Latest news with #Bust
Chicago Tribune
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
What to do in Chicago: Polish Parade, Japanese Breakfast and May the 4th Be With You
Chicago Polish Constitution Parade: The streets of Chicago will be draped in red and white as one of the oldest and largest parades in the city steps off this weekend. This year's theme celebrates the 1,000th anniversary of the coronation of the first Polish king. More events celebrating Polish culture will be held throughout the weekend. 11:30 a.m. May 3 on Columbus Drive, between Balbo Drive and Monroe Street; more details on the free parade and related events at Japanese Breakfast: A bounty of indie shows roll into town this week, starting with Japanese Breakfast. In March, the band released its fourth album, 'For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women).' 7 p.m. May 2 at Salt Shed, 1357 N. State St.; tickets from $59.50 at Lucy Dacus: Following on the new album, 'Forever Is a Feeling,' Lucy Dacus performs at the Chicago Theatre. Perhaps best known as part of the Grammy-winning band Boygenius, Dacus is an indie powerhouse in her own right. Katie Gavin will also perform. 7:30 p.m. May 2 at the Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St.; tickets from $69.50 at Kevin Kaarl: Maybe you heard the buzz about Kevin Kaarl's 2024 Coachella performance. Or his 'Tiny Desk' concert on NPR. The introspective indie-folk star, originally from Northern Mexico, brings his world tour to the Salt Shed. One show is already sold out, so don't wait. 7 p.m. May 4-5 at Salt Shed, 1357 N. Elston Ave.; tickets $50 at Laura Peek: You've got four more chances this weekend to see comedian Laura Peek. Her self-deprecating brand of standup is so relatable that it might just distract you from how well it's written. 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. May 2-3 at Zanies Chicago, 1548 N. Wells St.; tickets $30 (ages 21+; two-item minimum) at 'Bust': Zora Howard's 'Bust' centers on a police confrontation that ends when a Black man simply vanishes. A Tribune review says, 'Howard really hits a chord: She's writing about anger and trauma, for sure, but also about the perennial dilemma as to whether to engage and struggle, politically and within a family, or disengage for greener pastures.' A timely piece, to be sure. Through May 18 at Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.; tickets $25-$85 at South Chicago Dance Theatre: Deemed 'the next big thing to hit Chicago's dance scene,' in a 2022 Tribune story, the South Chicago Dance Theatre continues to thrive. Catch their performance of 'In/Within' this weekend. 7:30 p.m. May 3 at Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive; tickets from $39 at 'Star Wars' Day: May the 4th be with you! Sure, you can stream the entirety of 'Star Wars' at home, but it's better in a theater. Head to Patio Theater for a double feature of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' and 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.' (Yeah, OK, admittedly not the most logical double feature, but they're both strong installments.) Get there early to meet characters and play games. 1-8 p.m. at Patio Theater, 6008 W. Irving Park Road; tickets $11.20 at Best Buddies Friendship Walk: Support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities by participating in the Best Buddies Friendship Walk. So far, the charity has raised about half of its local goal of $142,500. Proceeds will go to programs designed to end the social, physical and economic isolation of those with Down syndrome, autism and other developmental disabilities. Noon May 4 at Soldier Field, 1410 Special Olympics Drive; more details at Chicago Farmers Markets: 'Tis the season to get out of the supermarket. Lincoln Park's Green City Market is already open, and several other farmers markets begin this week — including those in the West Loop, Wicker Park, Pilsen, Beverly Hills and Lincoln Square. During high season, you can find a farmers market somewhere in the city on every day of the week. Various dates and locations; more at
Chicago Tribune
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Review: ‘Bust' at the Goodman Theatre begins with a leap of imagination
