Chicago is a theater town. Lots of great little storefront theaters dotted all along the EL line in the City. It's a good town to do edgy, creative work, and great place to be an actor. You can get around without a car. And all those little edgy storefront theaters do lots of cool and edgy work.
You don't necessarily make lots of money doing this kind of theater, but you get to do the "real deal" work. I've seen some amazing shows over the years. Name actors and no name actors; big companies and little tiny one-off companies too.
On Friday, we went to see Mary Archie's superb production of "Superior Donuts." It's a Chicago-based play, produced by a great little Chicago theater company. A perfect match of form and content. The Mary Archie space at Angel Island is the perfect, funky little black box theater conveniently located above liquor store. And there's not a bad seat in the place. You are right there in an intimate conversation with a great theater company doing great work.
The set of Superior Donuts transforms the space into a run-down little donut shop. And then the actors fill it up with an amazing display of live, in the moment acting. The play comes alive. It's a play about a run-down, beat-up neighborhood not that far from where the theater sits.
Great performances all around. And it is especially gratifying to see Richard Cotovsky and Karl Potthoff rolling up their sleeves and doing that real, sweaty, powerful Chicago acting we've come to love. Thrilling and cool. And no bullshit. The good work!