Review: Theater Oobleck’s It Is Magic Reveals the Curse of Auditions and a Few Surprises As Well
Every once in a while, some magic happens in a theater. And it’s just as likely to be a storefront or a church basement or a former school as a […]
Nancy S. Bishop is publisher and Stages editor of Third Coast Review. She’s a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and a 2014 Fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. You can read her personal writing on pop culture at nancybishopsjournal.com, and follow her on Twitter @nsbishop. She also writes about film, books, art, architecture and design.
Review: Trap Door’s The Killer Perplexes, But That’s Why It’s Called Theater of the Absurd
The Architect (a nattily dressed Michael Mejia) welcomes a slightly frazzled Bèrenger (Dennis Bisto) for a tour of the Radiant City. It’s a paradise where everything is quiet, sunny, green, […]
Preview: Chicago Writers Bloc New Plays Festival Opens June 4
The 2019 Chicago Writers Bloc New Plays Festival will feature staged readings of 19 new plays by 14 Chicago-area playwrights. Presentations will take place at 7:30pm each Monday, Tuesday and […]
Review: Stonewall Exhibit at Wrightwood 659 Celebrates Queer Art and “Trans-ness:” We Are Many Things at Once
About Face: Stonewall, Revolt and New Queer Art commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a spontaneous rebellion by gay activists after a police raid on a gay bar […]
Review: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at Lookingglass Tells a Dazzling Creature Origin Story
Last year was the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s landmark horror novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, which explains why we have been able to see four different […]
Review: Vaclav Havel’s The Memo at Organic Theater Portrays Government as Farce With Fedoras
The overture begins: It’s the March of the File Folders, which might be titled the Office Supply Hustle. The cast of 11, smartly dressed in varieties of business garb, march […]
Review: Remy Bumppo’s Bloomsday Celebrates the Past and Future, Complete with Pints of Regret
It’s early June in Dublin—almost Bloomsday. The time is today and 35 years ago. But whatever year it is, Bloomsday, celebrated on June 16, is a reason to lift a […]
Review: Saul Bellow Would Approve of Court Theatre’s Exhilarating Production of The Adventures of Augie March
If you believe in heaven or hell, then perhaps I can persuade you that Saul Bellow is viewing the current events at Court Theatre with approval. David Auburn’s adaptation of […]
Review: Killing Game at Red Orchid Is Thrilling, Creative … and Bizarre
Eugene Ionesco’s Killing Game is a thrilling and creative piece of staging and performance at A Red Orchid Theatre. Directed by Dado and featuring 13 formidable actors playing 108 parts, Killing Game takes […]
Review: At Raven Theatre, Will Hank’s Bar Survive The Undeniable Sound of Right Now?
First of all, there’s the bar. Jeffrey D. Kmiec’s design of Hank’s Bar is a classic and so realistic you will want to park on a stool and order a […]
Review: There Are No Children in The Children at Steppenwolf Theatre—It’s a Cautionary Tale
There are no children in Lucy Kirkwood’s play, The Children. The play’s storyline is built on “the disaster,” which we don’t learn the nature of immediately. The disaster was an explosion […]
Review: The Beats and WannaBeats on the Road in Mad Beat Hip & Gone at Promethean Theatre
We never actually meet Jack and Neal. They’re just off stage, just around the bend, at a booth in the corner of the bar. But the spirit and poetry of […]