It doesn’t quite live up to its title but Provision Theater’s “The Time of Your Life” paints a beautiful postcard of a different time. Penned, set and Pulitzered in 1939, William Saroyan’s tale of the denizens of a rundown bar in depression-era San Francisco bar is sentimental but has grit ahead of its time. Provision’s Artistic Director Tim Gregory leads the cast, numbering twenty-two in all. Gregory’s Joe is smooth and funny and there is sadness to him as well. They are all quite adept at embodying the style of the period. Characters on stage for mere minutes leave a lasting stroke on the composition of the play. Visually the piece is attractive. The sets, lights and costumes could be filmed and put directly on a 1940s movie screen. That said, if the approach to the material had been darker and more realistic the hookers, alcoholics and swindlers would not feel quite as candy-coated. The candy, however, is sweet. (William Scott)
At the Viaduct, 3111 N. Western, (773)296-6024. This production is now closed.
Transformation and Transfiguration: A Review of The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing at Chicago Opera Theater British mathematician Alan Turing, who is the father of computer science, was primarily publicly remembered for being convicted of “gross indecency” for homosexual acts and was subject to chemical castration as a condition of his probation. From its opening notes, the music is compelling and perfectly captures the ambiguity of the worlds Turing was caught up in, almost a dramatic…
A Good Time for Capitalists and Comrades Alike: A Review of “The Neo Futurists Sell Out” at The Neo-Futurist Theater The Neo-Futurists transform the theater into a corporate board room, with Windows98-style PowerPoint presentations, frantic focus groups and an overall eerie ambience. Four corporate shills try to get you to conform to their corporate hierarchical way of life. The plan of indoctrination is delivered via short skits and interludes of music and dance.
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