Displaying items by tag: Kristin Collins

The Artistic Home’s U.S. premiere of this 2024 revival by Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, “The Sugar Wife” is intellectually engaging but rather unemotional given its subject lines: marital infidelity, slavery, sexploitation, hypocrisy. Perhaps that goes with its Quaker storyline, a denomination known for an ascetic simplicity and rigorous moral discernment before engaging in action.

Set in 1850, the 2006 script by Elizabeth Kuti revolves around the internal moral struggles of Hannah Tewkley (Annie Hogan), who has married the wealthy Samuel Tewkley (Todd Wojcik), a merchant whose fortune is in sugar and tea. The sugar trade, in Hannah’s view, is contaminated by its reliance on slave labor for production. So in their marriage pact, Hannah has required that Samuel source sugar cane only from “ethical” sources not involving slavery.

Hannah is a morally upstanding Quaker, who now has the wherewithal to fund charities, visit the poor and offer assistance for their betterment, tutoring in reading, for example. But the poor starving Irish (the famine was at its height) really just want food and money. This sentiment is embodied by Martha Ryan (Kristin Collins is the liveliest performer on stage).

From left: Ashayla Calvin, Kristin Collins and Annie Hogan

Ill and wrapped in a blanket on her cot, Ryan rises to challenge Hannah for something more useful than moral improvement, like cash. This scene presents the conflict inherent in dispensing one’s own vision of benefit to parties seeking something more essential to their lives. Ryan gives Collins the insolence and quick Irish wit of which we wish there were more on stage.

The plot, what there is of it, thickens with the arrival of Alfred Darby (John LaFlamboy), a British philanthropist, accompanying Sarah Worth (Ashayla Calvin), a former slave who is on a speaking tour relating the evils of the slave trade. But we learn along the way Alfred has been disinherited from his family’s wealth, and now relies on Sarah’s speaking fees. Alfred takes public credit for buying Sarah’s freedom, but she has entered a different kind of enslavement as the breadwinner for the duo, who reside with the Tewkley’s during this speaking stint.

In a notably precise dive into Quaker matters, Alfred challenges Hannah about the small fortune she spent remodeling the mansion she inhabits with Samuel. She has stripped out all the moulding and embellishments, including a gilded mirror, in the interest in creating a more spare interior, in keeping with her Quaker values. But such an action can be frowned upon in Quaker circles, looking more like virtue signalling since that money might have been used for a social good.

Samuel meanwhile confesses to Alfred, man to man, that he has been untrue, and that, occasionally, he must buy sugar cane from slaveholders to keep his mills operating. He keeps these matters quiet from Hannah. Eventually this and more dirty laundry surfaces among the players, each of them, including Sarah, with something untoward to confess. Despite skillful direction and scenic design by Kevin Hagan, and truly great costumes by Rachel Lambert, it's a slow grind through what is essentially a melodrama, to get to the bottom of it all. At which point we see the light, but with very little heat.

“The Sugar Wife” is recommended, if only because The Artistic Home deserves support for its ordinarily better script selection. “The Sugar Wife” runs through May 3, 2026 at Chicago’s Theater Wit.

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

“You can’t raise kids without hope.” says terminally pessimistic Arthur Pryszbyszewski in Tracy Letts’ 2008 play “Superior Donuts” now running at The Artistic Home at The Den Theatre. Directed by Artistic Home ensemble member John Mossman, “Superior Donuts” tells an authentic Chicago story in the cozy kind of theater our city is known for.

Originally produced by Steppenwolf on the heels of Letts’ Pulitzer Prize landmark “August: Osage County”, this play feels almost lighthearted by comparison. “Superior Donuts” swaps the blues of the Oklahoma plains for the desperation of Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, before the Target opened on Wilson.

Arthur Pryszbyszewski, impeccably played by Scott Westerman, is a complicated, introverted middle aged man who’s devoted himself to keeping the family donut shop in business long after its heyday. One morning he finds his shop vandalized and in walks Franco, a young man with big dreams but even bigger debts. Franco is an aspiring novelist with no shortage of things to say on virtually every topic. His stream of conscious babble eventually helps Arthur open up.

Letts’ has a real knack for gritty stories, but what he does especially well is cleanly written scenes. Playwriting doesn’t have to be complicated. “Superior Donuts” excels much like his other work in that each characters’ desires and disappointments are clearly laid out. You’re never wondering what the point of a scene is. That is to say, Letts never leads you into the weeds.

In two briskly paced acts, “Superior Donuts” is both a male-driven comedy and a hard-hitting drama. Letts explores what happens to neighborhoods when small businesses close. You don’t just lose the business; you lose pillars of neighborhoods. Arthur is a reluctant pillar but his paternal affection for Franco becomes his greatest achievement.

Featuring a cast of Artistic Home ensemble and newcomers, Mossman's’ production is stacked. John N. Williams is well suited to the awkward but endearing Franco. Ensemble member Kristin Collins plays CPD officer Randy Osteen, Arthur’s burgeoning love interest. Collins’ Chicago accent and mannerisms are incredibly comforting.

“Superior Donuts” is not only a love letter to Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood but also a world you don’t mind spending a little more time in. In fact, it was adapted into a relatively successful CBS tv series in 2010.

Artistic Home reinterprets “Superior Donuts” at a time when Uptown has more or less been gentrified. No longer on the cusp as depicted in the play. In 2025, it feels more like a heartwarming period piece that true Chicagoans will fondly remember.

Through December 6 at Artistic Home at The Den Theatre. 1331 N Milwaukee Ave. 773-697-3830 

Strawdog theatre begins its 2017-2018, 30th Anniversary Season with a Chicago Premiere of Barbecue by Robert O’Hara. Barbecue is performed at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre as a LookOut Visiting Company.

In Strawdog’s Barbecue, a spirited trailer trash family is having a summer barbecue with an ulterior motive in mind: they want one of theirs, Barbara, to get help for her drug and alcohol problems. The most reasonable of them came up with the perfect rehab solution and wants other siblings to chime in. Squabbling around, as they normally do, smoking, drinking and calling each other names, the siblings can’t quite agree on most things except that their sister is an embarrassment to the whole family and definitely needs an intervention. They try to be considerate too, especially since the rehab might give Barbara “freezer burn”.

Without giving away too much, let’s just say that midway through the first Act there’s an intriguing race switch. The switching back and forth between the two races adds a fascinating dimension to the story and infuses the play with another cultural language; and plus, it’s cool to watch.

When Barbara finally shows up at the barbecue, everyone’s ready, albeit with a taser to subdue her if necessary. Taking turns, they present their arguments (mostly made up stories) to their bound and gagged sister, while making interesting bets for the outcome.

Robert O’Hara has such a great way with words; his characters are hilarious and wacky, they’re a fun bunch that’s keeping it real and holds nothing back. Director Damon Kiely chose a marvelously talented cast for the play that includes Strawdog Ensemble Members John Henry Roberts and Kamille Dawkins with guest artists Kristin Collins, Celeste Cooper, Anita Deely, Barbara Figgins, Deanna Reed Foster, Abby Pierce, Terence Simms and Ginneh Thomas. Minimalist set (set designer Joanna Iwanicka, props designer Leah Hummel) is to the point and doesn’t detract from the action on stage.

Act One ends with an unexpected twist. After the intermission, there’re more twists, the order of things gets changed, and the characters are propelled to fame and fortune. Enter Hollywood, wised up Barbara, a black movie star, and the race switch now makes sense. Second act’s takeaway message: “Everything is bullshit”. After all, life is all but a stage.

Barbecue is highly recommended and is being performed through September 30th. For more show information visit www.strawdog.org.