Displaying items by tag: niegel smith
How to Catch Creation? See this play and make a step in that direction
The dynamic clashes of three couples living parallel lives fuels Christina Anderson’s delightful new play, How to Catch Creation. With dialog that is fresh, arresting, and completely natural, Anderson captures and holds our attention throughout the 90-minute show. We quickly become invested in the characters, want to know how things will turn out for them.
Particularly strong were the portrayals of Griffin (Keith Randolph Smith is spectacular), and his bosom buddy and best female friend Tami (Karen Aldridge in an electric performance).
Griffin is a middle-aged man recently released from prison after being wrongfully convicted, trying to reclaim his life – with a settlement to get him started. Tami is an academic administrator in the fine arts department, whose life as an artist is now in abeyance – and likewise for her love life, which trends toward women.
Tami and Griffin have that most special intimacy, one that allows for unsparing honesty, and in the best of all possible worlds could be the basis for a rock-solid marriage. But nothing suggests they are headed in that direction. But your antenna will rise as the dialog between these two, sparklingly well written, suggests a special energy – and the chemistry between these two accomplished actors is unrelentingly magnetic.
In the course of the action, Tami pairs up with Riley (Maya Vinice Prentiss) a computer technician and electronic musician. Complicating things is the fact that Riley is involved with Stokes (Bernard Gilbert). Without spoiling the plot and reveals, we discover a thread of connections through two generations, and through coincidences and fate, paths cross and the complicated fabric of the drama is woven.
The presentation of the play is fast-paced and technically wonderful – Anderson’s script sets great production challenges, as it mimics the fast-paced, quick-cut style of a film – with vignettes, short scenes, and jumps back in time. To accomplish this, director Nigel Smith seamlessly integrated scenery and staging (Todd Rosenthal) lighting (Allen Lee Hughes) and sound (Joanna Lynne Staub, with composition by Justin Ellington).
In How to Catch Creation, Anderson reminds us that the more things change, the more they stay the same. The title tips us off to the parallels within these couples, and the pursuit each holds in common of creation – in painting, writing, procreating – and the quest for love. As if to underscore it all, Anderson gives us several pairs of scenes that run concurrently, with identical dialog spoken sometimes simultaneously, sometimes sequentially, by couples in different times and of different ages. The effect is marvelous.
One couple is shown living in the 1960s and 1970s, Ayanna Bria Bakari (Natalie), Jasmine Bracey (G.K. Marche) and Anderson is very specific about the timing of scenes: one takes place a few days after the specific reference to the September 15, 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama; the scene references the killing of four little girls in the church. Another takes place years later, with a very specific presentation of an ad at a bus stop for an Apple computer (a perfect replication of the real thing), setting it in the late 1970s, when Apple first began advertising.
The other two couples inhabit 2014, but also with a specificity. “It’s 2014,” says Riley. “If you have the money, you can have can have a kid.” Perhaps by rooting the action in concrete details, Anderson wants to make it more credible. But she has accomplished that already, with the dialog in this wonderfully written work. Highly recommended. How to Catch Creation runs through February 24 at Goodman Theatre.
Funny, Incisive 'Southern Rapture' Skewers All Parties in 'Angels in America' Fracas
15 June 2026 in Theatre in Review“Southern Rapture” quickly elicits loud guffaws from the audience, a heartening circumstancve, as it means playwright Eric Coble’s script is…
Where Identity Slides: Steppenwolf’s Mesmerizing Catch as Catch Can
15 June 2026 in Theatre in ReviewMia Chung’s Catch as Catch Can, which premiered with Page 73 in New York in 2018, arrives at Steppenwolf Theatre…
Bargatze’s Big Dumb Eyes Tour Lands in Rosemont With Subtle Force
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BrightSide’s intimate staging of The Producers shines with Broadway-sized power
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Factory Theater’s Two Out of Three Falls is a Theatrical Event
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Magic Pairs with Artistic Expressions of Empathy in EAM’s Summer Art Exhibitions
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Oak Park Festival Theatre's 51st Season Opens with HAMLET and THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
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Ballet Folklorico Quetzalcoatl returns to Paramount Theatre to perform folk dances from Mexico’s different regions, Thursday, July 30th
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Guest’s New Andy Warhol Play A Study in Primo Theater
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Intimate and Unflinching: The Last Five Years at Oil Lamp Theater
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Chicago Shakespeare's Brokeback Mountain Soars
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Poetry in Motion: Joffrey's Eugene Onegin enraptures at the Lyric Opera
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Redtwist Theatre presents Anatomy of A Suicide August 12-30
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Juneteenth Prelude: Celebrating Freedom and Black Expression, an evening of entertainment and community
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4 Chairs Theatre's Good People coming to Theater Wit July 17th through August 23rd
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DESERTED - REDTWIST THEATRE - Through AUGUST 2nd
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Black Ensemble Theater continues its 50th Anniversary Season with the revival of the hit musical revue Men of Soul
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Collaboraction Theatre announces June shows and events in its new House of Belonging in Humboldt Park
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keerah - Lost Between Myth and Reality
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Metropolis Performing Arts Centre presents The Wizard of Oz July 8th through August 9th
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No Dogs in the Kitchen Theatre Company Presents 'The Importance of Being Earnest' July 9-26
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Kokandy Productions Presents SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE - August 13 – November 1, 2026 at The Chopin Theatre
01 June 2026 in Upcoming TheatreFollowing is critically acclaimed productions of Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods, Kokandy Productions once again celebrates the great Stephen…
'The Last Word' - A Cocktail of Comedy, Mystery, and Heart
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Paramount’s smash hit, immersive Million Dollar Quartet returning to rock Aurora’s Stolp Island Theatre, March 4-May 31
30 May 2026 in Upcoming TheatreParamount Theatre’s smash hit, immersive musical Million Dollar Quartet wrapped its spring run at downtown Aurora’s Stolp Island Theatre this…
The Second City's Laughing For All The Wrong Reasons - Paramount's Copley Theatre - Through June 20th
28 May 2026 in Now PlayingParamount Theatre is proud to host the world’s most influential name in comedy, The Second City, back for for a…
Award-winning musical Mexodus makes Chicago premiere at Studebaker Theater in November
28 May 2026 in Upcoming TheatreStudebaker Theater (Erica Berger and Jacob Harvey), P3 Productions (Ben Holtzman, Sammy Lopez, and Fiona Howe Rudin) and Audible, in collaboration with Teatro Vista…
About Face Theatre announces 2026-2027 season
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Announcing the 2026 Broadway In Chicago Summer Concert
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YI Love Jewish and Arts Judaica Chicago Premiere of A PEOPLE at Theater Wit June 18 – July 5
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HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH Coming to Chicago July 9th
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Written by Bill Esler“Southern Rapture” quickly elicits loud guffaws from the audience, a heartening circumstancve, as it means playwright Eric Coble’s script is doing its job. Billed as a satire, it recounts the tumultuous week in real life leading up to the 1996… -
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