Created specifically for Chicago by one step at a time like this, a group of Melbourne-based artists, “en route” is an intricate maze of an art piece/interactive theater event that combines elements of a scavenger hunt and “Mission: Impossible” to fully bring to life the immortal words of Shakespeare: “All the world’s a stage.” Experiencers (“audience members” doesn’t sound right) are given a device with pre-recorded tracks of music/instructions and a phone number to call in case they become “geographically, technologically or even psychologically lost” and then sent out to explore. But this is more than a tour of Chicago’s landmarks; as you make your way through grimy alleyways and plush hotel lobbies you start to take in your surroundings in a surprising new light. Is that crushed beer can a prop? Is that girl with the cast on her leg following you? What happens next? “en route” isn’t a show that you “see,” it’s something you “do.” And I can’t say this emphatically enough: “Go do it!” (Zach Freeman)
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.
