Review: Trapped in Abby Geni’s The Body Farm
The characters in The Body Farm span across generations, backgrounds, lifestyles, and conflicts, but they all seem to share one thing: they’re trapped. This is Abby Geni’s second short story […]
Review: Black Ensemble Theater Gives the People What They Want in The Salon
Black Ensemble Theater (BET) has been a mainstay of Black theater for almost 50 years. That takes grit which is a step above determination. It takes vision, talent, and fearlessness—the […]
Review: The Kite Runner Reveals Complex Story of Guilt and Redemption
The Kite Runner is a contemplative play that spans decades, continents and various aspects of the human heart. The national tour production is currently playing at the CIBC Theatre through […]
Review: The Body Keeps Score in A Small Apocalypse by Laura Chow Reeve
Laura Chow Reeve’s debut short story collection A Small Apocalypse is, like any good collection these days, thematically rich. It is mostly about young queer characters in the present day, […]
Kitchen Test: A Cook’s Review of The New Chicago Diner Cookbook
Meat-free since 1983 in a city filled with hotdog stands and beef sandwiches is reason enough to know the flavor is there to keep The Chicago Diner the long-lasting vegan […]
Siskel Film Center’s Rise & Shine Series Wraps with Good Morning, a 1959 Rumination on the Everyday
This article was written by Anthony Miglieri. The air is buoyant in the early hours—it reaches the brain more quickly than usual. Armed with seven to nine hours of sleep […]
Review: Putting on the Glitz—Driehaus Museum’s Jewelry Exhibit and Ellie Thompson’s Designing American Jewelry Book
As we navigate the current Gilded Age, it’s helpful to reflect on the last one. The Driehaus Museum at 40 East Erie is showcasing 200 pieces of dazzling past and […]
On the Road: A Look at Some Tony Award Contenders
On the eve of Sunday’s Tony Awards broadcast, here’s a look at four productions that will be vying for recognition in various categories. All four of them are musicals, and […]
Review: 44 Posters, Weeds Tavern, by Dave Hoekstra and Sergio Mayora
Weeds Tavern is a bar biography, but something more, and slightly less. More or less an artist’s monograph, SunTimes writer and critic Dave Hoekstra covers the titular Chicago tavern’s background […]
Dialogs: Reggie Watts Celebrates Glorious Black Nerds at the Old Town School
Reggie Watts is far more than James Corden’s bandleader on the former The Late Late Show. He’s an innovative musician (keyboard, looping machine, beatboxer), dry comedian, wearer of cool geometric […]
Review: A Few Bad Apples Can’t Sour Three Sisters, Chekhov’s Masterwork, Presented by Invictus Theatre Company
Melodrama gets a bum rap. It’s silly, the cynics say, unrealistic, it’s too much. But when melodrama is done well there’s nothing else like it. The genre appeals to the […]
Review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Stars in Tuesday, a Vulnerable, Whimsical Exploration of Self Preservation and Perseverance
There’s no denying that there are more movies than ever. Film festivals routinely report higher submission numbers than ever, and it’s next to impossible to keep track of what’s premiering […]