TimeLine’s Boy Tells Story of Generation X’s Adam
TimeLine Theatre’s Chicago premiere of Anna Ziegler’s Boy (where the play was also workshopped in 2014) is inspired by the true story of a Canadian male child born physically male […]
Linda Reiter Becomes the Queen Mother of Camelot in Rose
Rose Kennedy, the “queen mother” of Camelot, is nearing her 79th birthday. She’s well dressed, well coifed, calm and self-assured. She moves like a 79-year-old woman, slowly, a bit creakily. […]
Shattered Globe’s Five Mile Lake Explores Dreams and Despair in a Small Town
The headlines are about major cities declining—in population, in industry, in jobs. But smaller cities are changing too as revolutions in manufacturing, agriculture and mining affect small cities and towns, […]
TV Review: The Outrageous Fortune of Free Slings & Arrows
Like Hamlet’s murdered dad, the award-winning Canadian TV series Slings & Arrows has been resurrected, now for free on the Internets so all can experience or revisit the fraught fictional […]
At Stage Left Theatre: Insurrection: Holding History Time Travels to Nat Turner’s Slave Rebellion and Back
Insurrection: Holding History by Robert O’Hara is a satirical, time-traveling look at our history of slavery and repression, race and identity. O’Hara turns time on its head to take us […]
Theater Wit’s Flamingo & Decatur Takes a Gamble and Doesn’t Quite Break Even
Flamingo & Decatur, the world-premiere play by Todd Taylor now on through February 18 at Theater Wit in the Belmont Theater District, is a bit of a cross-country sort of […]
Edgar Allan Poe’s Life and Death Get a Melancholy Production by Black Button Eyes
Black Button Eyes’ darkly gothic production of Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe makes good use of the Edge Theatre’s spacious proscenium stage. The six performers […]
It’s My Penis and I’ll Cry If I Want To Confronts Gender Politics at Pride Arts Center
It’s My Penis and I’ll Cry If I Want To is a 45-minute one-man show exploring the nuances of gender, often humorously, always movingly and inextricably linked to the many […]
Steppenwolf’s BLKS Celebrates the Chaos of Friendship and Adulthood
BLKS, poet Aziza Barnes’ foray into playwriting, is a funny, insightful and honest look into the lives of four, 20-something black women living in New York City. Forged with humor […]
Trap Door’s They Dramatizes an Anti-Art Authoritarian Society—or Does It?
A play at Trap Door Theatre always starts before it really starts. The open stage in the tiny theater is set and populated with characters from the play, in some […]
Hogwarts’ Primer Proffered in Potted Potter at Broadway Playhouse
Potted Potter: The Unauthorised Harry Experience is a non-stop, 70-minute two-hander taking the piss out of Muggle culture by stream-rolling through all seven of J.K. Rowling’s books. The high-energy, cheap […]
Red Velvet at Chicago Shakes: In 1833 London, the Actor Is Guilty of Acting While Black
Ira Aldridge is a unique 19th century hero: An African-American actor who gains renown performing all over Europe. He plays iconic Shakespearean roles such as Macbeth, Othello and King Lear. […]