Theater Oobleck’s productions, for better or worse, often leave one with more questions than answers. Dave Buchen’s latest opus, “Spukt,” certainly does not disappoint in this respect—the play centers around Napoleon, and the forty-plus days of chaos and debauchery that follow his death by poisoning, cunningly orchestrated by his wife. Or was it his son? The amnesiac prime minister? Or the other son? Perhaps the gypsy? The doppelganger? The tambourine-playing dancing bear? Maybe the three-piece band in the corner knows something we don’t. But it’s the questions, the not-quite-knowing, that make this play so much fun to watch; it is blissful confusion. Sometimes heavy-handed political commentary draws obvious parallels to our current administration, but just as we start to feel bogged down with rhetoric, the band strikes up a tune, someone bursts into song, or reports of zombie soldiers rising from the dirt to march into battle challenge anyone who may think they have this show “figured out.” Guy Massey (last seen with Oobleck as George W. Bush in “TheStrangerer”), is particularly hilarious as the “unknowing solider.” It’s an exquisitely bizarre ride that’s sure to leave you enthusiastically scratching your head and wanting more. (Valerie Jean Johnson)
Right Is Right: A Review of "Big River" at Mercury Theater "Big River" is a musical based on Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, with songs by Roger Miller. Mercury Theater’s production is crisply moving, superbly sung and highly entertaining.
Loveless Truths: A Review of "The Whistleblower" at Theater Wit Eli is a TV writer who has become sick of writing fictional stories about fantasy heroes, and instead decides to speak only hard, personal truths designed to free himself and others from the grip of life-limiting self-deceptions. Honesty will be his superpower.
Fields of Love: A Review of "As You Like It" at Chicago Shakespeare Theater A pastoral comedy is just what the doctor ordered to ease our way out of our recent confinement. Chicago Shakespeare Theater obliges with its bright, energetic tale of souls fleeing death and duplicity and finding peace and love in the woods.
