists is directing his own adaptation of Kafka's The Trial, called K. Based on the reputations of both Kafka and Allen, it's sure to be a brain-bender. Sean Graney, the company's artistic director (whose work I've usually loved in the past) will direct his own version of Georg Buchner's Woyzeck, a seminal, legendariy weird, 19th-century play which has been hugely influential and which I have never gotten around to seeing or reading. (It will be running concurrently with other adaptations of the work at About Face and Collaboraction next season.) Both of those, while ambitious works, sit relatively comfortably within The Hypocrites' aesthetic. The shock in the announcement is the third production: Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance. Yes, the surpassingly silly and slyly satirical British operetta, filled with patter songs, soaring melodies, and ridiculous plot twists. Graney will direct, and whether or not it works, it's sure to infuriate Gilbert and Sullivan purists and be unlike anything else playing in Chicago. I'll be there.

--And finally, a poll question. The AV Club has a discussion question every Friday, which is answered by the staff members and then discussed in the comments section. This past Friday, the question was:

When have you felt like a work hit close to home for you, or almost like something was made just for you?

The staff members responded with a variety of movies, albums, and books. None of them mentioned a play. (This doesn't particularly surprise me.) So I figured I'd open the question up for you guys. What theatrical work, either seen on stage, read as a script, or listened to as a cast album, really hit home for you?

I'll start.

For me it would have to be the character of Posner in Alan Bennett's The History Boys. Few plays I've ever seen have been so accurate in their portrayal of how being an adolescent really feels, and few characters have ever felt as much like me as Posner. He's gay, Jewish, and short, he's wracked with desire for an unattainable man, and he never feels truly accepted by the people around him. Now people could argue, quite accurately, that there are significant differences between me and him: I'm not as socially awkward, able to make my way through the world reasonably well, and much more fortunate in love. But that doesn't mean that there still aren't moments--or weeks--when I feel just like him. To see a character with whom I identify so strongly onstage is spooky and moving. To learn that his life turns out badly is devastating.

How about you?

Court Theatre Announces 2010-2011 Season

As seen on their website and elsewhere, the Court Theatre in Hyde Park has announced their 2010-2011 season. Court consistently produces some of my favorite shows of the year, and they look to be continuing that tradition. One interesting note: They are marketing the hell out of directors this year--rather than a picture depicting the play, they have a big headshot of the director. Fascinating. Below are descriptions with comments.

The Comedy of Errors
September 16 – October 17


by William Shakespeare
directed by Sean Graney


Innovative director Sean Graney (The Hypocrites) re-imagines Shakespeare’s funniest farce about mistaken identity, mental illness, and xenophobia. The story of two sets of twins separated at birth, The Comedy of Errors will be a theatrical event full of energetic slapstick and lyrical comedy, performed by six virtuoso actors. This season opener represents the next step in Graney’s exploration of classic farce at Court Theatre, following What the Butler Saw and The Mystery of Irma Vep.

I'm a big fan of Graney's (as I've said a dozen times by now), and I'm fascinated to see how he tackles this one. I actually don't know the play very well, but this clearly won't resemble other versions of it--I can't imagine the play has ever been described as a farce about mental illness before. Whatever it is, it's unlikely to be dull.

Home
November 11 – December 12


by Samm-Art Williams
directed by Ron OJ Parson


Originally produced by the legendary Negro Ensemble Company in 1981, Home is an enduring and poetic story of hope and the resiliency of the human spirit told against the backdrop of the political and social upheavals of the 1960s and 70s. In 2008, Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson) directed an Audelco Award-winning production of Home at Signature Theatre Company in New York, which the New York Times called “a portrait of the black experience…that finds a homey beauty not in suffering but in carrying on.”

Another play I don't know well, but it was very highly regarded twice in New York, so I'm interested to see it. And Parson casts really well, so even if the script is flawed, it's still going to be fun to watch.

The third play, running January 13-February 13, has not yet been announced, but Newell's directing it. My educated guess is that it will be a play that falls under a traditional definition of "Classic," as The Comedy of Errors is the only currently-announced play that does.


Virginia Woolf’s Orlando
March 10, 2011 – April 10, 2011


adapted by Sarah Ruhl
directed by Jessica Thebus


Sarah Ruhl, one of American theater’s most exciting young playwrights, adapts Virginia Woolf’s gender-bending novel about sex, love, and history. Often called the longest love letter in literary history, Woolf’s Orlando tells the story of an English nobleman, Orlando, who lives for hundreds of years before falling asleep and waking up as a woman. Directed by longtime Ruhl collaborator Jessica Thebus (The Clean House at Goodman Theatre, Dead Man’s Cell Phone at Steppenwolf), Orlando demonstrates Court Theatre’s ongoing commitment to contemporary translations and adaptations of classic works.

