John Logan Captures Mark Rothko’s Anger & Angst by Patricia L. Morin Set Designer Christopher Oram’s artist’s warehouse surprises us with a huge canvas with wine-colored vertical lines, dominating center stage. The dramatic setting frames Alfred Molina’s aggressive, arrogant Mark Rothko. In John Logan’s “Red,” Rothko yearns to see his expensive paintings hang in…
Michael Lew Turns “Winter of Our Discontent” to Comedy by Barry David Horwitz It all starts in high school, where it’s so easy to shove aside the weak and the geek. At Theatre Wit in Chicago, playwright Michael Lew combines outrageous teen comedy with a Shakespeare villain. Lew makes us question whether the cruel…
Millennial Notes Nick Dear Reanimates Mary Shelley for Our Time by Jordan Freed Watching “Frankenstein” in 2020, I see Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Jeff Bezos—all the reckless men who watch idly as their creations become symbols for humanity’s worst impulses. Like Victor Frankenstein, these “geniuses” are obsessed with themselves and refuse to take responsibility…
Wheatle & Hussein Celebrate Bravery of Inner-City Youth by Patricia L. Morin Alex Wheatle’s award-winning young adult novel, turned into a play by Emteaz Hussain, draws us into the lives of six multicultural teens who introduce themselves by rapping: “We are the Magnificent Six.” In “Crongton Knights,” the conflict centers around survival and poverty,…