PicksInSix Review: Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars - TimeLine Theatre Company

An All Too Real Interstellar Experience.
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

“Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars,” the new play written by and featuring Sandra Delgado and directed by Kimberly Senior, opened Wednesday in a TimeLine Theatre Company world premiere production hosted by Lookingglass Theatre Company at the Water Tower Water Works. Set in Chicago in 2015 during the Obama era, the powerful premise of Delgado’s work revolves around issues and policies that reflect our fractured immigration and deportation system. On that score alone, Delgado’s insightful “Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars” is the most vitally important show to see in Chicago right now.

The combined force of longtime collaborators Senior and Delgado in such a stylized 90-minute drama is a perfect fit for TimeLine’s legacy of presenting works of historical significance. The production unfolds as a series of vignettes—memories from the mind of Delgado’s character Clara—that shape the backstory. Clara’s seemingly routine life is all at once upended as a result of past actions that would otherwise be dismissed to any American citizen. But Clara was an immigrant child who is now pursuing citizenship that will allow her to fulfill the dream of a trip to Paris with her daughter Stella (Charlotte Arias who alternates with Simona Gueglio-Saccone), until she is suddenly thrust into a situation that will ultimately impact every facet of her existence.

Clara is central to the support of her immediate family. She is caring for her recently widowed father Papi (Ramón Camín) and is in a co-parenting situation with her ex-husband, David (Brian King), to whom she also provides financial support. So, when we find that Clara has been unemployed for over a month and has been shielding it from everyone, there is clearly a reckoning to come. Clara first shares her plight with Ruben (Joshua David Thomas), an affable hospital professional who has a prosperous side hustle, and then, as she begins to consider what her future options might be, is stunned to discover that her path to citizenship is in serious jeopardy.

Delgado’s crisp writing style is evidenced throughout the interactions with her family, but shines brightly in a pivotal meeting with Vega (Charín Álvarez), an immigration attorney whose blunt assessment leaves few options ahead, and Clara’s own impassioned testimony in her own defense.          

There is an otherworldly element to “Hundreds”—a multiverse, a theoretical reality that includes an infinite number of parallel universes—that drives the narrative of Clara’s story, allowing the scenes to unfold as if unstuck in time. It is a fascinating concept accomplished through robust atmospheric projections (Eme Ospina-López), lighting (Christine A. Binder) and sound (Willow James) and the scenic design of Regina García. Director Senior artfully incorporates these interstitial moments that allow Delgado to remain present on stage nearly throughout as either player, observer or interstellar traveler. Collectively, these segments gather in intensity, an atmospheric representation of the unimaginable chaos of Clara’s situation.

Over the course of the past ten years while much has changed, all too much has stayed the same. When the decriminalization of marijuana became law, the remedies afforded to American citizens imprisoned on minor offenses did not apply universally to everyone. Today, with the situation magnified three-fold, the sweeping effect of immigration enforcement activities, that have been largely indiscriminate and intensified in real time in neighborhoods across Chicagoland and the nation, have ripped families apart and sent shock waves of fear through entire communities. The searing and staggering heart of this piece beats loudly as if it was written yesterday. Delgado’s bold, endearing and powerful “Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars” lays bare how our evolving policies so completely impact one family caught up in our fraught immigration system.

PHOTO| Brett Beiner

TimeLine Theatre Company
presents
World Premiere
Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars
Hosted by
Lookingglass Theatre
Water Tower Water Works
168 Pearson Street at Michigan Ave.
through November 9, 2025

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FEATURE: CONVERSATIONS: Kimberly Senior and Sandra Delgado

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PicksInSix Review: Hymn - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Crisp, Compelling ‘HYMN’ at Chicago Shakes.
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Lolita Chakrabarti’s absorbing new play “Hymn” that opened Saturday at Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Courtyard Theater directed by Ron OJ Parson features two of Chicago’s most accomplished actors, Chiké Johnson and James Vincent Meredith. The show follows two 50ish Black men who share much more than the fact that their birthdays are a few days apart. That fact may be enough to set up what follows without blatantly divulging the other, more significant, genetic marker they have in common.

“Hymn” plays out in a series of scenes set in South Side Chicago over the course of a year in the lives of Benny (Johnson), a logistics professional and family man who grew up in a tough neighborhood and Gil (Meredith), whose father, an accomplished dry cleaning business owner has recently passed. Gil has been engaged as a partner in the family operation that has allowed an affluent lifestyle. When we first meet Benny, things are a bit unhinged.

