Goodman Theater Chgo 7/7/22

  LIFE AFTER –  Goodman Theater, Chgo. 170 N Dearborn St., (312) 443-3800,  goodmantheatre.org     

Yes, everyone needs to wear a mask – audience/workers, etc. except for the performers! No, you do not have to show your vaccination card.  

Review: LIFE AFTER at Goodman Theatre

LIFE AFTER –  Goodman Theatre’s ensemble brings the story of 16-year-old Alice, who mourns the sudden loss of her father, to life in a visceral and touching production. Alice’s head as she contemplates her life in the wake of this tragedy. Johnson’s songs for the Furies and the other characters also magnificently capture the many layers to grief and its intertwining with anxiety. I am extremely fortunate to not yet have suffered a loss as great as the one Alice experiences in the show, but I found the portrayal of her anxiety and her circling of “What if?” questions highly, highly relatable. The number “Control What You Can” represents this energy so precisely, as Alice grapples with her anxiety over whether she’s to blame for her father’s death after he’s in an accident the night after they have an argument. By contrast, Alice’s father himself was a motivational speaker who specifically encouraged people to control what they can and let go of what they cannot. It’s a really beautiful layer that Johnson builds into the piece: Alice’s father Frank spent his career trying to provide Alice and others with the very tools to survive what she’s now experiencing.

It is great to be back in Chicago to enjoy plays at the theaters, due to Covid-19 it been almost two years.   Liking every moment of the experience at the different theaters.

Q-tips say: We enjoyed the play Life After.   Mrs. Q says: Think about the  “What if’s” but don’t to remember the bottom of the line, “Always remember the good times.”

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