PART OF CHICAGO THEATRE WEEK 2018
“I thought the show was at 2!” Gwen said defensively, walking away from the box office counter. “Most matinees are at 2 or 2:30. Who starts a show at 3?”
“Well, what would we have done if it was at 2:30?” Eleanor asked.
“Wait around, I suppose,” Gwen strained. “What we’ll be doing now.”
Dania groaned, and fell into one of the cushioned benches in the lobby. “I have, like things I need to do today.”
PART OF CHICAGO THEATRE WEEK 2018
“But why ‘Viva La Vida?'” asked Gwen, as they exited the Prop Thtr’s claustrophilic theatre space. An instrumental cover of the song had played during the play’s final moments.
“Why not Viva La Vida?” Dania asked, with a grin. “They were playing current pop songs before the show started, it’s clearly not going for an accurate time period setting.”
“Do you mean in the design or in the aesthetic generally?” Eleanor asked. “Because the design was pretty classical, to a point.”
“Well, I mean,” Dania began, with a shrug. “Mr. Evil Voice had his big red monk robe, that was pretty accurate to the time period. As far as I know.”
Meet the Hanslick Girls: Gwen, Eleanor and Dania. Created by writer Zach Barr, they are a trio of friends who are always out experiencing the best of entertainment. Be it plays, films, concerts, exhibits, or games, they’ve learned that the arts are best when experienced together. They may not have the same opinions, but their conversations tend to make for an entertaining read. Today, the girls take in the newest play by the oldest social justice theatre troupe in Chicago. Let’s listen in on their conversation…
“But what if a pedestrian comes by?” asked Dania, glancing towards the window of the storyfront.
“They did, did you not notice?” Eleanor said. “There was this one guy, he was looking in through the window during the graffiti scene, trying to figure out what was happening. That’s kinda what happens in a storefront like this.”
“Storyfront,” Gwen added, insistently. “A name as clever as it is a terrible pun.”
—Originally published May 4, 2017—
Meet the Hanslick Girls: Gwen, Eleanor and Dania. Created by writer Zach Barr, they are a trio of Northwestern students who always go to see plays together. They may not have the same opinions, but their conversations tend to make for an entertaining read. Recently, the Girls saw “Fuente Ovejuna,” Susan E. Bowen and Kori Alston’s new adaptation of Lope de Vega’s 17th century play. Let’s hear what they had to say on their way back from the theater…
“I don’t know who any of those actors were,” Eleanor said as she walked into the dark outside the Barber Theatre.
Gwen followed close behind, through the revolving door. “A lot of them are new,” Gwen said. “It’s an MFA thing, where the directors cast a lot of new performers in their shows. It happened with Agamemnon back in January, remember?”
“I suppose,” Eleanor said. “I mean, the lead guy, the evil one, he’s been in things before, right?”
“Gómez? Or the romantic interest for Laurencia?”
The Hanslick Girls 