PicksInSix Review: The Merry Wives of Windsor - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Delightfully Devious Duo Meets Rotund Rapscallion!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Directed with comic zeal by Phillip Breen and featuring Jason Simon in a terrific performance as the rotund rapscallion Sir John Falstaff, Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s lively production of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” is a rip-roaring farce if ever there was one. Set in modern times that often stretch the imagination, the sparkling cast delivers a robustly-paced theatrical gem on Navy Pier!  

Breen’s familiarity with the challenging material pays off. He has certainly discovered every intended comic opportunity—and countless others for good measure—and hits the mark at every turn, all centered around the dubious exploits of Simon’s Falstaff that fail like clockwork, not once, but three times at the hands of the delightfully devious duo of Mistress Ford (Issy Van Randwyck) and Mistress Page (Ora Jones). From the moment they receive identical love letters from Sir John, the two work in tandem to cook his goose while remaining undetected by their husbands, Master Page (Chiké Johnson) and Master Ford (Timothy Edward Kane), despite suspicions to the contrary. Aye, there’s the rub!

Who could blame them for their playful mischievousness? Falstaff’s overt desires turn away his entourage (the entertaining trio of Bardolph (Teddy Gales), Pistol (Colin Huerta), and Nym (Zack Bloomfield)—leaving him vulnerable to the combined forces of the merry wives and the spirited Mistress Quickly (a charming role for Nancy Voigts). As a result, Falstaff must unwittingly fend for himself, eluding discovery by the jealous Ford (Kane) by stuffing his magnificence in a laundry box that is later tossed away in the Thames and then forced to don lady’s clothing and endure an unseen thrashing during a hasty retreat. Throughout, Simon’s Falstaff is never the victim, but rather a hapless fop, like a dog with bone, easily swayed by flattery and the promise of passionate fulfillment. When he concedes a third time to a meeting in Windsor Park, now in the guise of “Herne the Hunter” with everyone in on the ruse, Falstaff is finally, and publicly, humiliated for his transgressions, and must makes amends.

In addition to the brilliant performances by Randwyck, Jones and Kane, the cast is loaded with Chicago talent from top to bottom including Nick Sandys (Sir Hugh Andrews), Paul Oakley Stovall (Justice Shallow), Alex Weisman (Slender), Nate Burger (Dr. Caius) and Bret Tuomi (Host of the Garter Inn). In the love story, Oliva Pryor is an earnest Anne Page, whose marital future lies with one of three suitors, Caius, Slender and Fenton, who is played by Sam Bell-Gurwitz, and is the true object of her affections.

Rich scenic and lavish costume designs by Max Jones—particularly the Ford’s elegant home, the Garter Inn and in the haunting Windsor Park—are visually striking with notable surprises dropping down from above and phoning in from below. The Jentes Family Courtyard Theatre is awash in Marcus Doshi’s crisp lighting design and the lush soundscape by Lindsay Jones, with the clever use of some contemporary songs that bust out along the way.

All in, Shakes “Merry Wives” is at its’ very merry best when Simon is uproariously navigating the fine line of reckless passion and the resulting over-the-top antics set in motion by the far superior wives who keep us rooting for his inevitable comeuppance. From his larger-than-life grand entrance to his humbling demise, Simon delivers a flawless performance and rightly receives a glorious and genuinely warm last laugh for his efforts, sprinkled with a tender touch of finality for one of Shakespeare’s most enduring characters.

PHOTO|Kyle Flubacker

Chicago Shakespeare Theater
presents
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Navy Pier
through May 3, 2026

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PicksInSix Review: Amadeus - Steppenwolf Theatre Company

‘Amadeus’: God Works In Strange Ways.
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (David Darrow), the impetuous, child prodigy of Peter Shaffer’s brilliant play “Amadeus,” bestowed with a supernatural ability to visualize music far more complex than his contemporaries, is undermined by an envious and influential Vienna court rival Antonio Salieri (Ian Barford) who recognizes the youthful threat and prays to God that he himself would be blessed with that same celestial talent. Salieri’s punishment, in the scintillating Robert Falls directed Steppenwolf production that opened Sunday, is to live a very public 30-year long career of mediocrity, cursed all the while by the now long deceased Mozart’s flourishing legacy and immortality.

