David Parkes | Chicago On the Aisle | Chicago performing arts and other splendors -- best bets in music and theater reviews for cultural travelers and local enthusiasts

‘Boy’ at TimeLine: Caught in a physiological trap, lad is certain that he’s not, alack, a lass

Jan 31, 2018 – 10:37 am

Review: Adam is a boy, age maybe 20. So you’re thinking, OK, if he’s 20, he’s more man than boy. Exactly. But for Adam, in Anna Ziegler’s play “Boy,” getting to manhood meant first establishing his boyhood – or boyness, if you like. And that is both the most engaging and the most problematic part of this drama now on the boards at TimeLine Theatre. ★★★

‘Hopey Changey Thing’ and ‘Sorry’ at TimeLine: Compassion trumps politics at the family table

Feb 24, 2015 – 3:13 pm

Review: Family: the human comedy at its most hysterical. And I’m not talking about television sitcoms. I mean the authentically bizarre brand of familial farce that resonates through Richard Nelson’s quartet of Apple family plays, two of which are now on contrasting display at TimeLine Theatre. Directed by Louis Contey, “That Hopey Changey Thing” and “Sorry” are the first and third in Nelson’s Apple series. Each offers us a virtual chair at the table with four adult siblings and their elderly uncle as they confront family issues and stew over America’s political prospects in the time frame from November 2010 to November 2013. ★★ / ★★★★