Review: Steppenwolf’s Noises Off Hits on All Cylinders
Can you hear it? That finely tuned purr? It’s not the sound of a Rolls-Royce or Jaguar in the garage—but instead that other pinnacle of British engineering, Michael Frayn’s classic […]
Review: Rachel Bloom Does a Song and Dance with Death, Let Me Do My Show
When bad things like a pandemic cause me to despair, I try to find a logical explanation, remember that heroes appear in unusual situations, and know there is a deeper […]
Review: Laurie Metcalf Stars in Little Bear Ridge Road, a Powerful Comedy-Drama With Some Things To Say
In Chicago theater, the return of a great—not to mention famous—ensemble actor to the Steppenwolf Theatre Company is an event exciting enough to register on the Richter scale. Particularly when […]
Review: At Steppenwolf Theatre, The Thanksgiving Play Fails at Satire, Succeeds at Silliness
The American theater business and society in general offer plenty of opportunity for criticism of “wokeness” and efforts to satisfy all sides—both in the arts, in other nonprofits and in […]
Review: Purpose Tackles a Family’s Legacy in Steppenwolf Theatre’s World Premiere
Purpose, a new play written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by legendary actor Phylicia Rashad, follows in the theatrical legacy of plays like August Wilson’s Fences and The Piano Lesson, dealing with the […]
Review: In Steppenwolf’s No Man’s Land, Four Characters Act Out Pinter’s Menacing Puzzle
Steppenwolf Theatre’s production of Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land is meticulously staged and performed by an excellent cast. Director Les Waters’ four actors do a masterful job with Pinter’s puzzling 1974 script. […]
Review: Another Marriage at Steppenwolf Theatre Portrays a Marriage That Could Be Yours or Mine
You may recognize aspects of your own marriage or that of a friend or relative in Another Marriage, Steppenwolf Theatre’s world premiere play. The script by actor Kate Arrington succeeds on many […]
Review: Sam Shepard, an Unreliable Narrator of His Own Life, Gets a New Biography by Robert Greenfield
It’s appropriate that True West: Sam Shepard’s Life, Work and Times by Robert Greenfield ends with the 2019 Broadway staging of True West, Shepard’s iconic play about the American West, manhood and brotherhood. […]
Review: Steppenwolf’s Last Night and the Night Before Tells a Family Story Laced by Drug Use, Violence…and Love
Last Night and the Night Before at Steppenwolf Theatre is a tale of complex family relationships crippled by drug use and violence—but with love as the overriding theme. Donnetta Lavinia Grays’ […]
Review: Bald Sisters at Steppenwolf Is a Story of Cambodian Immigrants Searching for Identity
I suspect that for Cambodians and Cambodian Americans, the racist and genocidal history of the Khmer Rouge is a stain on their history just as slavery, racism and the Civil […]
Review: At Steppenwolf Theatre, Miz Martha Washington’s Crazy Dreamscape Offers Comic History Lessons and Discomfort
Leaving the theater after seeing this wise and hysterically funny play, my first thought was, I would like to see this produced in Florida, where the governor and legislature have […]
Review: Choir Boy at Steppenwolf Is a Splendid Spectacle With a Flawed Script
It’s not easy growing up as a gay Black boy. Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play Choir Boy is the story of Pharus, a high school senior at the Charles R. Drew Prep School […]