Chopin Theatre Studio (Chicago, IL)
Stanley Webber, a retired pianist, is leading a quiet life in a seaside boarding house until two strangers roll into town. What is supposed to be a birthday celebration for Stanley quickly turns into a dark nightmare after a few glasses of whiskey and a game of blindman's bluff.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
* Additional fees apply.
All offers for The Birthday Party have expired.
Tell me when more tickets / dates are added
The last date listed for The Birthday Party was Saturday August 30, 2008 / 8:00pm. (view all dates)
Most Popular Theater Event Nearby:
Funny Girl revolves around Ziegfeld comedienne Fanny Brice and her rise to fame in the early '20s. Told mostly in flashbacks, the musical shows her from the start as a gawky Brooklyn teen, fast-talking her way into show business and her first triumph in the Zeigfeld Follies, to becoming the toast of New York, to the unraveling of her personal life and marriage to gangster Nick Arnstein. Learn More
A sophisticated production of Pinter's important play. The acting is first rate.
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY IS A WINNER!
I went to this show as a civilian. I had no pen and pad ready to scrounge for costumes that don’t fit, mishaps or cracking voices. I was so overwhelmed by the performances and the chilling effect of this work I simply had to raise my voice, The Birthday Party, Harold Pinter’s most revealing work, performed by the Signal Theatre is brilliant.
Like much of Pinter’s work it starts in the home of a family as innocent and adorable as an Andy Capp car toon. Meg (Mary O’Dowd) is a Donna Reed look alike. She wakes up every morning dressed to the nines to cook breakfast for Petey (Vincent L. Lonergan) and their boarder, Stanley (Joseph Stearns). Their lives are very simple. Meg’s life revolves around stocking the kitchen with “Corun flakes,” and asking “Are they nice?” as the recipients take a taste of the crunchy cereal and spoiled milk she pours over them.
Petey informs her that they should be expecting two more gentleman boarders. After her husband leaves, and Stan is ready to go back up to his room, she asks if she can go back upstairs with him. She tries her best to arouse his interest but can’t. When she informs him that two men will be coming to stay he’s instantly panicked.
Soon the two men arrive. McCann (Philip Winston) is an Irishman who looks like a funeral director. Next to Mr. Goldberg (Will Shutz), who looks like a loveable teddy bear, he looks absolutely menacing. Stanley fears them but never says why.
Finally Meg returns with food for the evening and for a surprise birthday party for Stanley. It isn’t his birthday, and he actually wants to go to the local pub instead, but the new guests vehemently insist that he stay. If he goes he fears the worst possible scenario will play out, but if he stays, it will be just as bad, like in all Pinter works, we have no place to hide from our biggest fears.
Scenic designer Melania Lancy creates a bright cheery home for Meg and Petey. Dialect Elise Kauzlaric encourages a variance of British inflection that heightens the sense of outside forces always looming, ready to swoop in and destroy.
Unfortunately this play will only run for another week, but it’s certainly something to juggle your busy schedule over. The Birthday Party is a thought-provoking, nightmarish work. Director Aaron Snook gives the audience nothing to hold onto as they witness their most terrifying suspicions materialized before their eyes.
THE ACTING WAS VERY, VERY GOOD. ESPECIALLY WITH THE BRITISH ACCENTS. ALL THE ACTORS DID A SUPERB JOB. THE STORY LINE WAS A LITTLE CONFUSING. WE ALL LOVED THE ACTING BUT WE ALL WEREN'T SURE WHAT HAPPENED IN THE END. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME WE'VE BEEN TO THIS THEATER. THE SPACE IS VERY ECLECTIC, WITH THE THEATER BEING IN AN OLD BUILDING. WE WERE IN THE DOWNSTAIRS THEATER WHERE ALL THE SEATS HAVE AN EXCELLENT VIEW OF THE STAGE.
Wicker Park's beautiful white terra-cotta Chopin Theatre was built in 1918, and served as an anchor of Chicago's Polish community for years. Now owned by Zygmunt Dyrkacz, the off-Loop venue hosts a whopping 500 presentations per year on the main stage which seats up to 226 and the intimate black box studio which has room for 100.
Arrive early and enjoy what the Chicago Tribune calls the Most Cha
Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter seems to be on everyone's minds in these politically charged days, from Mary Arrchie's acclaimed revival of The Caretaker to the Broadway blockbuster revival of The Homecoming. Experience how it all began as Signal Ensemble Theatre brings Pinter's first full-length play, The Birthday Party, to the Chopin stage.
Chock full of Pinter’s trademark mystery, wit and menace, The Birthday Party is the story of what happens when two mysterious men enter into the cozy seaside rooming house of Meg and Petey in search of their boarder, Stanley, a down-on-his-luck concert pianist.
One of the most complex modern dramatists, Harold Pinter has written for the commercial stage, radio, television, and film. He began his career as an actor, and in 1958, wrote his first full-length play for the stage, The Birthday Party, followed by The Caretaker (1960), A Slight Ache (1961), The Collection (1962), The Dwarfs (1963), and The Lover (1963). He followed these early successes with The Homecoming (1965), winning a Tony Award and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award.
Photo by Johnny Knight
Known for its ensemble acting and producing a diverse slate of plays that range from classics to new works, Signal Ensemble Theatre uses the actor as focal point to clearly execute the playwright's vision. Founded by its three artistic directors, the company began producing in 2003.