“Treasure Island” is one of those stories that has seeped into our culture. The way we picture pirates – those eye patches, peg legs, parrots and treasure maps – can be traced back to Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1888 novel. The book has been turned into dozens of plays, movies and cartoons, and now it’s getting […]
From the very first moment of “The White Snake,” it’s clear that we’re in Mary Zimmerman Land—a magical and beguiling world that’s familiar from previous plays by this renowned Evanston director. “The White Snake” at Goodman Theatre is classic Zimmerman: an ancient story brought to life on the stage with a light, playful touch. As […]
Water has a mysterious power in Mary Zimmerman’s “Metamorphoses.” The actors spend much of their time wading, floating, swimming, bathing and splashing in a swimming pool — not always for any logical reason that has anything to do with the action in the stories. The very presence of the water seems to heighten the yearning […]
Mary Zimmerman’s imagining of Voltaire’s “Candide,” with the score of Leonard Bernstein’s Broadway musical, opened at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago Sunday evening. It is a very fine show with a strong cast, plenty of laughs and, of course, superb songs. The first question about “Candide”—often done as an opera and rightly so—is who will […]
“Voltaire is a relatively recent writer for me to adapt,” says Tony Award-winning Director Mary Zimmerman. She was having lunch on the tiny outdoor balcony on the fourth floor of the Goodman Theatre during a rehearsal break for Goodman’s production of Leonard Bernstein’s Broadway musical “Candide,” based on the novella by Voltaire. The show […]
