Nancy S Bishop
Review: Bill W. and Dr. Bob Is an Inspirational Play for Its AA Community
I was sitting in the lobby of the theater, waiting for the house to open. The lobby was crowded with people, chatting. A man came up to me and said, “Young […]
Review: Glitter & Doom Plays a Sugary Romance Against Indigo Girls’ Musical Background
Glitter & Doom is a musical romance between two young artists, one a sparkly circus performer (Alex Diaz as Glitter) and the other a melancholy singer/songwriter (Alan Cammish as Doom) […]
Review: At Goodman Theatre, The Penelopiad Reveals What Happened at Home While Odysseus Was on That Odyssey
You may have read Homer’s The Odyssey in high school or college. It’s the story of Odysseus, a great hero, his adventures and of course, his journey, or odyssey. But did you […]
Review: Pride Arts Stages Shakespeare’s R & J, the Classic Romance, With a New Kind of Magic
Four young women actors, dressed in today’s version of a parochial school uniform (of this, more later) mime a school day, beginning with their confessions. “Bless me, Father, for I have […]
Review: At American Blues, The Reclamation of Madison Hemings Tells the Story of Two of Jefferson’s Enslaved Laborers, One of Them His Son
Two middle-aged Black men, both formerly enslaved, visit Monticello the year after the Civil War ends. They’re not there as tourists to explore the majesty of Thomas Jefferson’s estate or […]
Review: Young People’s Theatre Tells Compelling New Version of The Diary of Anne Frank
The story of Anne Frank is a familiar one. The expressive teenager, who was sequestered with her family in WWII Amsterdam to protect them from Nazi capture, has been famous […]
Review: Puzzle Design Exhibit Encourages Playfulness and Exploration at Design Museum
SOLVE: Puzzle Design Exhibit at the Design Museum of Chicago offers a bevy of viewable and interactive puzzles and puzzling games. The exhibit, which may appear to be of modest size […]
Review: Red Orchid’s In Quietness Presents a Puzzling Story About Marriage and Conservative Religion
In Quietness at A Red Orchid Theatre asks a lot of its audience, especially an urban liberal (most likely) audience. The play pits feminism against fundamentalist religion. It asks us to believe […]
Review: How Will the World End? Fire, Ice or Water? In Flood at Shattered Globe, the Answer Is Water
Shattered Globe Theatre’s new play, Flood, is about family issues—parents who don’t understand their children, children who never call home, elderly parents who ignore the realities of today’s world. There may […]
Review: Mother Courage at Trap Door Theatre Brings Brecht’s Anti-War Rhetoric Home to the 21st Century
Bertolt Brecht’s 1939 play, Mother Courage and Her Children, is the greatest anti-war play of all time. Anti-war, anti-government and anti-capitalism, as we learn in the opening scene of this stirring […]
Preview: Count Down the Days (6!) to the 6th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival
A revolt of the animals to save the planet. The adventures of a marooned astronaut. The creation of an Afro-futurist Pinocchio. A monster who can’t scare a scaredycat. Urban youth […]
Review: An Artist/Photographer Analyzes the Wanderlust of Stray Shopping Carts
The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification By Julian Montague Second edition, 2023, University of Chicago Press Julian Montague published his first edition of The […]