I know the Sarah Ruhl haters will be out in force, but I can't help but be excited. Woolf's novel is a glorious mindbender, and among her most accessible, and I can't imagine how it would work staged. (While the film version, starring Tilda Swinton, is pretty exceptional, it depends on a lot of visual elements that couldn't be directly reproduced onstage.) And I think Ruhl's interest in formal invention (not to say whimsy) and cheerful disregard for realistic psychology would be a good fit for it. And Jessica Thebus (who remarkably has not previously directed at Court) knows how to stage a play. So I say bring it on.


The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess
May 12, 2011 – June 19, 2011


by George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin
Directed by Charles Newell
Music Direction by Doug Peck
Artistic Consultant Ron OJ Parson

Porgy and Bess remains George Gershwin’s magnum opus, with an unforgettable score that includes songs (“Summertime,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So”) later recorded by popular musicians from Billie Holiday to Ella Fitzgerald. Coming off their 2008 Jeff Award-winning production of Caroline, or Change, Charles Newell and Doug Peck come face-to-face with one of the greatest—and most controversial—pieces of American music theater ever created. Often denounced as a racially insensitive portrayal of black southerners, Newell and Peck, in collaboration with Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson and an all-African-American cast, will present a thoughtful, never-before-seen retelling of Gershwin and Heyward’s “folk opera” Porgy and Bess, a classic but contested piece of American theater history.

And the real big deal of the season: the first musical at Court since Caroline, Or Change, with the same director and musical director, and it's one of the titans of American theatre and music. It's some of the Gershwins' greatest music and lyrics, but with a scale far beyond what most theatres can do (and you can bet this version will be a hell of a lot smaller than most opera company versions) and a portrayal of black life often seen as outdated and insensitive. It's a huge undertaking, but it's doubtless going to be something special. I can't believe they're making me wait until next May to see it.

Sean Graney On...

Just read this entertaining interview with Sean Graney, currently in Milwaukee directing Steven Dietz's play Yankee Tavern, about conspiracy theorists in the wake of 9/11. It's an entertaining look at the world of conspiracy theorists, the evolution of his aesthetic, and the joys of masturbation. It made me smile. Check it out.

New Review Posted: The Mystery of Irma Vep

Centerstage has posted my rave review of Sean Graney's production of Charles Ludlam's The Mystery of Irma Vep at the Court. A few things there wasn't space to say in the review (curse you, 300 words!):

--The script has been described as a "cult classic" or a "camp classic." The hell with that. Drop the modifiers, this is a classic, full stop. It certainly makes use of camp (see cross-dressing, references to old movies, many jokes with gay content), and Ludlam's admirers can be cultish, but the play makes use of and transcends those elements. It's more than a stunt, it's an exceptional work of theatre.

--How does this show play to a straight audience? It seems to bound up in camp, crossdressing, and gay culture--and my response to it was so connected to my own identity--that I am fascinated how it works for people who don't fall into that category. Sort of like how I can't imagine what the experience of reading Philip Roth is for non-Jews. Anyone care to share their experience?

--The press notes indicated that the stipulation in the rights is that the two performers have to be the same gender, but nothing about that gender being male. I would love to see a production with two women in the parts.

--If I had more money, I'd seriously consider going back to see it again. I might try to figure it out anyway. And I hope that it does well enough they add a week--it is currently scheduled to close on December 13th!

--Wow Sean Graney works a lot. Frankenstein was just a month ago, and what a stirring rebound from that unsuccessful piece. Hopefully he'll continue at this level, and Court will ask him back again.

--Some of you  may find my response hyperbolic. To those people I say: So what? Get your own blog. I'm allowed to cream my jeans for truly extraordinary theatre once in a while.

Here's the text of the review:
The funniest upholstery of the season has been found: a black and white damask that keeps popping up in "The Mystery of Irma Vep," to increasingly riotous effect. And when even the cloth is hilarious, you know that something is going right.

Director Sean Graney and actors Chris Sullivan and Erik Hellman, along with the exceptional design team and a superheroic stage crew, have achieved something remarkable: broad, exaggerated comedy that doesn't feel slapdash. And it's the right thing for Charles Ludlam's play. The script is a dizzying series of quick changes, extremely dirty jokes and unabashed silliness, and either subtlety or sloppiness would be deadly.

The play has two men playing all of the characters, men and women, in a demented parody of gothic novels, among many other sources. The plot is far too ridiculous to summarize, but it centers on the mysterious doings at the English manor Mandacrest. A werewolf, a mummy and a vampire figure in the plot, along with several helpings of dark secrets.

