The most noticeable difference between this edition of the International Theatre Festival of Chicago and the four others that preceded it is: there’s no Shakespeare! No sprawling marathons, no this-year’s-Olivier pandering. English theater is still represented–by Alan Ayckbourn’s new play, performed by his own company–but it doesn’t overshadow the rest of the fest. Which might mean that festival organizers trust in their audience’s broadened tastes. Or maybe they’re just burned out on the Bard. This year’s festival runs from May 24 through June 19, with offerings ranging from rethought classics to experimental originals and from large-scale ensembles to solo performance. Organizers Jane Nicholl Sahlins and Pam Marsden have brought in ten productions by seven companies and individuals, as well as a slew of breakfast and lunch presentations, postperformance discussions, and professional artists’ workshops. The first week’s openings include two shows by Mexico’s Taller del Sotano and one by England’s Stephen Joseph Theatre; see listings below for more information. Subsequent offerings (which will be listed here on a week-by-week basis) include two shows by Greece’s Attis Theatre, The Persians and Kanon; French Canadian performer-director Robert Lepage’s solo show Needles and Opium; the Netherlands’ Dogtroep company in Camel Gossip III; Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock as performed by Dublin’s Gate Theatre; and San Francisco monologuist Marga Gomez in two pieces, Memory Tricks and Marga Gomez Is Pretty, Witty, and Gay.
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Jardin de pulpos
Are you going to Scarborough fair? No need; Scarborough’s coming here. At least it’s sending a representative: the renowned Stephen Joseph Theatre, whose director-producer namesake–the son of Hermione Gingold–was the mentor of writer-director Alan Ayckbourn, the theater’s artistic director since 1971. England’s most prolific playwright, Ayckbourn’s a master farceur with a knack for toying with space and time relationships as he satirizes the malaise of “classless” contemporary Britain. His work is devilishly difficult for American companies to perform effectively, as several unsatisfying off-Loop efforts have recently demonstrated. So it’s a rare opportunity to see the real thing when Ayckbourn’s own resident company arrives here to perform his recent comedy thriller about a prostitute who jumps backwards and forwards in time, via a communicating door between two posh hotel suites, in an effort to escape a murderous businessman. Merle Reskin Theatre, 7:30 PM (opening). $21-$40.
See Critic’s Choice. Wellington Theater, 7:30 PM (opening). $20-$25.