It is at this critical juncture of reckoning that Shaffer’s fictionalized version of events begins, with Salieri, as narrator, delusional and near death, praying to be absolved for his deceptive and underhanded role in driving Mozart into an early grave.  Over the course of the play, we discover the origin of the relationship and learn that if spirituality had any impact on the situation, it would be to Mozart’s benefit to seek some assistance for himself, but he is too self-absorbed. The wunderkind faces a painful decline as commission fees are diminished, students go elsewhere and a prestigious court appointment passes him by.

In the deeply layered role of Salieri, Barford explores a wide range of emotions from beleaguered hack to ruthless villain. He is initially entranced by Mozart’s music, then appalled when, in a moment, Mozart transforms his own lifeless march into a breathtaking aria and then is overcome with rage when he realizes that he will never achieve an ounce of the extraordinary success that Mozart displays in virtually every project he undertakes.

As Mozart, Darrow is a captivating personality, absorbing early scenes with boyish, frenzied enthusiasm, frolicking with his fiancé Contanze Weber (a poised and elegant performance by Jaye Ladymore) and cleverly taunting the conservative members of the court who regard his demeanor as disrespectful and revolting. If there is a clear turning point for Mozart, it occurs when he accepts Salieri into his trust offering no possible recovery. With Mozart’s demise complete, Salieri has won a fruitless victory fraught with guilt and regret.

In supporting roles, John Lister (Count Orsini-Rosenberg), Robert Breuler (Kapellmeiter Bonno), Yasen Peyankov (Baron Van Sweiten) and Gregory Linington (Joseph II) all stand out in the matchless ensemble. The two Venticellos, played exquisitely by Ora Jones and Sawyer Smith, breeze in and around the action as Salieri’s confidants and conscience, moving more than the story along.

Scenically, Todd Rosenthal creates a versatile atmosphere which enables seamless transformations from scene to scene, framed in an impressive, if representatively imperfect, glass valance with an opulent period ceiling fresco and twin chandeliers. The ensemble transforms this elegant backdrop to opulence with an impressive series of Amanda Gladu’s stunning costumes that envelope the stage with color, texture and movement under Falls’ artful direction. “Amadeus” is sure to be one of the season’s most heralded works on stage in Chicago and has already been extended deep into January.

PHOTO | Michael Brosilow

Steppenwolf Theatre Company
presents
Amadeus
1650 N. Halsted St.
EXTENDED through January 25, 2026

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PicksInSix Review: The Nacirema Society - Goodman Theatre

A Powerful, Laugh-Out Loud Triumph!
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Kaitlyn Linsner

Expect the unexpected in the Chicago premiere of Pearl Cleage’s extravagant and absurd comedy, “The Nacirema Society.” The play shines as the opener of Susan Booth’s first curated season as Goodman Theatre’s Artistic Director and as a joyous and nuanced exploration of how class, family tradition, honor, privilege, young love, ambition and social responsibility all present in everyday life. These themes mixed with over-the-top drama sets the stage for big gasps and even bigger laughs. Grab a glass of sherry, sit back and welcome to the lavish home of Grace Dubose Dunbar. 

“The Nacirema Society” drops us into the world of a prosperous, aristocratic Black family, the Dunbars, in 1964 Montgomery, Alabama. The mighty and entitled matriarch of the family, Grace Dubose Dunbar (E. Faye Butler), is also the grande dame of the Nacirema Society, a social club for affluent Black women in the South. The Society is preparing for the centennial year of its annual debutante ball, and Grace expects perfection in everything and everyone around her including her effervescent granddaughter Gracie (Demetra Dee) who is making her debut at the centennial ball. 