Early on we discover some radical lifestyle differences. While Benny attended public school in Englewood, Gil graduated from prestigious Saint Ignatius. Both are tentative at first, understandably wary on many levels. That all dissolves away into a fast and meaningful friendship, sharing common experiences, life lessons and future dreams with a strong, fulfilling brotherhood developing. Gil is welcomed into Benny’s family and a warm, respectful kinship takes hold. Things turn quickly though as other forces beyond their control eventually come into play and the partnership that started with such promise is suddenly in serious jeopardy.

Chakrabarti’s characters are superbly defined and Johnson and Meredith are excellent in this 100 minute drama. Parson, a multiple Jeff award-winning director in his first production at Shakes, skillfully maneuvers the ebb and flow of the action as the men rekindle experiences missed from an earlier era through the music of their lives. These are two wonderfully warm and genuine performances filled with sincerity and humor.

Scenic/projections designer Rasean Davonté Johnson has replicated an elegant, wood hewed set on the Courtyard Theatre’s thrust stage with multi-purpose benches on each side with elaborate drops that frame the various projections. Jason Lynch’s lighting and Yvonne Miranda’s costumes complete the savory visual landscape. There is a definite wink and a nod in the timely use of music to punctuate the story, much a part of the script and expertly executed by sound designer and composer Willow James.

“Hymn” is a powerful example of what Chakrabarti calls “a universal story of finding commonality and love” even as it reaches out with music to build a bridge of trust and brotherly love. The influential women in these men’s lives, though unseen, radiate an extraordinary level of love and support which comes through brilliantly in the rich text and Parson’s crisp, compelling production.     

PHOTO|Vashon Jordan Jr.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater
presents
World Premiere
HYMN
Jentes Family Courtyard Theater
Navy Pier
through May 25, 2025

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PicksInSix Review: A Raisin in the Sun - Court Theatre

What Happens To A Dream Deferred?
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Lorraine Hansberry’s arresting triumph “A Raisin in the Sun” is playing now in a brilliant production at Court Theatre. Directed by Senior Artistic Producer Gabrielle Randle-Bent, the 1957 play—penned by the 27-year-old Hansberry and largely based on her own experiences growing up on the South Side of Chicago—has been lauded since for its defining influence on American theatre, the sheer poetry of the text and its stirring depiction of an urban Black family and their individual dreams for a better life.

Randle-Bent has amassed a powerhouse company, led by the remarkable performances of Shanésia Davis as Lena ‘Mama’ Younger, the matriarch of the family; her impulsive son Walter Lee, played on an emotional edge by Brian Keys; a moving and truly sentient turn by Kierra Bunch as Walter’s pregnant wife, Ruth; Martasia Jones as the progressive daughter Beneatha; and, Jeremias Darville (who alternates with Di'Aire Wilson) as Travis, the youngest son and hope for the next generation in the family.

Set in a cramped South Side tenement in the late 1950s amid the segregation and racially restrictive covenants of the era that fueled the redlining of neighborhoods, Mama and the Younger family are expecting a $10,000 death benefit payment, the legacy of her late husband’s lifetime of service and sacrifice for the family. There is debate about how the money should be spent, but not about who is the decision maker.

On one side, Walter pleads with Ruth to join him in convincing Mama to invest the sum in a liquor store that he hopes will both raise his stature from the service job he has been trapped in and provide a better life for everyone. Ruth and Beneatha, who is studying to be a doctor, both agree that it is Mama’s decision, leaving Walter to make a direct appeal that Mama rejects in favor of her own dream: a home of their own. Once that decision sinks in, Walter embarks on a three-day bender that threatens his employment and alienates everyone in the family. In a true act of trust and love, Mama makes a concession that leads to trouble ahead for the Younger family.

Along the way, we watch Beneatha evolve from a bobby socks college student to free-spirit, influenced by the scholarly atmosphere she inhabits during the day and the attention of George Murchison (Charles Andrew Gardner), a relationship she is far less attracted to than the new ideals of Joseph Asagai (Eliott Johnson), a charming Nigerian suitor who introduces her to a culture that awakens a passion within her. Julian Parker (Bobo), Vincent Teninty (Karl Lindner) and J. Nicole Brooks (Mrs. Johnson) round out the superb cast.

