Sarah Bernhardt was a towering figure in world theater. The French stage actress performed in classic plays of the time, made theatrical tours around the world, including across the U.S., and owned […]
Walking into Dana H., all I knew was that the lead actor, Deirdre O’Connell, was lip-syncing. Little did I know I was going to see one of the most intense, emotional productions I […]
The Great Leap is an homage to basketball and to playwright Lauren Yee’s father—and also connects to Chinese history and politics and the country’s competitiveness with the West. Yee’s latest play is now […]
Downton Abbey, the acclaimed British drama series that ran for several seasons on PBS here in the States, returned this weekend. The story, this time on the big screen, brought in big […]
Trap Door Theatre’s production of Love and Information, Caryl Churchill’s 2012 play, is more performance art than theater. But Kim McKean’s direction makes this production sizzle with energy. The nine versatile actors […]
The play is all talk. Talk with a global purpose among ancient enemies, who manage to find common ground. Even though you know the outcome and future impact, J.T. Rogers’ play Oslo builds […]
Vanya in the Plains is a memory play, laden with strangeness. People living together, never leaving their house, desperately trying to make connections, virtual and otherwise. Set in the Future, the play describes […]
There’s a thoughtful core to Deborah Zoe Laufer’s Be Here Now, the story of a bitter, cynical woman afflicted with headaches and seizures that leave her seeing the world as one full of […]
It was a historic occasion when George H. W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton all came together for Richard “Tricky Dick” Nixon’s 1994 funeral. We’ll never know […]
If you need an actor to carry your show on her shoulders, might I recommend the talents of one Janet Ulrich Brooks? Last year, she dominated Timeline Theatre’s Master Class as opera star Maria […]
Ensemble: An Oral History of Chicago Theater is a book you can enjoy in two ways. You can read it from beginning to end, as you would any narrative of fiction or […]
It is not necessary to have seen the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail to enjoy the Mercury Theater’s buoyant new production of the musical Spamalot, though it might help you understand the […]
