Ensemble: An Oral History of Chicago Theater is a book you can enjoy in two ways. You can read it from beginning to end, as you would any narrative of fiction or […]
Review: Ensemble, Mark Larson’s Oral History, Brings Chicago’s Theater Past Alive
Review: True West, a True Time Capsule at Steppenwolf Theatre
The play that launched Chicago’s lauded ensemble returns to the substantially larger stage for the first time since 1982. Sam Shepard’s True West propelled the Highland Park High School and Illinois State […]
Review: Ms. Blakk for President Is a Raucous Campaign Rally and Reminder of the AIDS Crisis
Chicago had a candidate in the ring during the 1992 presidential election. Ms. Joan Jett Blakk ran for the Democratic nomination that year. What? You don’t remember her? She won zero votes […]
Review: There Are No Children in The Children at Steppenwolf Theatre—It’s a Cautionary Tale
There are no children in Lucy Kirkwood’s play, The Children. The play’s storyline is built on “the disaster,” which we don’t learn the nature of immediately. The disaster was an explosion at a […]
Review: At Steppenwolf, A Doll’s House, Part 2, “Law & Order” Version
To fully understand this witty and nuanced play, one must know that it is a sequel to Henrik Ibsen’s original A Doll’s House, which was written and set at the end of […]
2018 in Review: What We Liked on Stage
This isn’t a “best theater of 2018” list. We didn’t see everything. Most of our writers are freelancers, all with other gigs, and it’s hard for us to cover the hundreds of […]
Review: Pink Crosses Mark the Graves of the Desconocidas in Isaac Gomez’ Powerful La Ruta
Pink crosses spread across the front of the stage. Many of them are marked “Desconocida” (unknown). Unmarked graves of young women who wanted to better their lives by working in the new […]
In Steppenwolf’s Familiar, an Immigrant Family Comes to Terms With Old and New Customs
Familiar at Steppenwolf Theatre rings true as a familiar story in one way or another for most of us. An immigrant family struggles with education and culture in its new country, and tries […]
Review: Steppenwolf’s Devastating Downstate Dares Us to Look Evil in the Eyes
What makes one a victim? And what moral superiority does a victim have over their aggressor? When is one’s humanity lost, and what qualifications, if any, are there to getting it back? […]
Review: Steppenwolf’s Lightweight The Roommate Aims for Laughs Over Depth
Search the Chicago theater listings far and wide this summer and you will find very few productions with two 50-something women at the center of the production, if any (and no, Cher […]
Guards at the Taj Remounts Acclaimed New York Production for Steppenwolf Theatre
Amy Morton, the legendary Steppenwolf Ensemble member known for her work as both actor and director, brings her staging of Rajiv Joseph’s off-Broadway smash hit to Chicago, complete with original cast members […]
In Wake of Recent Tragedies, The Yard Shines With Brutal, Brilliant Columbinus
Columbinus, directed by Mechelle Moe as part of Steppenwolf’s LookOut series, is a must-see production, insomuch as words on the internet cannot do it justice. I read this script a few years […]
