By Anna Deavere Smith Directed by Jason Gerace Produced by The Other Theatre Company At Chopin Theatre, Chicago Tedious enactment of personal interviews comes off as propaganda It is difficult enough to recreate personal verbatim interviews when they are not recorded from the original and it seldom works if a woman “plays” a man or … Read more
By Gina Gionfriddo Directed by Kimberly Senior At the Goodman Theatre, Chicago Feminist debate clouds relationship drama The characters and situations in Gina Gionfriddo’s Rapture, Blister, Burn ring hollow and the characters come off as caricatures of 21st Century women. We meet Gwen Harper (Karen Janes Woditsch), a housewife and former grad student with her … Read more
Adapted by Emma Stanton, Thom Pasculli, and Nigel O’Hearn Based on Full Circle by Charles Mee Directed by Thom Pasculli Produced by Oracle Theatre Epic Theatre Done Right “And if I ever come back here again it will be to see you pissing yourself because you have come to the end of the line with … Read more
The Apple Family Plays by Richard Nelson Part I: That Hopey Changey Thing Directed by Louis Contey At TimeLine Theatre. Chicago The Apply plays are a unique entrance into the voices of the people about our political landscape. Play 1 That Hopey Changey Thing “Summary: That Hopey Changey Thing is set on November 2, 2010. … Read more
Adapted and Directed by Kirsten Kelly From William Shakespeare Presented by Chicago Shakespeare Macbeth for Young People Introduces Magic of the Stage Part of Chicago Shakespeare’s core mission is to share theatre with young audiences. To that effect, they put on abridged versions of Shakespeare’s plays for school audiences, and the public is admitted on … Read more
By Ross Dungan Directed by Jonathan Berry At Steep Theatre, Chicago “Story Theatre is the dramatic presentation of one or more stories told by a group of actors play who multiple roles and provide narration. It is characterized by the use of simple “scenery” like chairs and tables arranged to suggest various settings, simple props … Read more
Music by Leonard Bernstein Book by Arthur Laurents Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Directed by Rachel Rockwell Music Direction Roberta Duchak Choreography by Rhett Guter Produced by Drury Lane Theatre West Side Story Cruel, but Sophisticated Theatre artists who claim to place great value on innovation and relevance often demand 1950s and 60s musicals justify themselves. … Read more
A World Premiere Musical Book by Will Cavedo & Andrew Hobgood Lyrics by Andrew Hobgood Music by Julie Nichols Directed by Evan Linder Music Direction by Charlotte Rivard-Hoster Produced by The New Colony Sound issues and weak voices hindered an ambitious new musical. The New Colony loves to collaboratively create new theatre pieces. In the … Read more
By Anne Washburn Directed by Jeremy Wechsler Produced by Theater Wit Excellent Mr. Burns Gets Better With Time Will remote posterity say Matt Groening was our Euripides? Playwright Anne Washburn imagines they will. Set following an inexplicable nuclear holocaust that reduces America to a dark age, Mr. Burns depicts the afterlife of our pop culture, … Read more
By Grant James Varjas Directed by Shade Murray At A Red Orchid Theatre, Chicago Slice-of-life gay dark comic-drama examines grief, loss and loneliness The atmosphere is immediate as we enter a dive-y gay bar on Manhattan’s Lower East Aide (terrific set design by John Holt depicting a functioning wet bar). This slice-of-life dark comic-drama features … Read more