Andrew Boyce’s robust scenic design—an elevated, angular stage framed in a series of large-scale urban-themed panels behind the detailed close quarters of the Younger’s meager row house flat—provides multiple obscure and semi-obstructed interior views while serving as a fascinating template for cast movement in, out and within the space. Maximo Grano De Oro evocative lighting, Willow James’s subtle sound design and superb costumes by Raquel Adorno with Jeanette Rodriguez elevate Court Theatre’s production of “A Raisin in the Sun” to a new artistic standard for this enduring American classic and the show to see now in Chicago.

PHOTO | Michael Brosilow

Court Theatre
presents
A Raisin in the Sun
5535 S Ellis Ave.
Chicago, IL 60637

Extended through March 23, 2025

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TICKETS
(773) 753-4472

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PicksInSix Review: Twelfth Night - Chicago Shakespeare Theater

“Twelfth Night” — Free-Spirited, Comic Gem!
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Without a doubt, the astounding quality and resulting popularity of productions of Shakespeare’s work at Chicago Shakespeare Theater rests firmly on the theater’s decades-long artistic commitment to presenting work with universal clarity and understanding, multi-talented casts and purely whimsical staging. A large part of this artistic ethos has to do with the diversity of the massive audiences drawn to Navy Pier, a top Midwest destination attraction that offers a once-in-a-lifetime experience for visitors to Chicago and an endless stream of students whose trip to the magnificent Courtyard Theatre is often their introduction to both theater and Shakespeare.

So, it is no surprise that the opening of “Twelfth Night”—a free-spirited, comic gem directed by Tyrone Phillips—was enthusiastically received on Thursday night. Shakespeare’s celebration of the many facets of love, and its impact on who we are, takes on new meaning in Phillips adaptation which is at the same time true to the comic roots of the original and cleverly awash with 21st century references that fit together seamlessly. With Shakespeare’s robust characters bursting forth with purpose, passion and promise, Chicago Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” is clever, smart and a joy to watch from beginning to end.

Set in the Caribbean, the story revolves around the separation of shipwrecked twins Viola (Jaeda LaVonne) and Sebastin (Justen Ross) on the island of Illyria. In order to deal with the grief and abandonment that she is feeling with the supposed loss of her brother at sea, Viola disguises herself as a young man named Cesario and takes a position as page to Duke Orsino(Yao Dogbe). The Duke implores Viola(as Cesario) to become the intermediary for his love interest, the Countess Olivia(Christiana Clark) who is in mourning herself about the recent passing of her brother. While Viola finds herself falling hard for the Duke, Olivia, determined to shun the Duke, begins to woo Viola(as Cesario).

Olivia lives with her uncle Sir Toby Belch (Ronald L. Conner) who spends most of his time in drunken—and hilarious—merrymaking with his companion Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Alex Goodrich) along with Olivia’s gentlewoman Maria (Danielle Davis), Fabian (Shelby Lynn Bias) and the jester Feste (Israel Erron Ford).  The group’s brand of roguish behavior riles Olivia’s cynical steward Malvolio (Paul Oakley Stovall) into such a fit that the group conspires to deceive him into believing that Olivia is enamored with him. One comic situation follows another with love eventually conquering all.

The show is infused with a universal blend of contemporary hip-hop and reggae music by music director Robert Reddrick and movement director Sadira Muhammad that befits the storytelling. Philips and his creative team, led by scenic designer Sydney Lynne with costume designer Christine Pascua, have conceived a striking seaside atmosphere that transitions effortlessly from scene to scene. With extraordinary precision, the crystal blue Caribbean skies turn to a thunderous rainstorm in the blink of an eye and a nod to the evocative lighting design of Xavier Pierce, stunning projections by Mike Tutaj and an intricately charged sound design by Willow James.

It all feels like an expertly-crafted ensemble piece. LaVonne’s earnest and engaging Viola/Cesario is a delight. Sir Toby Belch and Aguecheek, two of Shakespeare’s most beloved comic foils, are played here by Conner and Goodrich with reckless comic abandon. Davis, whose sustained laughter is infectious, and the sublime vocals of Ford, round out the band of hooligans at the center of the comic subplot to upend Stovall’s staunchly priggish servant turned infatuated manic lover Malvolio—the brilliant and commanding performance of the night—all make “Twelfth Night” a show to see and enjoy!  

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

Chicago Shakespeare Theater
presents
TWELFTH NIGHT
Courtyard Theater
Navy Pier
through November 26

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