But plot construction isn't the point: it's the glorious cascade of characters, costumes and jokes. Graney and company understand that what makes this play great is its exuberant theatricality, and they play it to the hilt. The actors create extraordinarily detailed performances, combining stunning vocal and physical control with an outsize joy in putting on a show. The designs work together seamlessly, though special credit must be given to Alison Siple's deranged costumes. And the crew richly deserves the bow it gets at the end for the impossible things that it makes look easy.

But it's Graney, again proving himself one of Chicago's essential directors, who marshals the theatrical forces at his disposal. It's an extraordinary display of both craft and love — and I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time.

That's FRAHN-ken-steen!

New review posted on Centerstage, of the Hypocrites' production of Sean Graney's adaptation of Frankenstein. It's not consistently successful--in fact, in places it's pretty much a mess. But there's still enough of value to make it probably worth a trip for those who enjoy Graney's style, and avant-garde theatre in general. And if you're going, you might as well attend a late-night show. Here's the text:


Take Mary Shelley's original novel, quotes from its influences and adaptations, the 1931 film projected in the background, a few creepy songs, moments both of visceral terror and high-flown intellect, and a staging that has the audience alternately following the actors around and jumping out of their way, throw them all in a blender, and you'll have some idea of what you'll get at this version of "Frankenstein," adapted by director Sean Graney and his four-member cast. There is an awful lot going on during this show's swift running time, and not all of it works. The parts that do are hugely exciting, but it hasn't yet formed a satisfying whole.

Graney's four-actor adaptation shows its alternately grim and playful tone from the beginning, when the audience enters to see both bloody dolls hanging from the ceiling and a game of balloon-toss in process. This mix continues when the play proper begins—it can switch from moments of stomach-turning violence (brilliantly choreographed by Matt Hawkins) to Frankenstein (John Byrnes) and his monster, here called Daemon (Matt Kahler), joking that the pen used to sign an oath in blood is "ginormous."
 And for the first 25 minutes or so, it's brilliant. But the play never follows through on its best parts. It goes in too many directions without follow-through, and there are a few too many sections of speechifying that don't satisfyingly tie in to the play. (The huge space at the MCA also dissipates the energy, leaving too much of the audience too far away to really engage.) There's no doubt that this is a group of intelligent, talented artists and it's wonderful that they have the chance to explore their ideas on such a large scale. It's just that the whole is less than the sum of its often stunning parts.

Blog Exclusive Review: Edward II

Here is a review of Sean Graney's dynamic staging of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II at Chicago Shakespeare.

Director Sean Graney has already had an excellent fall with his exceptional staging of Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera, which I sure hope you saw before the end of its run this weekend. Now, only a month later, comes his production of Edward II, by Shakespeare's contemporary Christopher Marlowe. This grisly tale of a king done in by his love for a man is not particularly subtle, but Graney's staging certainly packs a punch.

The staging is promenade style--the audience members stand and sit among the actors, who might pop up from anywhere at any moment. The audience is encouraged to move around to get their own perspectives on the action, with actors shooing them out of the way when necessary. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it ends up working remarkably well. Graney's inspiration doesn't end with the staging style--everything feels organic, every production decision thought out carefully. For most of the play I was not engaged emotionally--my main reaction was  "That is so cool!"  However, once the play slid into its frightening finale I found myself horrified, not wanting to watch but unable to turn away.

Edward II (Jeffrey Carlson, regal and irresistible) has fallen hard for Piers Gaveston (La Shawn Banks, worth losing a kingdom over) a Frenchman of common birth, to the point of ignoring his wife, Queen Isabella (Karen Aldridge, magnetic) and offering Gaveston any office in the kingdom that he desires. His nobles, led by the conniving Mortimer (the dangerous Scott Cummins) cannot accept this, and conspire to kill Gaveston and depose Edward. From then on, things get brutal, both in the story and in the production. The many acts of violence are not gorily explicit, but they are extremely disturbing and immediate--those with weak stomachs should not attend.

Graney uses a deeply cut version of the script that only runs about 85 minutes, but still manages to tell the story with impressive clarity. I hadn't read the script before attending, yet I always knew exactly what was going on--no mean feat for a play from the 1590's.

The production definitely stages for visceral impact. There isn't much soaring poetry to be found, and the actors work in broad strokes, sometimes bordering on the crude. Still, the staging is constantly surprising and exciting, and it's a real thrill to see an avant-garde off-loop director being given a Chicago Shakespeare sized budget and keeping his idiosyncratic vision.

While gallery tickets, keeping you at a relatively safe remove, are available, I can't imagine them being anywhere near as much fun as going promenade. Best of all, promenade tickets are only $20--and if you go to chicagoshakes.com/edward and enter the code MARLOWE, you can get them for only $5 on October 14 and 21. If you have the courage for dangerous, thrilling theatre, go. You won't regret it.