The plot weaves in another family—the working-class single mother Alpha Campell-Jackson (Tyla Abercrumbie) and her daughter Lille (Felicia Oduh)—who dig up Dunbar family secrets and rattle Dunbar family skeletons. The juxtaposition of these two families during the Civil Rights Movement illuminates the impacts of class and generational expectations in navigating change and legacy. The two families collide with great hilarity in the second act. 

Cleage’s remarkable writing and dialogue are brought to life under the superb direction of Lili-Anne Brown and the outstanding cast of powerhouse talent. Butler and Abercrumbie command the stage. Oduh and Dee are so honest and charming in depicting teenage eagerness, and the ensemble works beautifully together on stage to elevate each scene. 

Plus, the physical comedy is inspired. Ora Jones has a stand-out comedic performance as Grace’s nervous-wreck of a friend lurking on stage at the epicenter of a blackmail scheme. Shariba Rivers as the maid also had the audience buzzing as she collects coats, listens in from the stairs and eventually indulges in a glass of sherry herself as everything unravels.

Perhaps the best part of “The Nacirema Society” is as you find yourself belly laughing from start to finish, you are also deeply moved. This play stands strong as a delightful piece of theater that connects us through its content and characters all while creating an exuberant community in that experience.  

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | KAITLYN LINSNER is a Chicago-based attorney practicing construction and surety law.

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

GOODMAN THEATRE
presents
The Nacirema Society
EXTENDED through October 22
Albert Theatre
170 N. Dearborn St.

(312) 443-3800

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PicksInSix Review: The Comedy of Errors - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Comedy of Errors – “Thanks. Very Much!”
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Ed Tracy

In perhaps one of the most inspired and hilarious opening scenes in recent memory, Barbara Gaines launched her final stage production as Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Founder and Artistic Director not with a hearty hail and farewell, but instead a hilarious delivery.

Four of them actually.

The seafaring journey that follows for two sets of identical twins at the center of chaos and confusion is just the beginning of a wild and wondrous adventure. Gaines’s uproarious, over-the-top adaptation of “The Comedy of Errors” is really two shows, in fact, weaved together as one. Shakespeare’s tale of mistaken identities, mischief and mayhem is framed by an altogether new and fascinating story all its own—magnificently conceived by Gaines and brilliantly written by Ron West—that is set on a 1940 London soundstage. The developing storylines of the players is underscored by terrific musical performances, frequent Luftwaffe bombing raids, live Foley sound effects and just the right amount of hijinks and slapstick.

The play centers around the twins who are separated soon after birth by a shipwreck at sea.  Now adults in Ephesus, Antipholus from Syracuse (Robert Petkoff) and Antipholus from Ephesus (Dan Chameroy), along with their servant twins, Dromio of Syracuse (Ross Lehman) and Dromio of Ephesus (Kevin Gudhal) find themselves confounding Adriana (Susan Moniz), the wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, her sister Luciana (Melanie Brezill), the merchant Angelo (Brezon Arzell) and virtually everyone else.

Lehman also plays Dudley Marsh, the director of the film storyline and married to Veronica (Moniz) who is having a torrid affair in plain sight with Emerson Furbelow (Petkoff). Meanwhile Lord Brian Hallifax (Gudhal) is forever posturing for and expanding upon his stage real estate at every opportunity with hilarious consequences. Add to this powerhouse quartet the likes of Phil Sullivan (Chameroy), a dashing, aviator and crooning heartthrob for the charming Lillian Castillo (Marian), with the accident-prone stage manager Charles Chittick (William Dick) and you have the makings of a comic ensemble that’s on fire all night.

A spectacular set design by James Noone evokes the grandeur of filmmaking in a bygone era. It’s a gem that benefits from the stagehands quietly and effortlessly moving on and off in the context of the film shoot. The Courtyard Stage is awash with color and detail from Ken Posner’s lighting design, Mieka Van Der Ploeg’s stunning costumes and Lindsay Jones’s crisp sound and original music.

