Latest from Chicago Critic

Black Comedy

The show opens to a darkened stage as two people talk and move about as if the lights were functioning. Then when the women turns on the record player—boom!—the lights go out—and in a clever twist, the stage lights come on—so we see when the character’s can’t.

Man of La Mancha

Forced to ‘plead’ his case with his cellmates, Man of La Mancha turns into a play-within-a-play where he tells on Quixote’s story as his defense. The result is a journey from the realm of reality into fantasy. Is he mad or just the purest idealist?

boom

It is an off-beat show filled with sharp dialogue as it blends big themes (the end of the world and biological mutations, etc.) with dating rituals and “intensely significant coupling.”

The Fantasticks

Porchlight Music Theatre opens its 15th season with The Fantasticks–the 1960 Off-Broadway hit that ran for 42 years and 17,000 performances. This chestnut contains a great score featuring the haunting “Try To Remember

Cotton Patch Gospel

This easy to digest musical is full of charm that oozes from every movement and utterance from Tim Gregory who plays every character in Gospel. Gregory is a master storyteller at home with his material. He comes off as sincere, truthful and charming.

Mistakes Were Made

Shannon plays legendary Theatrical producer Felix Artifex. We see Felix in his shabby office (terrific set design by Tom Burch) as the fast-talking producer tries to cajole, persuade, trick, intimidate, motivate, maneuver, seduce and suggest…

The Night Season

You’ll enjoy the quirky Irish family and you’ll empathize with their search of love in this refreshingly new and surprisingly smart play. Rebecca Lenkiewicz is a talented playwright with a knack for characterization and a fine ear for language. The Night Season is a delight!

Garden of The Three

Garden of The Three is rough around the edges when it comes to the acting and presentation of the play, but the story is powerful and emotionally riveting. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the scrip

The Sugar Syndrone

The Sugar Syndrome is an enjoyable dark comedy performed by a talented group of actresses and actors that have a great rapport with each other so that the timing is natural and the emotions are believable