Now Playing!

For those of you who think sociology is just in the books and articles assigned for you to read, think again. Sociological topics and reports are now being transformed into plays! A rare occurrence, yet it seems that the effects of dangerous weather have come to grab our attention. Sure, we all heard about Hurricane Katrina and the 3 feet of snow that fell this winter, but we read about the Chicago Heat Wave in 1995 just weeks ago.

If you’re planning on visiting Chicago over Spring Break, why not stop by and see the new play adapted from Eric Klinenberg’s book? Too afraid it will be like studying on your day off? Well, not really. Steven Simoncic (screenplay writer) claims that his adaptation is “unique in that it uses nonfiction reporting as a jumping-off point for fictional dramatization.” Simoncic claims “I didn’t want to put Mayor Daley on stage. I imagined ordinary characters and moments that might be happening at City Hall in the middle of the bureaucracy” (Time Out Chicago Review). Afraid it’s just going to be a couple people on stage, pretending to be hot? Not likely. A diverse company of actors, the visual spectacles on stage, and the “sonic environment” created to mimic the heat wave is designed to present a provocative look at Chicago in crisis. After all, Klinenberg’s book gives us an image of how Chicago’s racial fault lines crack, so it can’t be that boring.

Best of all, Heat Wave retains the complexity of the event and the diverse interpretations of what happened. Laura Beth Neilsen, legal scholar and blogger on Controlling Authority, gives it “two thumbs up!”