The new production of On the Twentieth Century by Blank Theatre Company, directed by Danny Kapinos, is the latest incarnation of many fabulous versions of this story—on stage and screen. […]
We review two shows now running in Chicago’s storefront theater scene. Did you know that Chicago has more than 200 theater companies, many of them small and performing in storefronts […]
Murder in the Cathedral is a solemn play, drawn from the works of master poet and Nobel-Prize laureate T.S. Eliot. The 1935 verse play is now on stage at City […]
I find it strange that much is written about parameters and boundaries in relationships. Of course, there should be boundaries, but who decides what those are? How many people live […]
It’s the top of the first act. As the lights come down and the guards enter, those familiar with Shakespeare’s famous piece know what is about to happen. The guards […]
Open Space Arts is a collective that focuses on work that combats homophobia and antisemitism. The current production is Cock by British playwright Mike Bartlett. In 2009, the four-actor show debuted at […]
Beane is a bit peculiar. He doesn’t seem to enjoy life. His apartment attacks him. He answers questions before they’re asked or doesn’t answer at all. But once Beane meets […]
Reminiscent of the Three Fates of Greek mythology and famous for their incantation, “Double, double, toil and trouble,” the weird sisters of Macbeth are an iconic trio. But what does the world […]
Four young women actors, dressed in today’s version of a parochial school uniform (of this, more later) mime a school day, beginning with their confessions. “Bless me, Father, for I have […]
In Quietness at A Red Orchid Theatre asks a lot of its audience, especially an urban liberal (most likely) audience. The play pits feminism against fundamentalist religion. It asks us to believe […]
Bertolt Brecht’s 1939 play, Mother Courage and Her Children, is the greatest anti-war play of all time. Anti-war, anti-government and anti-capitalism, as we learn in the opening scene of this stirring […]
Dario Fo’s 1974 Marxist farce, Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay!, has plenty of messages for us in today’s era of inflationary prices. In its staging by Gwydion Theatre Company, we learn […]