Actor David Strathairn on stage through November 11 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater portraying Jan Karski, a Polish resistance fighter and diplomat during World War II. WTTW News asked him about his portrayal of this true-life hero.
James Konicek (Left) and Emily Townley (Right) in “The Amateurs.” Photo by Castracane Photography.
It is eerie to remember that just one year ago, on March 8, 2020, I went to review “The Amateurs” at the Olney Theatre Center. I attended with a close friend and fellow theatre buff. We did note that Montgomery County, where the theater is located, had recorded a few isolated cases of Covid-19. There were some empty seats that might have been attributed to the small outbreak and some people’s reluctance to go into an enclosed building and sit next to strangers. The play focused on an acting troupe that performed Morality Plays during “The Black Death,” or bubonic plague, the scourge of Europe in the Middle Ages. It illustrated how they, and other populations, dealt with the disease.