Remy Bumppo’s Puff: Believe It or Not Satirizes French Salons and Modern Hype
Puff: Believe It or Not by Remy Bumppo Theatre is a smart, funny poke in the eye of the contemporary affection for fake news and hype about nothing, set in […]
Firebrand Theatre’s Lizzie Is Delicious Rock-and-Roll Catharsis
Sitting in the audience at the thoroughly impeccable Chicago premiere of Lizzie, it is easy to forget that this production is also the Chicago premiere of the newly christened Firebrand […]
Q Brother’s Christmas Carol is Dickens Remixed, With Plenty of Surprises at Chicago Shakes
By Matthew Nerber Q Brother’s Christmas Carol, currently running at Chicago Shakespeare’s newly minted Yard, takes the holiday favorite and translates it into a full-fledged hip-hop musical, complete with song, […]
Northlight’s The Book of Will A Memorial Reconstruction Zone
The Book of Will is a gift to Bardophiles, a peek at the imagined creation of Shakespeare’s First Folio. The playwright, Lauren Gunderson, is the most produced living American playwright […]
The Minutes at Steppenwolf Is a Satire of Small Town Politics—and a Modern Morality Play
Steppenwolf Theatre’s world premiere of The Minutes by Tracy Letts takes place during a small town city council meeting. It’s a satire of small-town politics, individual grievances and so much […]
Hellcab: A Chicago Holiday Story But Not Your Mother’s Christmas Carol
The set is an old taxi. That’s all. An old Checker taxi, number 4538, with an Illinois license plate. The top is removed and its back wheels are on blocks. […]
City Lit Spotlights Faith and Females in the Book of J.B.
“Meet you at the ‘old broad’ play,” my plus one said. We, being crones ourselves, and veterans of all-female companies Babes With Blades and Footsteps, were looking forward to a […]
A Toast to About Face’s Significant Other at Theater Wit
Significant Other, a new About Face Theatre production by playwright Joshua Harmon, opened its Midwest premiere this past week at Theater Wit and will surely fill seats until December 9 when […]
Trap Door’s Occidental Express: An Expressionistic Riff on War, Borders, Homeland, Identity
Trap Door Theatre is staging an expressionistic, phantasmagorical tale of eastern European drama. Their new production, Occidental Express, by Romanian-born playwright Matei Visniec, is a sometimes wacky, often chilling, always […]
On the Road: New York Theater, Off-Broadway Is My Way
Third Coast Review went to New York last week—mainly for a theater critics conference. The schedule provided plenty of time for great theater, and I took advantage of that by […]
Newsies at Marriott Theatre is Relevant, Energetic and Earnest
It’s new show season at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, and we were there for the opening night of their latest play, Newsies. Set at a time when fat cats […]
ATC Plumbs Entrenched Racism in Welcome to Jesus
Will Davis directs Janine Nabers’ world premiere Welcome to Jesus at American Theater Company. It’s an oddball dissection of Texas Christianity and their other state religion, football, all driving toward the […]