Category Archives: theater

Beware the Ides of March

Posted on March 15, 2015 by jyourist
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The How and the Why by Sarah Treem

Posted on March 16, 2014 by jyourist

Last weekend we saw the remarkable play, The How and the Why written by Sarah Treem, directed by Keira Fromm at Timeline Theater. Though I was unfamiliar with the playwright, clearly she has accumulated quite a bit of success: writer/producer … Continue reading →

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An intimate Raisin in the Sun

Posted on November 17, 2013 by jyourist

Last night we saw a production of Raisin in the Sun at the Timeline Theater in Chicago, directed by OJ Parsons. It was a spell-binding production in part because of its complete intimacy. Timeline is a small theater and the … Continue reading →

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Sita Ram in epic proportions

Posted on December 15, 2012 by jyourist

A lot of my past and present students are involved in the recent production of Sita Ram at the Harris Theater. I was excited to see them and this long-running project. Ten years ago, when I was the principal at … Continue reading →

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Happy Birthday to the Bard

Posted on April 23, 2012 by jyourist

Theseus: The lunatic, the lover and the poet Are of imagination all compact: One sees more devils than vast hell can hold, That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic, Sees Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt: The … Continue reading →

Posted in poetry, Shakespeare, theater | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

An Iliad

Posted on December 8, 2011 by jyourist

Just got back from Court Theater’s production of An Iliad by Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson based on Homer’s The Iliad translated by Robert Fagles. The layering of this piece is incredibly powerful. Lisa Peterson, nationally renowned director, wanted to … Continue reading →

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Recycling: Washi Tales— transforming

Posted on September 18, 2011 by jyourist

Recycling: Washi Tales opened last night at the Krannert Center in Champaign. It was a transformative theatrical experience, poetic, magical. This drama took the audience on an historical and process-focused journey of what it means to make paper and pushing … Continue reading →

Posted in art, artist, Japan, papermaking, performance, theater, transformation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Porgy and Bess

Posted on June 23, 2011 by jyourist

This fresh production of Porgy and Bess at Court Theater moves beyond the stereotypes of its original production almost 80 years ago. The set is very simple, the cast small, the orchestra only 6 people and several of the musicians … Continue reading →

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Orlando over 400 years

Posted on April 20, 2011 by jyourist

JB and I went to see Orlando: A Biography, Virginia Woolf‘s novel adapted by Sarah Ruhl, performed at Court Theater. This layered work, chronological from Elizabethan times to present day, is overlaid with a dreamy narrative and gender bending/ changing … Continue reading →

Posted in gender, theater | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Elizabeth Taylor

Posted on March 23, 2011 by jyourist

Elizabeth Taylor died today. She was a cultural icon, Hollywood legend, and full-fledged, lifelong, American celebrity. I actually met her once. I used to teach at the Chicago Academy for the Arts, first as an art teacher and then as … Continue reading →

Posted in acting, aging, theater | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments