since our return -part one

 OK so I have had horrible computer issues since we returned.  So I am dreadfully behind on posting- LO SIENTO!

My computer is still in limbo despite a week in the repair shop and $90 outlay it is still having the same problem! Luckily my very nice neighbor is lending me their internet connection. So I can catch up on all things internet. 

so off we go on part one of the catch up posting.  

Among my favorite plays in the last decade was one called Significant Other. It was written by Joshua Harmon. I laughed and I wept during Significant Other. It touched me in a way that art is intended to.  Tonight's play was also written by Joshua Harmon. Set in 2017 (after Trump's first election among a number of other events) The play explores a Parisian Jewish family's confrontation with direct antisemitism and after effects of the assault on their son.  Spoiler alert: they make a difficult decision to leave France despite having been in France for more than five generations and fully seeing themselves as French.  

This is a complex play - exploring family history through at least three generations at the same time it explores the history of antisemitism through the voices of nearly every character. The decision to leave the country they believed would always be their home is delineated through discussions, arguments, and interactions between various family  and extended family members. 

This is a very dialogue intensive play but it is not just an intellectual approach to thorny issues, it's an emotional one too. It is so incredibly topical with the reelection of Trump and also personal to Phil and me. We went through many of the same kinds of discussions in choosing to leave the country. 

At one point the father character says something to the effect of "we are all going to leave; either in a suitcase or a coffin." I highly recommend this play.  

Then - Lee & Nick came over for dinner. It was a simple meal. Skirt steak from the grill and two salads. A peach crostada for dessert. Hours of great conversation. #goodfriends #DinnerWithFriends

Then mother's day arrived. Happy Mother's Day (in memoriam)  to my mom (center) my aunt (left) my sister (on Dad's lap) and the Big Granny seated in front of me. I am the only living person of those pictured here. It's just plain strange, not upsetting because time marches on and they all live on in my memories of them, but strange nonetheless.

Then a night out for Chinese and we went to Chengdu Impression- Some, but not all, of the dishes we had for dinner that night. Needless to say we brought home at least one additional meal in leftovers.

Dinner at home one night - bonus: wine from the cellar. Still working down the 14 white burgs and the "aughts" of the red burgs.... Tomorrow we start the "welcome back" tour of favorite dining spots. In the nine days we've been in Chicago we have mostly eaten at home - first night we had pizza and my FAVORITE salad at Lou Malnati's. One night we grabbed a burger on the way to the theater and one night we had Szechuan at Chengdu Impressions. Then: coming up this week: Il Milanese and Bistro Campagne as well as carry-in sushi from Lawrence Fish Market (with friends). The welcome back list is long. Luckily we have many nights to work with.

Then, the welcome back tour began in earnest. Il Milanese was as we remembered and sooo good. Leftovers were lunch for a few days. The next night carry in  sushi with Leslie & Mike.  Then the following night Bistro Campagne. So many places and only four months to work through our list.

Welcome back tour continued the next night with dinner, ably served by our favorite artist Cat Powers. Menu items marked. We were halfway through the appetizers before the photos got taken.  It's still a favorite in the hood. I was especially happy with the truite amandine. Oh and the wine showed very well. (It's like a baby Beaune Clos des Mouches - declassified grapes)

so that brings us through the middle of May so we will go on to part two in another post. 

Jane Austen's EMMA @ Dead Writer's

so our Friday night activity was a new theater venue (new to us) called Dead Writer's Theater.  We went to see Jane Austen's "Emma" - a book I loved (but not quite as much as Pride & Prejudice) and at least the third production of Austen we have seen.  We saw Sense & Sensibility at Northlight and Northanger Abbey at Remy Bumppo (both of those productions featured Greg Matthew Anderson, one of our favorite performers- see the post "a virtuoso performance" http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2012/04/virtuoso-performance.html for my review of his incredible Chesapeake)

In general I find Austen an entertaining evening- so I was predisposed to liking the play....and I did - however, I  thought the performance of Emma lacked subtlety - this Emma was too shallow and one didn't really see that she had another side that was not so meddlesome and know-it-all... and honestly I think Mr. Knightley could have been a touch more appealing as well.  I did think the young woman cast a Miss Smith was perfect in her minor role and several of the others were quite good (Mrs. Watson in particular did well in a secondary role)

overall I would say- if you are interested in this story rent the Emma version from Miramax films with Jeremy Northam as Knightley and Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma... there you will see a masterful and nuanced performance of the leads that sets a standard for dramatic productions of Austen's wonderful novel.

this was a new theater (773) for us - and the facility was excellent- and they have some really interesting things going on in the upcoming months - unfortunately we are out of town for the next two events of Dead Writers Collective-

the staging was also excellent- and made wonderful use of limited set space in creating many many different scenes as the year long action took place...

and the JASNA folks gave us another bookmark (we got one from the Northanger Abbey play at Remy Bumppo I believe- or perhaps it was Sense & Sensibility at Northlight- LOL)

the cast-

so our evening of entertainment brought several good laughs and a touching moment or two... but this was not in my opinion "must see" the way say "The North China Lover" was at Lookingglass or "The City and the City" was at Lifeline - or even "Concerning Strange Devices from the West" was at Time Line...

however I am intrigued by their upcoming works and so will probably stay in the loop of information on their productions.