AJ was so excited to see his Uncle yesterday that he was completely oblivious to the fact that we were leaving for the evening. Due to forecasts of inclement weather and the prospect of rush hour traffic without the benefit of express lanes, we elected to take the train downtown. This turned out to be a good choice, although while we raced past cars parked on the expressway we were forced to listen to a lawyer doing business at the end of the car. He was yelling so loudly into his cell phone that quite literally everyone in the car was staring at him. He, however, was oblivious and continued to rattle on about �confidential� this and �don�t let them know� that. I hope to God that if I ever need a lawyer he won�t be broadcasting our courtroom strategy to half the state of Illinois.

Upon our arrival, we hopped in a cab to one of our old haunts, the site of many pleasant dates, drinks and dinners with friends, and one particularly memorable lunch a few days after AJ was born. After downing a mighty strong martini at the bar, I sucked up a steaming crock of mussels and a salad before heading to the theater.

Before the theater:

Husband: Which one are we seeing again?
Harriet: Measure for Measure.
Husband: Which one is that?
Harriet: I think that�s the one in Vienna.
Husband: What happens?
Harriet: I really can�t remember (despite having once been an English major with a specialty in Renaissance drama, I constantly mix up the plots of the Shakespeare comedies.)
Husband: Oh, I know. It�s the one with the shipwreck.
Harriet: I don�t remember a shipwreck.
Husband: They all have shipwrecks.

And damned if he wasn�t right. When the Duke Vicentio, in disguise as a friar, began recounting the sad tale of Marianna and the shipwreck, I elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

The production was mediocre, but I enjoyed it because I don�t get out much. It was probably the weakest production I�ve ever seen from them. Two of the characters delivered all of their lines AT TOP VOLUME which, given the small size of the theater (and the fact that it was half empty), was totally unnecessary. The cabaret-ification of the bawdy house scenes was entertaining, mainly because Mistress Overdone was, strangely, one of few characters in the production who wasn�t overdone. She was done just right. But it seemed like shameful pandering to the audience. Still, the blending of music and drama has always been a strong suit of Chicago Shakespeare and this production pulled its weight in that area. Also irritating was Lucio, who was one of the most entertaining parts of the play despite the fact that he appeared to be acting the role of David Schwimmer as Lucio. An odd choice, to be sure. And then there was Will Clinger, the annoying host of the local PBS program �Wild Chicago� as Elbow. He was actually just fine, but I kept picturing him in a pith helmet. I�m not sure where in the run they are, but the production felt like it hadn�t quite gelled in that play-in-previews kind of way. Hopefully some of the kinks will be worked out soon. Given it�s themes of sexual harassment and abuse of power, Measure for Measure is just plain hard to watch. Shakespeare lays out the issues in a complex manner, but I didn�t feel this production gave much thought to how to present them with any kind of coherence. An opportunity to relate the play to contemporary life � something that shouldn�t have been too difficult � was lost.

We exited onto Navy Pier in a blast of snow. Our cab drove at a snail's pace, but we made our train in the nick of time. We were surrounded by opera-goers, who were critiquing the night's performance of Fidelio. I dozed off to the rhythm of the rails while listening to happy chatter of a pleasant evening.

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