A Black man finds himself in confrontation with the police as anxious neighbors watch from their apartment, horrified at the escalating confrontation, grabbing their phones to document what is happening. A crescendo begins to rise as if this all-too-familiar event will end with violence as so many others have. But then there's a flash and bang and the man disappears into thin air. No one knows where he went. He didn't run off. He just seems to have vanished as if by magic, leaving the police officers scratching their heads, perplexed by what just happened. When you watch that intriguing opening scene of Zora Howard's 'Bust,' an accomplished new play produced at the Goodman Theatre in concert with both the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta and the commercial producer Sonia Friedman, what shoots into your head is how skillfully this gifted writer has come up with a metaphor for a solution to this most vexing and dangerous of ubiquitous American confrontations; if one of what typically are two angry parties could immediately be transported out of the situation, as if by a 'Star Trek'-like teleporter, lives would be saved. Mysteries deepen as 'Bust' progresses, and we learn that these magical disappearances are not limited to one occurrence. Before the end of this two-hour play, Howard has revealed the destination, too, evoking the famous 'Somewhere' number in 'West Side Story,' broadening her themes to explore not just a notable method of violence-interruption but the danger of pent-up anger and bottled-up feelings, all in service of the truth that shootings traumatize not just those directly involved, but the witnesses and the entire community. And that confrontations with unintended consequences create an endless cycle of repetition and pain. That description makes 'Bust' sound like a heavy night of theater, which is not entirely incorrect. But Howard strives to leaven the experience with comedy, whether that flows from the exuberant spirits of Reggie (Ray Anthony Thomas) and Retta (the especially excellent Caroline Stefanie Clay) watching the confrontation, or the slew of mostly young high schoolers (variously played by Bernard Gilbert, Victoria Omoregie, Ivan Cecil Walks and Renika Williams-Blutcher) wondering about this disappearance thing, only to find that Reggie and Retta's grandson, Trent (Cecil Blutcher), might also be a candidate for finding his way to the other side. 'Bust' is one of several dramatic works (such as 'Pass Over' and the opera 'Blue') written about police shootings that were first developed during the pandemic, post-George Floyd era, a time of trauma and unrest when few Black writers in the nonprofit American theater felt inclined to be fair to police. And, indeed, the white officer here (played by Mark Bedard) is a stereotype of a racist Alabama cop, sans a reasonable bone in his body. His immigrant partner, Ramirez (Jorge Luna) is also somewhat stereotypically drawn, replete with concern for his large family, unease with his job and other standard-issue tropes that I'm not convinced most Latino cops would appreciate. The play's Black characters are drawn with diversity, vivacity and, above all, complexity. I'd argue 'Bust' would be a yet better play if it threw out those stereotypes and created complex figures from those cops. For example, the play seems to either not know or not care how often police officers act out of fear, justified or not, for their personal safety, especially when they don't know someone's location. As any clear-eyed specialist in these matters will tell you, that often explains why things go so terribly wrong. 'Bust' just treats these cops as either expediently trying to keep their job (the Latino officer) or being aggressively racist (the white officer). What a play this would be if had the courage to eschew such melodrama. It might really have the capacity to make an even bigger impact. Director Lileana Blain-Cruz's production is an exuberant and exciting affair, although the set sometimes gets in the way of the power of the work, sending the actors upstage or trapping them in a raised box in the work's most primal moments. The performances are very much present and alive and that serves to reflect the play's notion that vibrant Black life gets assaulted from without. But when the scenes set in a familiar landscape feel so heightened as to not be truthful, which happens occasionally, that diminishes the power of the semi-mythical landscape the play posits as balm and a salve for the Black soul. It other words, too much of a departure from reality diminishes the crucial contrast with the other side, the somewhere, wherein lies Howard's most potent political observation and artistic longing lies. That could and should be fixed. Act 2 of 'Bust' is mostly excellent, especially the scenes where the actor Keith Randolph Smith, who I've admired for decades, lays out the price always paid by Black Americans, whether engaged in an assaultive world or choosing to inhabit somewhere different, somewhere of their own design. Therein, Howard really hits a chord: She's writing about anger and trauma, for sure, but also about the perennial dilemma as to whether to engage and struggle, politically and within a family, or disengage for greener personal pastures. Who has not wondered about that? Chris Jones is a Tribune critic. cjones5@ When: Through May 18 Where: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.
