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Dating Pets Items for sale « 'Xanadu' tickets for $44. Happy now? | Main Place an ad Originally posted: February 26, 2009 SHOPPING Toneelgroep Amsterdam: Four riveting TRAFFIC

WEATHER stars

NEWS Local It's R-rated, video-infused, performed in Dutch, lasts three throbbing hours and ten Nation/World throbbing minutes and mediates on matters tragic. If you have a problem with any of Politics that quintet of particular qualities, stay away from the Toneelgroep Amsterdam's D.C. bureau astounding version of Eugene O'Neill's "Mourning Becomes Electra" and save a seat for someone who'll appreciate a revelatory and superbly performed show that, sadly, is Religion Education in Chicago only through Saturday night. Death notices NOW on the THEATER PAGE on CT.COM News obituaries Ivo van Hove, the director of Toneelgroep, is only just now developing the kind of Columnists stateside reputation that comes close to matching his talents: this contemporary 'OUR TOWN' AT LOOKINGGLASS: Ensemble members from David Special reports version of "Mourning Becomes Electra" is making its American premiere at the Schwimmer to Laura Eason to Joey Photos/Multimedia Goodman Theatre's O'Neill Festival . When and if it gets to New York, a gut-wrenching Dutch actress named Halina Reijn, who plays the Electra-esqe Lavinia, will blow those Slotnick reunite to stage the Thornton Corrections Wilder classic. | REVIEW Off topic up-tight Manhattan arty types half-way back across the Atlantic. FAREWELL TO 'WICKED': After three- plus years and 1,500 performances, the BLOGS "Mourning" was, of course, O'Neill's full-blooded, 1931 attempt to create an American, show that changed Chicago theater has chorus-free version of Greek tragedy. In this take on Aeschylus' "The Oresteia," O'Neill its final curtain. | VIDEOS, GRAPHICS, OPINIONS substitutes the New England House of Mannon for the House of Atreus and concocts a BEHIND THE SCENES typically over-the-top cocktail of sex, envy, adultery, matricide and inescapable guilt. BUSINESS EUGENE O'NEILL FEST: Our guide and reviews for the plays at the Goodman. SPORTS Hove sets the script in a neutral, fluid, high-tech environment. Lavinia and her brother REVIEW: 'Desire Under the Elms' ENTERTAINMENT Orin send instant messages to each other on Mac laptops. A whiteboard contains key Plus read dozens of READER REVIEWS plot developments. A handheld video camera zooms in on guilty faces. and comments, and a response from LIVING director ROBERT FALLS .

But remarkably, the production never feels gimmicky or pretentious. Nor does it imply TRAVEL WINTER 2009: Preview of what's current conceptual imposition. Instead, this uber-contemporary piece of Greek tragedy, twice and upcoming. | Plus TOURING SHOWS RESOURCES removed, unlocks O'Neill's experimental text, extrapolating the passion of the writing, Newsletters/alerts humanizing its rough edges, and boldly celebrating and clarifying its themes. Better 'XANADU': Forget the movie, it's time for the musical. | Plus VIDEO, REVIEW Mobile yet, thanks mostly to the quality of his actors, van Hove re-domesticates and re- from Drury Lane Water Tower Place. RSS feeds personalizes this 78-year-old play, potentially horrifying any woman who knows all too MyNews well that she is on her way to becoming her mother. And any man who has to watch. NOW ON STAGE: Check out a Send a news tip Metromix slideshow of current theater productions. (K. Todd Freeman, left, in Site map Fans of the theatrical avant-garde will see echoes of Anne Bogart (in the movement, Complicite (in the emotional intensity of the actors), and the Elevator Repair Service's "Art.") NEWSPAPER "Gatz" (in the detailed use of business attire and monochromatic, office-like setting),

