Tom Williams

Tom Williams founded ChicagoCritic.com in 2001 and spent decades reviewing theatre and live performance across Chicago and its suburbs, from Broadway tours and major institutions to storefront theatre, opera, cabaret and classical music. In 2010, the Society of Midland Authors honored him with the James Friend Memorial Award for Literary and Dramatic Criticism (our 2010 announcement). Concord Theatricals quotes his reviews on its licensing pages for shows including Crazy for You and City of Angels.

WRENS

September 16, 2012 by Tom Williams

We see the groups routine, learn abut each one’s foibles, and experience the fluid relationships. From the stoic motherly Jenny (Rebecca Spence) to the chatty, aggressive Gwyneth (Mary Cross) to tea-maker Doris (Meg Warner to the child-like Dawn (Ashley Neal) to the naive teen newbie Meg (Amanda Powell) to the ‘by-the-rules Cynthia (Jodi Kingsley) and the mysterious, standoffish Chelsea(Katrina Kuntz) – we get to know and like each women. Here pace, expert acting and atmosphere make for a naturalistic atmosphere.

Wrong Mountain

October 22, 2022September 15, 2012 by Tom Williams

Wrong Mountain is about many great ideas and themes centering on what is art and is theatre a fraudulent art form? It also deals with the American view of success. Those themes are grist for the mill for a playwright.

Hamlet at Writers’ Theatre

September 17, 2017September 14, 2012 by Tom Williams

…detailed nuanced acting but Scott Parkinson. He shows sides of the Danish Prince that few players can muster. Complexity is a breeze with Parkinson’s talent. He rendered the finest Hamlet this reviewer has ever witnessed! It is a remarkable acting achievement as it is enough to justify the trip to the North Shore to Glencoe.

Tusk Tusk

November 3, 2012September 13, 2012 by Tom Williams

While the storyline is a tad concocted, the performances by the three teen actors was amazingly effective. They all sported fine British accents, including young Gabriel Stern. Reaching the highs and lows emotionally together with the physicality needed here would tax even a season actor yet Lunsky and Cygan (and little Stern) gave skilled and emotionally deep performances. The future is bright for these three.

Iphigenia 2.0

November 3, 2012September 12, 2012 by Tom Williams

Iphigenia 2.0 is a interesting, effective and most engaging production that vividly uses the power of the live stage to get its ant-war message across. Staging it in contemporary times reminds us that we still have not learned the lessons of leadership and the motivations for going to war. As Achilles states: “What chance can an empire have if its actions are to be based on lies and imaginings?”

The Iron Stag King: Part One

October 1, 2026September 10, 2012 by Tom Williams

The first part of Nathan Allen and Chris Mathews’ new trilogy, The Iron Stage King: Part One is a complex epic of crowns and country using elements of the King Arthur and Norse mythology with sprinkles of American fable themes. Utilizing all the House stylistic elements including puppets, miniature models, strong lighting, unique costumes with ample sprinklings of humor, this story has richly layered storytelling that explores the nature of leadership, governance with the unique American struggle to balance personal liberty with actions for the common good of society.

Shaw VS. Chesterton: The Debate

November 3, 2012September 9, 2012 by Tom Williams

The repartee between these two “friendly enemies” comes across in a solidifying relationship full of respect and fellowship. The atheist (Shaw) and the newly Catholic (Chesterton) engaged in a terrific war of wards that stimulate us with ideas and concepts.

Impenetrable

October 22, 2022September 8, 2012 by Tom Williams

Playwright Mia McCullough took a tiny story in the Chicago Tribune about local Glenview women protesting a billboard in their suburb making it into a profile of our complex concepts of the nature of beauty in 21st Century America.

Illegal Use of Hands

November 3, 2012September 7, 2012 by Tom Williams

Amazingly, the folks at American Blues Theater usually pick stage worthy plays and they knock them out of the park Not here with James Still’s Illegal use of Hands. This dark comedy gets a 15 yard penalty for being boring with few funny lines and a meandering go-nowhere plot.

After

October 22, 2022September 6, 2012 by Tom Williams

The 90 minute one act is a haunting look at the devastating effects of imprisonment of a youth, specially one who is innocent. Being robbed of one’s youth is could ruin most folks. Once released, we see how difficult it is to cope with contemporary society