Review: Some of Chicago’s Best on Stage in Porchlight’s A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder
The longer I write theater reviews, the more familiar I find myself becoming—at least via playbills—with the talent overflowing from Chicago’s stages. What’s more, I figured it would only be […]
Review: Us/Them Explores Chechen Terrorism with Energetic Pas de Deux in CST Belgium Series
Pink Floyd sang about “Us and Them”: Haven’t you heard it’s a battle of words The poster bearer cried “Listen son”, said the man with the gun There’s room for […]
Review: Discovery, and What Could Have Been, in Court Theatre’s Photograph 51
Once this awful cold snap breaks (because let’s be honest, we’re all hibernating until then), there’s a show on the south side that’s worth seeking out: Photograph 51 is a play by […]
30th Annual RhinoFest Brings 41 Fringe Productions: Our Capsule Reviews
The Rhinoceros Theatre Festival, created for the 30th year by Curious Theatre Branch and Prop Thtr, is presenting a full schedule of 41 plays in a six-week performance marathon in […]
Review: Hamilton Is the Star in Tribune Critic Chris Jones’ Broadway Book Rise Up!
The Capitol building in Washington DC is sometimes referred to as the People’s House, a great gathering place where the exchange of ideas (some new, some radical, some contradictory) is […]
Review: Ajijaak on Turtle Island Opens Puppet Theater Festival with Stunning Visuals and a Soaring Soundtrack
Michigan Avenue holds a lot of history in Chicago. Some of the most memorable and historic buildings populate the busy street–from Symphony Center to the Cultural Center and the Art […]
Review: The Realistic Joneses, A Play About Nothing, Laced With Existential Dread
Awkward dialogue. Misunderstood references. Two people with obscure diseases. Two couples named Jones. Two marriages in flux. The Realistic Joneses is about life and the fear of death—and about the […]
Review: A Woman of Means and the Women She Loves in I Know My Own Heart
Perhaps best known as the writer behind 2015’s Room, the film that won Brie Larson a Best Actress Oscar, Emma Donoghue has been producing plays, short stories, novels and more […]
Review: Evil Dead the Musical Is a Bloody Bucket of Laughs
The Evil Dead series is one that I hold dear to my heart, and I was excited, and worried, to see it in musical form. Evil Dead, especially the later […]
Review: City Lit Stages Fuente Ovejuna, a Thoroughly Modern Tale 400 Years Old
Spanish playwright Lope de Vega wrote a compelling drama about a village that rebelled against its lecherous overlord to protect its women—a very 21st century story. De Vega wrote it […]
Review: Windy City Playhouse Stages Another Must-See with Noises Off
Last year, Windy City Playhouse, the storefront theater company on West Irving Park Road on the north side, debuted a production so impressive they’ve recently launched a new venue in […]
Review: Compass Theatre’s What We’re Up Against Shows 1992 Workplace Sexism Is Still Alive and Well
Playwright Theresa Rebeck is a master of dialogue and never hesitates to portray the bad manners of her contemporaries. Her 2011 play, What We’re Up Against, just opened as the […]