Review: Female, Ashkenazi With a Sewing Machine Tells a Story of Love and Illness
This oddly named play is a love story as well as the drama of a serious health risk faced by many women. Rather than treating it in documentary style, its […]
Review: Sentinels Tracks Women Supporting Women in Secret
In the world of gender dualities, a playground finds boys competing at physical games while girls chat and jump rope. Sentinels, which just ended a short run in a co-production […]
Review: Music Theater Works’ Fiddler on the Roof Hits the Right Notes—If Not New Ones
Based on the city’s north side and staged at Skokie’s North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Music Theater Works regularly produces a slate of relatively traditional American musicals. Last […]
Review: Parade Is a Crowd-Pleasing Hit, But It’s Not for Everyone
The first national tour of the musical Parade arrived in Chicago this week with impressive credentials. Based on a true story set in Atlanta, it involves the 1913 rape and […]
Review: Buddha’s Birthday by Lucid Theater Focuses on One Character—Plus That Raccoon
Buddha’s Birthday by Lucid Theater is a little slip of a play, a story of family relationships and conflicts—husband/wife, mother/daughter, aunt/niece. One character in each of those pairs is played […]
Dispatch: Juicy Plays at Wisconsin’s American Players Theatre Are Ripe for the Picking
There’s no better time for Chicagoans to point their cars north towards Wisconsin than right now. Some people might head to campgrounds, others may find a secret fishing spot, and […]
Review: Kokandy’s Amélie Recreates the Film Classic
Kokandy Productions kicks off its 2025 season with the Chicago premiere of the musical adaptation of the 2001 French film, Amélie. The play is directed and choreographed by Derek Van […]
Review: Sasha Velour Sashays into Steppenwolf with The Big Reveal Live Show for Limited Run
Sexy siren and drag superstar Sasha Velour won the ninth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2017 with her iconic, signature reveal, which she brings in spades to the Steppenwolf […]
Dispatch: iO Fest 2025 Closes With POC Comedy, Off-Kilter Standup and Shakespearean Bloodshed
By Third Coast Review Staff iO Theater’s second annual iO Fest closed Sunday after 100-plus comedy acts performed over the four-day event. The fest featured homegrown Chicago talent and nationally […]
Review: Chicago Shakespeare’s Billie Jean Is Bold and Riveting
When audiences walk into The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, they are immediately transported to a tennis match. Scenic designer Wilson Chin completely transforms the space— with audience stands on […]
Dispatch: iO Fest Kicks Off With Party Rock and a Lineup of Female Comedy Acts
By Third Coast Review Staff Chicago’s rich comedy and improv tradition takes center stage this weekend as iO Fest 2025 returns July 24-27 to the iO Theater with 120 comedic performances from […]
Review: Griffin Theatre Company’s Girls & Boys Shines After a Rough Start
For the first half hour of Dennis Kelly’s Girls & Boys, making its Midwest debut at the Bramble Arts Loft, one could be forgiven for calling it a Fleabag rip-off. […]