Review: Titus Andronicus Up Close and Intense at Redtwist Theatre
The last time I saw Titus Andronicus, it was promenade-style, staged in the attic of an old Gilded Age mansion in Morgan Park. The audience walked through the play as […]
Review: Raven Theatre Creates a Sizzling Production of the Sam Shepard Masterwork, A Lie of the Mind
A Lie of the Mind, Sam Shepard’s 1983 play about two families and the tragedy that binds them, is a sizzling 2.5 hours of solid acting, direction and pacing. At […]
Review: At the Artistic Home, Hedda Gabler Tells the Story of a Flamboyant 19th Century Proto-Feminist
Was the heroine of Hedda Gabler an early feminist or just a spoiled brat? In the new production of Henrik Ibsen’s 1890 play, Brookelyn Hebert plays her as a bit of both. […]
Review: Joffrey Fills Its Golden Hour With Beauty and Delightfully Subversive Whimsy
The Joffrey Ballet continues to surprise audiences with innovation and superior technical prowess. Golden Hour, which opened Thursday at the Lyric Opera House, is a program of two dances from […]
Review: Broadway in Chicago’s Clue Pays Joyful Homage to the Original Classic Film and Board Game
There have been two murders at Boddy Manor, and the stakes have never been higher. Wadsworth, Yvette, and the dinner guests are becoming increasingly terrified, and no one quite knows […]
Review: Cirque du Soleil Brings the Secret Life of Bugs Colorfully Alive in Ovo
True confession. I was a nerdy kid who loved bugs. I collected caterpillars with colorful spikes on their heads. I would put them in shoeboxes to watch the egg, cocoon, […]
Review: Pinter’s Triangle Gets a Brisk Portrayal in Betrayal at Goodman Theatre
A triangle has three sides. But the three sides are not always equal, as we learn in maths. Or geometry, if you’re an American. And so it is in Betrayal, the […]
Review: Gwydion Theatre Revisits Ibsen’s Ghosts With an Uneven Production
One of the great things about plays from past centuries is that they can be restaged or updated in different eras, with different genders and colorblind casting. Shakespeare’s work lends […]
Review: Circus Quixote at Lookingglass Theatre Retells the Classic Knight’s Tale With Heart and Magic
After much too long a pause, Lookingglass is back. And with style. Circus Quixote, Lookingglass Theatre’s adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes’ classic novel, Don Quijote of La Mancha, is a […]
Review: Hubbard Street Dance’s Winter Series Is a Journey for the Senses
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is in its 47th year of cutting-edge performances and innovations in modern dance. The Winter Series at the Harris Theater Millennium Park opens with a dance that melds […]
Review: Steppenwolf’s Fool For Love Perfects Sam Shepard’s Haunting Work
The script of Sam Shepard’s romantic drama Fool For Love begins with the stage direction, “This play is be performed relentlessly, without a break.” The superb actors at Steppenwolf Theatre […]
Review: A Nuanced and Electric Performance from Complexions Contemporary Ballet
I have always viewed dance as an art of structure and discipline. Traditional ballet has an ethereal quality—tulle and tights with hands just so. Complexions Contemporary Ballet performed at the […]