In a show filled with superb featured character roles, Ora Jones (Abbess), Adia Bell (Fanny) and Bruce A. Young (Monty/Duke) all stand out. Greg Vinkler shines as the ruddy Admiral Philpot and as his brother Eddie Philpot, funnyman Bill Larkin provides the oft-repeated phrase of the night that everyone will be saying to Barbara Gaines in appreciation of her decades of commitment to making Shakespeare accessible to everyone: “Thanks. Very Much!”

PHOTO|Liz Lauren
Barbara Gaines|Joe Mazza

Chicago Shakespeare Theater
presents
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
Courtyard Theater
Navy Pier
through April 16

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PicksInSix Review: All's Well That Ends Well - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

IN THE END… THERE IS LOVE.
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Shakespeare’s “All’s Well That Ends Well,” rarely staged on the opulent scale of director Shana Cooper’s production that opened Friday at Chicago Shakespeare’s Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier, is deemed a problematic work, fused with a tapestry of uneven plot variations and equally flawed characters. Cooper’s work, highlighted with interpretive dance, rises well above these challenges, thanks to a stellar cast and a fair bit of magic and imagery.

If you are expecting one of Shakespeare’s robust comedies, this is not one of those. It begins cloaked in the grief of the death of nobility in Italy and pivots quickly to the uncertain future of the King of France (Francis Guinan) who is gravely ill. Central to the coming of age story is Helen (Alejandra Escalante), daughter of a physician who confesses to her guardian, the Countess of Rossillion (Ora Jones), of her desires to wed her son Bertram (Dante Jemmott), heir to the throne. When Bertram departs to serve under the charge of the King, Helen secretly follows him to France and into the King’s graces to affect a cure of the disease that is killing him. That medical miracle performed—and it is a doozy—the King allows Helen to choose a suitor from the court of eligible men that includes Bertram. However, shunning the King’s decree, Bertram spurns Helen and flees the kingdom for Italy, which launches Helen on a life, to death, to life quest of her own.

The charming Escalante brings a demure, vulnerability to Helen that modulates from a young, impetus woman in love to the heroine we can pull for in her pursuit of Jemmott’s likeable Bertram. Once away and under a false pretense, Bertram directs his attention to Diana (Emma Ladji) a lady of the court who knows much more about his situation than he does himself. As this love triangle sorts itself out, Bertram struggles with issues of trust that come back to roost in the deeds of Mark Bedard’s multi-layered turn as Parolles– “a good drum, but a naughty orator.” At odds with the always steady William Dicks’ splendid French lord Lafeu, Parolles must face the consequence of his ill-natured trickery to the King—a stately and commanding performance by Guinan—before finding personal redemption.

On the lighter side of “All’s Well” is Elizabeth Ledo’s entertaining romp as Lavatch, the Countess’s court jester and confidant whose exuberant nature and keen delivery might seem out of place in a plot that keeps lopping off options until only the lovers remain. Not so with Ledo, whose bawdy, of-the-moment, presence is the refreshing and engaging performance of the night.

Christina Clark is strong in dual roles as the Duchess of Florence and the Widow Capilet, as are Ladji as Diana, who ties up the plot strings nicely, and Tanya Thai McBride as Mariana. The ensemble plays numerous roles and performs the interpretive dance choreography of Stephanie Martinez, a staple in Cooper’s work, which serves to establish and transition between scenes.

While there is often a darkness that prevails over the play that mirrors our pandemic times, this show will play well to the Navy Pier audience looking for an escape on a grand scale that is at once magically entertaining and modestly paced. The elements of magic in the King’s chambers and elsewhere, are the fine work of Dendy and are particularly noteworthy. Set in a period dubbed “Bohemian-Edwardian” by Cooper and the creative team, “All’s Well” unfolds on the vast thrust Courtyard stage, an Andrew Boyce design framed in massive, courtly drapes in Act I and a colossal sagebrush spectacle in Act II punctuated by Adam Monroe’s lighting design. With Raquel Barreto’s colorfully textured costumes evoking a rustic era, “All’s Well That Ends Well” is a splendid visual treat for young and old alike.

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

Chicago Shakespeare Theater
presents
ALL’s WELL THAT ENDS WELL
Courtyard Theater
Navy Pier
through May 29

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