SERVICES But in its earthy passion, spiritedness and gutsy sexuality, the show is unmistakably Today's paper Dutch. Subscribe now Need Theater Tickets? Subscriber Initially bottled up like an over-shaken Heineken and strapped down like a john in Amsterdam's Red Light district, Reijn affects the most amazing physical transformation Search by play or musical Big Shows Advantage name Tribune Store between acts two and three, as the thrill and horror of murder unlocks her character's Chicago - The Musical Xanadu Vacation hold terrifying juices. She is a sight to see and hear. Mary Poppins Delivery issue Find Tickets! And many more... Pay bill Reign surrounded by a fine supporting cast from Amsterdam, including Eelco Smits, About us Janni Goslinga and, especially, the grimly sensual Hans Kesting, who plays the Contact us paternal object of Lavina's terrifying attentions and who sets all this familial Euro-panic in gripping motion. Archives CHRIS JONES RECOMMENDS News in education • "America: All Better!" Open run at Second City

• "Brother, Can You Spare Some Change?" Open run at Second City e.t.c. Be the first to rate this [?] • "Desire Under the Elms" Recommended for you: Through March 1 at the Goodman Theatre

Goodman Theatre's Eugene O'Neill festival is a global exploration of the • "Don't Dress for Dinner" 1/2 Through March 1 at the Royal George Theatre playwright's work (@chicagotribune.com - Living) • "Dying City" New York Stage: Nothing Feels Real In 'Mourning Becomes Through March 8 at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, Electra' (@chicagotribune.com) Evanston

Eugene O'Neill, the Goodman, Chicago and America (@chicagotribune.com - • "Great Falls" Through March 1 at Profiles Theatre Living) 2 more recommended posts » • "I Gotcha" 1/2 Open run at Black Ensemble Theater | Permalink • "Jersey Boys" Open run at the Bank of America Theatre

Comments • "The Little Foxes" 1/2 Through March 8 at the Greenhouse Theater Center

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Post a comment • "Living Green" Through March 1 at the Victory Gardens Biograph Comments are not posted immediately. We review them first in • "Macbeth" an effort to remove foul language, commercial messages, Through March 8 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater irrelevancies and unfair attacks. Thank you for your patience. • "The Maids" Through April 5 at Writers' Theatre in Glencoe Name: • "Mariette in Ecstasy" Through April 5 at Lifeline Theatre

• "Million Dollar Quartet" 1/2 Email Address: Open run at the Apollo Theater

• "Miss Saigon" 1/2 Through March 8 at Drury Lane Oakbrook

URL: • "Old Glory" 1/2 Through March 29 at Writers' Theatre

• "Our Town" Through April 5 at Lookingglass Theatre

gfedc Remember personal info? • "Rod Blagojevich Superstar" Through March 18 at Second City e.t.c.

• "The Screwtape Letters" Comments: Through March 1 at Mercury Theatre

• "The Seafarer" 1/2 Through Feb. 22 at the Steppenwolf Theatre

• "topdog/underdog" 1/2 In rotating repertory with "True West," through March 8 at American Theater Company

• "The Unseen" Through March 1 at A Red Orchid Theatre • "Xanadu" Open run at Drury Lane Water Tower Place

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LAST 10 POSTS

• Toneelgroep Amsterdam: Four riveting stars • 'Xanadu' tickets for $44. Happy now? • Julia Sweeney is back at Lakeshore • About Face Theatre in serious trouble • Lifeline's 'Mariette in Ecstasy' a ripping good story • Chicago attorney lead producer of "Spiderman" • Ralph Covert musical postponed • Glorious warmth, but House’s 'Rose and Rime' fairy tale needs truth • Schwimmer the emotional core of 'Our Town' in search of a small town • Black Ensemble adjusts plans for new theater

Most Popular ‘Screwtape's’ surprise success (rated 5.0 by 8 people) 'Mariette in Ecstasy' a ripping good story (rated 5.0 by 7 people) Blagojevich is the hair apparent in Second City's 'Superstar' (rated 4.88 by 9 people) Legal fight engulfs Jam Theatricals (rated 4.8 by 5 people) 'Old Glory' at Writers': Story of son's death won't let you off the hook (rated 4.57 by 11 people) [?]

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