Review: Rivendell Theatre’s Pivot Tells a Tragicomic Story of Life, Love and Farming
It’s a few days before the wedding of Kara and Levi and in the small town of Milton, Nebraska, that’s a big event. As the play opens, we meet Levi […]
Review: Victory Gardens Stages Henry Johnson, a New David Mamet Drama About a Simple Man Who Fails…at Everything
This is a review of a new play by David Mamet…. Although any mention of David Mamet today can turn into something else entirely. For instance, how many playwrights attract […]
Interview: Chicago-Based Ghostlight Filmmakers on Casting a Real-Life Family, Theater as Therapy and More
In the current film industry landscape, Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson are two of the highest-profile, Chicago-based filmmakers working today. That’s due in large part to their latest work, Ghostlight, […]
Review: Ghostlight Portrays a Chicago Family Tragedy That’s Healed Through Theater
Chicago-based actor Keith Kupferer is your ultimate every-man performer. I’ve seen him in many stage roles over the years (The Humans, God of Carnage, Support Group for Men, Cake) but […]
Dispatch: Sentimental Stories and a Powerful Saoirse Ronan Performance at Sundance Film Festival
Our latest Sundance Film Festival reviews continue; read all our coverage of the 2024 Sundance film Festival now. Ghostlight Once of the most heartfelt (yet not overly sentimental) films at […]
Review: In The Great Leap at Steppenwolf, Basketball and Chinese Politics Mix It Up
The Great Leap is an homage to basketball and to playwright Lauren Yee’s father—and also connects to Chinese history and politics and the country’s competitiveness with the West. Yee’s latest play […]
Review: Family, Friendships and Lives on the Line in Goodman’s Stellar Staging of Sweat
If you go into a performance of Sweat, the two-act drama by Lynn Nottage on now at the Goodman Theatre, without knowing much at all about the plot or setting, […]
Support Group for Men: A Knowing, Poignant Comedy About Male and Human Issues
Ellen Fairey knows Chicago. She knows and replicates its sights, sounds and cultural wrinkles in Support Group for Men at the Goodman Theatre, directed by Kimberly Senior. For 95 minutes, Fairey […]
Della’s Cake Shop Confronts the Modern Era in The Cake at Rivendell
Della’s Sweets is an adorable little cake shop somewhere in North Carolina. Winston is mentioned, which is what locals call Winston-Salem. The shop is pink and white, filled with cakes, […]
Small Cast Delivers Powerful Punch in Rivendell Theatre’s Cal in Camo
Rivendell Theater Ensemble is staging the midwest premiere of William Francis Hoffman’s Cal in Camo, a stark, sharp story of a woman struggling to bond with her newborn, the long-lost […]