Jacob Davis Directed by Ryan Berneir Musical Direction by Jacob Shuda Produced by The Second City, Chicago Self-Referential Sketch Show Worthy of More Development Second City is back with a new revue following a fire earlier this year. While some parts of their building in Old Town are still covered in plastic, the Mainstage, now strangely decorated … Read more
By Noël Coward Directed by Shannon Cochran Produced by Remy Bumppo, Chicago “O, the despicable squalor of it all.” Fans of Noël Coward have had several chances to see the witty English satirist of sexual relationship’s masterpieces on stage this fall. Shaw Chicago is currently presenting a staged reading of Private Lives, which is about … Read more
Jacob Davis interviews director and adapter Greg Allen about his production of Ibsen’s Ghosts with Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company. Greg Allen, Guest Jacob Davis, Host
By Will Kern Directed by Eric Burgher Produced by Profiles Theatre It’s Christmas for Weirdos, Too Among Chicago’s grittier holiday season theatricals, Will Kern’s Hellcab stands out as a reliable crowd favorite. First produced in 1992 by a company called Famous Door, it ran continuously until 2001, and is now revived by Profiles Theatre every … Read more
By Arthur Miller Directed by Ian Frank Produced by Redtwist Theatre, Chicago An Examination of People on the Brink of Destruction Few companies have been more attentive than Red Twist to commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of Arthur Miller’s birth, and tenth anniversary of his death. Earlier this year they revived The American Clock, his … Read more
By Hansol Jung Directed by Elly Green Produced by Sideshow Theatre Company Playing at Victory Gardens, Chicago A Love That Was Not Meant To Be The key to a love story is that the audience has to want the relationship to work. Even if a couple ends in tragedy, there has to be a sense … Read more
By Paula Vogel Directed by Josh Sobel Produced by Strawdog Theatre Company, Chicago A Christmas Show for those in Need of Catharsis Paula Vogel’s writing is deeply personal, and her 2003 play, The Long Christmas Ride Home is one of her major works which was inspired by the death of her brother, Carl, from AIDS … Read more
An Original Adaptation of the Play by Henrik Ibsen Written and Directed by Greg Allen Produced by Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company At Angel Island, Chicago Ibsen’s Loving Parodists Salute Him Listen to my interview with Greg Allen. Greg Allen knows his Ibsen. The Neo-Futurists founder previously staged The Last Two Minutes of the Complete Works of … Read more
By Aeschylus Translated by Nicholas Rudall Directed by Charles Newell Produced by Court Theatre, Chicago Lingering in All the Wrong Places The new production of Agamemnon at Court Theatre certainly lives up to the University of Chicago-based company’s dedication to intellectualism. The second in a planned trilogy of new translations by Nicholas Rudall drawn from … Read more
By John Logan Directed by Gary Griffin Produced by Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago Where Humanness and Monstrousness Intersect It is a very good sign for a young playwright if their first work is as good as John Logan’s Never the Sinner. Not that the earliest version of Logan’s recounting of Leopold and Loeb’s twisted relationship … Read more