Hitler on the Roof Is Akvavit Theatre’s Manic Meditation on Propaganda
Hitler on the Roof, I was happy to learn, is not a parody of Fiddler with Hitler playing Tevye. No, it’s a tragicomedy subtitled “A Play for Two Clowns.” The […]
Pass Over Reworks Waiting for Godot in an Exploration of Racial Oppression
Have you heard about Pass Over? It’s a play written by Antoinette Nwandu reworking Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot that opened at Steppenwolf Theatre last week. Pass Over uses the structure of absurdist theater to explore […]
Griffin Theatre’s Ragtime Shows History Surrounds Us
Based on E.L. Doctorow’s 1975 novel, Ragtime, now playing in a production by Griffin Theatre Company at the Den Theatre, weaves together three families’ stories at the beginning of the […]
Parade at Writers Theatre: A Powerful Musical About Prejudice
Set in 1913 Atlanta and written in 1998 (the same year it won two Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Original Score), Parade recounts the events surrounding the lynching […]
King Liz Is a High-Powered Sports Agent. She’ll Make You Laugh, Sigh and Think
King Liz, the new production at Windy City Playhouse, will make you laugh, make you sigh and make you think, on several levels. Directed by Chuck Smith, the play is […]
A Prayer for the Sandinistas: Period Piece About Chicago’s Polish Community
Subtext Theater Company’s new production, A Prayer for the Sandinistas, is a world premiere by Leigh Johnson, one of the two-year-old company’s founders. It’s a slow-moving period piece, the story […]
Strawdog’s The Night Season Entertains With Irish Charm and Literary References
There are literary references galore in The Night Season by Rebecca Lenkiewicz at Strawdog Theatre Company. But although you might be tempted to Google something at intermission, you’ll find this […]
Meet Harvey, the Pooka. Elwood Will Buy Everyone a Drink in Court Theatre’s Harvey
Who’s to say what “crazy” means? And is it really crazy to have a special friend that most people can’t see? Maybe it just takes a good imagination to see […]
The Radiant at Genesis Theatricals Tells the Dramatic Story of Scientist Marie Curie
Marie Sklodowska Curie should be a hero for today’s women. Long before today’s concerns about young women not being educated in STEM subjects or being hired for tech jobs, Madame […]
What’s the Meaning of Family? Irish Theatre’s The My Way Residential Tells One Story
Families are created in many ways and it’s only recently that we recognize the value and beauty of the variety of families in our midst. The My Way Residential, a […]
We Take a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Costumes of the Lyric Opera
[soliloquy id=”13643″] For me, a good lunch break is one where I pick up food from my favorite lunch spot and take a walk outside (weather permitting—this is Chicago […]
Goodman’s Objects in the Mirror: A Reflection on Stories
There’s a cinematic quality to Objects in the Mirror, now playing at Goodman Theatre in a production directed by Chuck Smith. Minimal and expansive, Riccardo Hernandez’s scenic design dwarfs the […]