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: 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: 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: 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: Timeline Theatre Revisits the American Dream with the Timely Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley
James Baldwin is the greatest American writer. Period. Even more so during Black History Month 2025. Among Baldwin’s many, many gifts was prescience. As a gay Black midcentury man, he […]
Review: In Trap Door’s The Mannequins’ Ball, Mannequins Are the Movers in a Story That Combines Politics and Partying
The new production of The Mannequins’ Ball at Trap Door Theatre is a whole lot of 1930s agitprop choreographed with music, singing and dancing. Nicole Weisner and Miguel Long direct 90 minutes […]
Review: Who’s the Hero in Shattered Globe’s Lobby Hero? All Four Characters Face Ethical Choices
Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero blends working relationships tested by an ethical dilemma in this comedic drama that gets a timely staging by Shattered Globe Theatre. Is the titular Lobby Hero the loopy […]
Dispatch: Puppet Theater Festival Closes With Stories From the Far North to South Africa, Crocheted Art and Music, Music, Music
The second and final week of the 7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival concluded yesterday, after 12 days of international puppet theater productions at dozens of venues plus free neighborhood […]