NEIGHBORHOOD 3: Requisition of Doom
by Charles L. Mee
directed by Matt Hawkins
April 21, 2013
through May 25
Thursday, Friday & Saturday 8pm · Sunday 4pm
Tickets $28 ($18 student | $20 senior)
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RECOMMENDED … a comic, tragic, utterly terrific battle that makes The Taming of the Shrew look like the kid's stuff it essentially is. Matt Hawkins's staging is also terrific. The precisely choreographed cast of 30 (yes, 30) play for keeps—especially those in featured roles, such as the fierce Michaela Petro, the convincingly dangerous Shane Kenyon, the girly-girlish Sarah Goeden, and Stacy Stoltz and John Ferrick as gender warriors who find themselves caught behind enemy lines. Paul Fagen and Cheryl Roy float through in delightful character roles, and Mike Mroch's apparently simple set discloses its value as the show goes along. All in all, this Big Love is a marvel of big ensemble work in a tiny space.
— Chicago Reader |
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★★★ Hawkins, whose staging of Peter Barnes' Red Noses for Strawdog a few seasons ago was a sheer delight, again demonstrates his zesty ability to animate a large cast in a small space without losing focus on the small telling moments ... Pianist Dane Halvorson provides cunning accompaniment to a gaggle of pop love songs ... the performances are terrific from top to bottom, including John Henry Roberts' Piero, the owner of the Italian villa who finds his attempts to help the women thwarted by realpolitik, and Cheryl Roy as Bella, the Italian matriarch …
— Chicago Tribune |
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People who would like this show are people who like being free, being in love, and flip-up sunglasses. People should go and see this show because it is funny but also very serious. It has a great set (by Mike Mroch) that is pretty and deadly. The costumes (by Brittany Dee Bodley) are amazing. The wedding dresses are pretty when you first see them and then they start to get creepy; they reminded me of ghosts. The acting is fantastic. It made me think that I am not going to let anyone make me marry anyone. Period.
— Ada Grey Reviews For You |
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The term “battle of the sexes” gets a whole new meaning when a group of brides-to-be on the run from the
altar face down their jilted grooms at an Italian villa. Strawdog Artistic Associate Matt Hawkins, director
of The House Theatre’s Cyrano and Strawdog’s award-winning smash hit Red Noses returns (triumphantly)
to our mainstage with Mee’s poetic, madcap riff on love, violence and gender roles.
Want to prep for the show? Download the Big Love Study Guide to learn up on Charles Mee's ideas on "original" work, Aeschylus and other Greeks, inspiration for our set, and more.
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Photo courtesy of
Sarah-Ji Photography
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