PicksInSix Review: Birds of North America - A Red Orchid Theatre

The Father-Daughter Emotional Field Guide.
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Sarah Frances Fiorello

Nestled snugly in their intimate Old Town storefront performance space, A Red Orchid Theatre is lighting a slow, smoldering fire of generational drama with the Chicago Premiere of “Birds of North America” set to warm the coldest of Chicago winter nights.

John and his daughter, Caitlyn, are birding from John’s backyard in suburban Maryland, while the two travel through a decade of relational touchpoints. Stage lights rise and fall on this father-daughter duo, marking the many seasons of their respective lives as well as demonstrating time’s ability to erode even the most certain of those seasons. John and Caitlyn peer through their binoculars searching for rare birds, while simultaneously searching for the missing connection within their relationship. Like those elusive winged creatures, they never quite seem to find each other, despite their love and obvious devotion. Their profound humanity in continuing to try will have you rooting for them until the final curtain.

What the ensemble of A Red Orchid Theatre manages to produce in what I’d affectionately call a “micro” theatre space is inspiring and invigorating with “Birds of North America” being no exception: there is nowhere to hide from the themes playwright Anna Ouyang Moench asks us to examine. Her writing nearly demands us to think with adequate complexity on “Us vs. Them” political and philosophical arguments, taking big swings at touchy ideologies: privilege of principle-based living and “working to live vs. living to work” chief among them. Her writing is compassionate while necessarily confrontational—pushing on that stubborn wall between our differing views, pulling on our shared humanity to connect in spite of it.

“Birds of North America” is directed by A Red Orchid Theatre Artistic Director Kirsten Fitzgerald and features standout original composition by Composer and Sound Designer Ethan Korvne. The play’s soundscape is contemplative, gentle, and stirring, offering a surprisingly moving touch to the feel of the story with Morgan Laszlo’s rustic scenic design matched by Seojung Jang’s lighting design. On a particularly blustery winter night, I was warmed to the core by this striking, original, powerful new work.

Equity Jeff-Award winner Cassidy Slaughter-Mason offers a composed and contemplative performance as Caitlyn. Deftly portraying the woes and realities of young adult life in the 21st Century, we share her hope against hope that her science-minded father might understand her, as a person first and a statistic second. A Red Orchid Theatre Ensemble Member John Judd expertly unravels the character of John, a committed conservationist and scientist who isn’t entirely wrong in his staunch pragmatism but often fails to see exactly why that matters. There are about as many iterations of father-daughter struggles as there are bird calls in the wild; this piece drills down to the essence of them all, managing to capture something deeply personal while being sweepingly universal and hauntingly specific.

“Birds of North America” is playing now through February 22nd at A Red Orchid Theatre and is worth braving whatever snow and cold may stand between you and their space on Wells St. There is no need to brush up on your North American Field Guide before attending, but you may find yourself wanting to dig it out on your way home. Before bundling up to attend the theatre, leave it on your nightstand as the second special treat of the evening.

CONTENT ADVISORY: This production includes discussion of miscarriage and brief violence.

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | SARAH FRANCES FIORELLO is a graduate of Shenandoah Conservatory with a BFA in Music Theatre and a Chicago-based poet, writer, and performer. Instagram: @writtenbysarahfrances

PHOTO|Evan Hanover

A Red Orchid Theatre
presents
Chicago Premiere
Birds of North America
1531 North Wells Street
through February 22, 2026

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PicksInSix Review: The Audience - Drury Lane Theatre

Brooks Holds Court in “The Audience.”
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Ronald Keaton

I had the unique opportunity of seeing the original Broadway production of Peter Morgan’s historical play about Queen Elizabeth II, “The Audience,” back in 2015, with the fabulous Helen Mirren and a host of excellent actors in support.  The research into the subject matter is meticulous and well-organized, and if you’re a history buff, you will absolutely love this wonderful creativity.  If you’re not and you keep an open mind, it will lure you in with a kind of picture-book approach of a history lesson, that couldn’t be more entertaining in its turns, and they’re offered by the fine actors seen here. 

“The Audience” takes place during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, specifically focusing on her weekly meetings with the prime minister in office.  It’s not told in a linear fashion, but in a kind of memory focus, so we get an interesting and full scrapbook of storytelling.  There’s even a narrator-on-staff, so to speak—the versatile Jürgen Hooper as the Equerry—to help guide us through the maze of time and place and, well, all the prime ministers, as well as a young Elizabeth (Omi Lichtenstein in an impressive turn) to whom the adult Queen can relate to on occasion.

All the meetings are held in what’s called ‘The Meeting Room’ in Buckingham Palace. It is very simple, accessible staging by director Jessica Fisch. Center stage are two chairs with a small table between them, where all the discussions take place. It might have helped a bit to have the prime ministers and/or the Queen get up and move more often to vary the scene, but that’s nothing that overcomes the fine storytelling.  Ms. Fisch also has created a smooth, absolutely silent scene change habit for those chairs and other set pieces, musically underscored, that actually entertains on its own, thanks to a wonderfully restrained, elegant scenic design by Andrew Boyce.

The entire play is owned by Queen Elizabeth II and taken into charge by the redoubtable Janet Ulrich Brooks, one of Chicago’s truly talented, fascinating actors. She plays Elizabeth from the beginnings of her reign in 1952 by meeting her first Prime Minister, Winston Churchill (an irascible, almost knightly Matt DeCaro), who detests and resists any turn from tradition in the meetings and, indeed, reinforces the Queen’s grandfather, George V, in his insistence on maintaining such structure. The Queen stands up to the great man with questions and methods of her own; they reach a shaky truce of sorts by meeting’s end, and one tips a hat to her resolve.

All the Prime Ministers are at once impressed, shaken and establish their own friendly joust with the Queen.  The first PM appointee Anthony Eden (excellently manipulative and fearful by Mark Ulrich) betrays his reputation with his mismanagement of the Suez Canal affair. Ron E. Rains offers a surprisingly full-bodied and humorous Harold Wilson, thanks to the playwright’s gift of three different scenes with the Queen. (Mr. Wilson did have two separate terms in office, thus justifying what we see.) Susie McMonagle clutches the expected aggressive stance as Margaret Thatcher in a gripping, properly uncompromising exchange with Brooks’ Queen. Both John Major (John Judd) and Tony Blair (Alex Goodrich) leave strong marks on their terms in the office for totally disparate reasons. The Scot, Gordon Brown (Raymond Fox) followed the Churchillian path of Chancellor of the Exchequer in stabilizing the UK’s economy, which led to his PM appointment.  And David Cameron (a second turn by Mr. Goodrich) led the first peacetime British coalition government that voted to leave the European Union in 2016, forcing him to resign.

The richness in history is handled by Elizabeth with varying degrees of attitude, but always in support of each charge. And the many physical changes in Ms. Brooks’ appearance onstage are deftly handled through those aforementioned scene changes with wig and dress by a hugely talented palace staff, both in the story and through the craft. This fine production of a rare play runs at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace through October 20.  

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | RONALD KEATON received an Equity Jeff Award for the performance of his one-man show CHURCHILL. www.solochicagotheatre.com  Coming soon, his new solo play “Echo Holler.” www.echoholler.com

PHOTO| Brett Beiner

Drury Lane Theatre
presents
The Audience
100 Drury Lane
Oakbrook Terrace
through October 20, 2024

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PICKSINSIX Review: ALL MY SONS

“I ignore what I gotta ignore.”

Precisely imagined... The magnificent revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, now playing at the Court Theatre, is a gripping and compelling production precisely imagined and perfectly staged by Charles Newell, Court’s Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director.

Fact-based story... Following the public disgrace of a criminal conviction during World War II, for which he has been officially exonerated, Joe Keller is back on top, having rebuilt his family manufacturing business and unifying the family circle around him. There is a messy untold truth in Miller’s fact-based story that thrusts two families into a morass of moral responsibility, social justice and survival.

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Stellar performances... John Judd brings depth and power to tough guy Joe Keller, haunted by the prospect of losing his family legacy, and fearful of losing the love and respect of his son. His tormented wife Kate, an electrifying performance by Kate Collins, alternates between victim and protector. Timothy Edward Kane is terrific as Chris Keller, the troubled love struck son who lives in his brother’s shadow and longs for happiness with Ann Deever, played by the captivating Heidi Kettenring. Johanna McKenzie Miller(Sue Bayliss), Karl Hamilton(Dr. Jim Bayliss) and Dan Waller(George Deever) all stand out in an ensemble of stellar performances.

Striking scenic design.. John Culbert's striking scenic design with Keith Parham’s dynamic lighting and period costumes by Jacqueline Firkins, all combine to transform the intimate Abelson Auditorium into Joe Keller's multi-tiered back yard of the 1940's.   

A respectfully artful tribute... There was a remarkable sense of presence at the press opening on Saturday, the undeniable sense of loss that courses through All My Sons served as a shining and respectfully artful tribute to everyone connected with Court Theatre, The University of Chicago and the theatrical community out of respect for the family, friends and co-workers of Executive Director Stephen J. Albert who passed away recently. As noted in the program on behalf of the company “All My Sons was the work of art that inspired Steve to make theatre his life’s mission. In his absence, we continue to press onward, finding in our dedication to this play above all others an ideal way of celebrating Steve’s life and artistic vision.” 

The takeaway... An artist’s truth is laid bare when the art painfully intersects with reality. That infusion can only then spew out with equal parts of raw emotion and extraordinary technique. This brilliant combination is at the core of Court Theatre’s exceptional production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, a rendering of which the playwright – and Steve Albert – would overwhelmingly approve.

PHOTOS|Michael Brosilow

COURT THEATRE
ALL MY SONS
Written by Arthur Miller
Directed by Charles Newell
through February 11th
5535 S Ellis Avenue
773-753-4472
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