Review: Neil Tobin’s Near Death Experience at Rosehill Cemetery Mildly Amuses
Neil Tobin is a warm, funny man. He’s welcoming and doesn’t have a hard time putting people at ease. It’s a good quality to have in general, but especially important […]
City Lit’s Picture of Dorian Gray Misses Wilde Glitter With Flawed Adaptation and Casting
The Picture of Dorian Gray, the only novel by the brilliant Irish playwright and poet, Oscar Wilde, is loaded with Wildean bon mots. It is one of the most quotable […]
Lookingglass Theatre’s Plantation! Views Reparations Through Farcical Lens
Plantation!, now receiving its world premiere in a production at Lookingglass Theatre directed by David Schwimmer, is a comedic take on race and reparations in the 21st century. Written by […]
Review: Two North Korean Sisters Tear at Your Heart in You for Me for You at Sideshow Theatre
You for Me for You is a play that can tear at your heart and also remind you of current politics. (From which there is no escape.) Coincidentally, the president’s […]
Review: The Condition of Femme Conveys a Powerful Message Despite a Few Missteps
You’ll be uncomfortable. The things you’re hearing when you see The Condition of Femme by Circle Theatre will be incredibly unpleasant. If you have had the experiences, you’ll relate, and it might be painful. If you […]
Review: Processing Anger and Grief in the Neo-Futurists’ A Story Told in Seven Fights
In late 2016, all the skeletons in the Neo-Futurists’ closet were dragged out into the open, as a schism between the company and its founder resulted in the end of […]
Review: Sensory Overload Detracts from Lyric’s New Faust
If Lin-Manuel Miranda reinvented the modern American musical with Hamilton in 2015, one could say John Frame, production designer on the world premiere of Faust now at Lyric Opera of […]
Review: About Face’s Time Is on Our Side Shines a Light on Queer History
Queering history is the theme of Time Is on Our Side by R. Eric Thomas, now at About Face Theatre. It’s the story of podcast creators Annie and Curtis; their […]
Review: (Wo)Mano a (Wo)Mano in Chicago Shakespeare’s Mary Stuart
Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Mary Stuart aligns with the zeitgeist of today’s #TimesUp moment, where women seize the front and center, onstage and off, trying to harness and wield what power […]
Black Ensemble Theater’s Hail Hail Chuck Will Make You Get Out Your Chuck Berry Records
The Black Ensemble Theater has a new musical story on stage, a tribute to the late great guitarist Chuck Berry, who died a year ago. Hail Hail Chuck: A Tribute […]
Review: At Windy City Playhouse, Southern Gothic Invites You to the Party
RI was supposed to see Southern Gothic a week ago, but life got in the way and I didn’t make it then. Thankfully, the team at Windy City Playhouse (3014 W. […]
Review: Six Corners, A Quintessential Chicago Story, Bad Cops and All
Keith Huff’s Six Corners, the world premiere now at American Blues Theater, is quintessentially Chicago. It’s the story of a pair of shady cops, not always on the up and […]