Review: At The Wake Of A Dead Drag Queen Reflects on Family, Blackness, and Queer Identity
The audience is given a fan as the entry pass to Story Theatre’s At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen, written by Terry Guest. There is no doubt that […]
Review: Court Theatre Stages a Masterful Adaptation of Jason Lutes’ Berlin
Jason Lutes took some 20 years to complete his graphic novel, Berlin. Condensing Lutes’ 550-page magnum opus into theatrical language is no easy feat but Court Theatre has brought it […]
Poem: Vacant Lot Pope
Walk the goofy walk of the Galilee clown, laughing at denarii or spilling the coins in anger amid the pigeons and lambs, music of the heavens, lyrics by sacred hoboes […]
Review: Red Theater’s Kairos Probes Questions of Eternal Love—and Life
Kairos pits a newly formed couple against a sci-fi trope—technological revolution. When a new and selective procedure called Prometheus offers the couple synthetic immortality, they struggle, in a very human […]
Review: Mount Eerie Beautifully Details the Absurdity of Existence
It feels like an eternity ago that I last saw Phil Elverum’s Mount Eerie perform live. It was back in 2019, only a few months before the pandemic would shut […]
Review: Tom Hardy Stars as a Crooked Detective in Havoc, an Intense and Visceral Action Thriller
In Havoc, the latest absolutely chaotic, utterly brutal actioner from writer/director Gareth Evans (The Raid), Tom Hardy plays Walker, a beaten-down, taken-out-with-the-trash detective who starts out like that even before […]
Review: Video Game Adaptation Until Dawn Sees a Group of Friends Relive the Same Murderous Night
Considering the pedigree of the horror video game adaptation Until Dawn, I admittedly expected something better. From director David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation, both Shazam! movies) and writers […]
Review: An Unexpected, and Ultimately Passionless, Love Triangle Is at the Center of Mid-Century Set On Swift Horses
Based on the 2019 book by Shannon Pufahl, On Swift Horses is a story about secrets and secret lives in the period in American history immediately following the Korean War. […]
Chicago Is Lit: Independent Bookstore Day and More Spring Events
For regular readers of this column, Saturday’s Independent Bookstore Day is likely as highly anticipated as the Super Bowl (if not more so). If you haven’t made your game day […]
Review: Kishi Bashi Brings Hope and Comfort to the Auditorium with the Chicago Philharmonic
Last Saturday was an evening filled with the music of one of the most fascinating artists of our time. Kaoro Dill Ishibashi goes by the melodic-sounding portmanteau Kishi Bashi. The […]
Review: The Legend of Ochi Channels the Familiar and the Fantastical for a Charming Story of Connection and Courage
In that rare blend of fairy tales, fantasy, folk horror, and monster movies, the directing debut from music video veteran Isaiah Saxon (The Legend of Ochi) introduces us to a […]
Review: Ben Affleck and On-Screen Brother Jon Bernthal Return for Action-Packed, Neurodivergent The Accountant 2
It’s been nearly ten years since director Gavin O’Connor (Warrior, Pride & Glory) and screenwriter Bill Dubuque brought us The Accountant, the curious story of Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck), who […]