[rating=4]There is nothing like “live ” theater and over the years, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company has brought some great stories to the stages they occupy. Many old classic and often, as they are doing right now, a Wolrd Premiere. The play is entitled “Galileo’s Daughter” and is a one act, 85 minute, production that tells a story about a woman, who in this case happens to be the playwright, Jessica Dickey, while pondering her impending divorce, goes to Florence to search for more information about the relationship between Galileo Galiel and his eldest daughter, Maria Celeste.In fact Ms Dickey’s character ( played to perfection by Linda Gillum) was so convincing, I was sure that we were actually watching the playwright tell her own story. This changed quickly as we were going back and forth through time, thus realizing that this had to be an actress playing her role.
The other two actors in this production are Chike Johnson as Galileo and others. He is quite a talent in that he changed characters at will and even with the slightest of alterations in his costume or mannerism, convinced me that he was indeed a different and unique character. The daughter is played by Emily Bosco who offers a breath of fresh air as she departs to the Convent for safety during the Spanish Inquisition.
Smoothly directed by Marti Lyons on a simple, but efficient set (Yeaji Kim) with great projections (John Boesche), the audience is swept into the story and the actors hold our attention with great ease. I know that under 90 minutes seems easy to keep focus on, but there are many people who cannot get into a story quickly and if they do not, 90 minutes can seem like an eternity. This production worked.
Christopher Kriz’ssound and original music added a great deal to the mood of the story and the lighting by Becca Jeffords was perfect. The costumes (Finnegan Chu) and the props (Amanda Herrmann) along with the movement designer(Sarah Ellen Miller) and the intimacy designer/choreographer (Greg Geffrard) all tied the pieces together.
Again, the story is about finding answers, and as we see during the play, we find that the writer is seeking more than the answers of Galileo with his daughter, but in fact, what the writer herself is looking for. Slowly we see where she is headed, but at the same time, she finds what she is seeking, on both counts, giving us a very happy ending to what might appear to be a boring topic for a play to be about. Even the telescope and the use of becomes more interesting as a tool of life.
Do not let the title sway your decision to see this play. This is a highly romantic story with, as I said, an ending that will be pleasing to the audience members.
“Galileo’s Daughter” will continue thru May 14th at Theater Wit ( Theater two) with performances as follows:
Thursdays 7:30pm On May 11th 2:30 p.m. performanceFridays 7:30pm
Saturdays 2:20 p.m. and 7:30pm
Sundays 2:30pm
Run time 90 minutes- no intermission
POST SHOW DISCUSSIONS: Sunday and Thursday performances
Audio Description/touch-tour Saturday, April 22nd at 2:30 p.m.
Open Caption Performance April 29th (Saturday) 2:30 p.m.
Show Type: Drama
Box Office: 773-975-8150
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Galileo’s Daughters”.
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