David Darlow's Summer Update

David Darlow has spent a Shakespeare-filled summer directing As You Like It for the Utah Shakespeare Fest where he has been immersed in this pastoral comedy.

In a video of David discussing his concept for As You Like It, he said, “The forest of Arden becomes a place for an internal journey where the characters begin to find their own true voice.”


David also spent the summer reunited with Roderick Peeples (featured in photo by Karl Hugh), who plays Duke Senior in As You Like It. He and Roderick were both recently seen in Remy Bumppo’s production of The Voysey Inheritance and will be seen together again in the 09-10 season opener, Heroes.

David just finished filming a movie titled, No God, No Master, in which he plays the character John D. Rockefeller, starring David Strathairn Good Night and Good Luck.

Nick Sandys Receives Rave Reviews!

Nick Sandys plays Henry Higgins in in Light Opera's Works' production of My Fair Lady Aug. 15 through Aug. 30 at the Cahn Auditorium in Evanston. Check out the stellar review Nick received from the Chicago Sun Times.

Linda Gillum's Summer off the Stage

After a busy season of acting, directing, teaching, speech consulting and casting, I'm taking a break this summer. Heroes and Les Liaisons Dangereuses were cast by the end of May and The Island will be cast by the end of August. I took at trip to Minnesota with Guy (photo of us at Cascade Falls near Lake Superior) where we camped for three days (including a 7.7 mile hike and seeing a fresh bear print near our campsite when we returned).

We then drove an hour inland to my sister's cabin where we met her and my parents. Lots of fishing, food and relaxation. Then on to St. Paul where my nephew flew in and I treated everyone to a performance of Cirque du Soleil (my friend Jim Slonina is in their travelling show KOOZA). Jim and his wife Robin took us all backstage for a tour which was a highlight. Spending many of my summer days painting my apartment and redecorating as well as playing beach volleyball. Trying to hide my facial sunburn when going in on commercial auditions! Happy summer to everyone.

Summer Update from Artistic Associate Nick Sandys

Summer is icumen in! And it has been as exhausting as it has been damp! Nevertheless, life in Summer Shakespeareland continues, and has actually been highly rewarding. It is always a process of compromises, with the weather, with the tight schedule (three weeks is insane!!!), with the facilities, with the experience (or lack thereof) of the company, but it is also a thrilling challenge and so much can be achieved, taught, imagined, striven for, and one should always count the victories and then use the scars as insights for next time.

So this summer was my first time directing Macbeth, at First Folio Theatre in Oak Brook--a play that I know very well, having acted in it five times and choreographed at least another four, published academic papers on and taught. This time I was choreographing and directing--note to self: never do this again on a three week schedule! And I'm pretty pleased with the final product, which manages a few moments of genuine surprise and terror, a few moments of unusual and interpretative staging, a few moments of really true emotion, and a couple of kick-ass fights. I also learnt some new things about the play--always a pleasant bonus--such as how parallel the journeys and the language/imagery of the Macbeths are (they begin the play as the most happily married couple in Shakespeare), how crucial it is to integrate the witches into the play so that they are part of the world, and how important it is to play with the theatricality of terror (making an audience sitting on blankets jump is an art in itself). I also believe I grew and am emboldened as a director of Shakespeare, which is likewise a bonus.

But there is no time to linger on victories--I am now in the thick of rehearsals for Higgins in My Fair Lady for Light Opera Works, which opens Aug 15th, and has been a real challenge in a whole other way. I haven't done a musical for 20 years, and even though my "singing" in this production is a la Harrison (though I do sing quite a bit more than he did), I am finding learning songs like this to be very difficult, a different type of muscle. My admiration goes out to all those who do musical theatre and make it look easy--which is of course the art of all good performance--sprezzatura, to use Castiglione's term--because I am certainly finding it hard work. But that may not be helped by having an exhausted brain. And there is no break in sight!!! AAARgghghH! Happy summer!

Terry Teachout's Wall Street Journal Review of Old Times

Chicago

Time was when Harold Pinter's shorthand dialogue struck most people as impenetrably mysterious -- and times, truth to tell, haven't changed all that much. Yet his best plays continue to make a powerful impression, and "Old Times," first seen on Broadway in 1971, has even become something of a regional-theater staple in recent years, partly because it can be produced so cheaply (three actors, one simple set) and partly because it's so theatrically effective. Pinter never wrote anything more potent than the enigmatic story of Deeley and Kate, an uneasily married couple whose life is disrupted by a visit from Anna, who knew Kate 20 years ago and appears (or maybe not) to have been romantically involved with her. Remy Bumppo Theatre, one of my favorite Chicago companies, is presenting this icy sparring match in an exceptionally satisfying production that has been staged with surgical skill by James Bohnen, the company's artistic director. Nick Sandys, Jenny McKnight and Linda Gillum all give tightly coiled performances that keep the tension rising all the way from curtain to curtain.

Mr. Teachout, the Journal's drama critic, blogs about theater and the other arts at www.terryteachout.com. Write to him at tteachout@wsj.com.

Blog from Pinterland!

Week two, the reviews are coming out and are strong, the audiences, when they come, are having a fascinating time. Spread the word people. What was great on Sunday, after the matinee, was to see 75% of the audience stay for the talkback, not because they were lost , but because they seemed to want some confirmation on what they thought they understood. There were some great insights and some clear thinking and some fun questions—thank you to the gentleman who noticed all the detailed dialect work! We haven’t had that number of people stay since, oh I don’t know, maybe Hapgood, another brain teaser.

And in the midst of this we are also in the thick of Liaisons auditions, exhausting but exciting work, which I am trying not to let influence Deeley’s demeanor. David Darlow, herr Direktor, has got his work cut out because we just saw a great group of wonderful actresses, a lot of my favorite leading ladies from around Chicago theatres whose work I have admired and some beautiful young actresses new to me and to Remy Bumppo, and he has to make a choice for each role. We could probably cast the show three times over at this point. And I get paid to do this all day!—well, actually I don’t, but it’s the thought that…. counts.

Nick

Old Times on Chicago Tonight

Check out what Hedy Weiss says about Old Times on WTTW's Chicago Tonight.
http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=42,8,8&vid=050509g