Latest from Chicago Critic

Kin Folk

by

The New Colony, under the direction of Evan Linder, puts their attention to where it truly matters: into a very strong cast. And though the story is sometimes confusing and, to me, ambiguous as to its meaning, it too raises some curious questions as to what it means to be human and how sometimes the gap between who we are and who we want to be cannot be bridged.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (First Folio)

by

Few Shakespeare plays are better suited to outdoor performance than the seasonally appropriate fantasy romance A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Now at the Mayslake Peabody Estate, First Folio’s production, directed by Haley Rice, is an amusing romp through the woods, with a talented group of actors who are mostly new to the company.

Operetta In Exile 2016

by

Operetta in Exile begins with six songs from Die Blume von Hawaii, a 1931 collaboration between three Jewish artists, Paul Abraham, Alfred Grunwald, and Fritz Lohner-Beda. The story is typical of what defines an operetta: it is light-hearted, uses stock characters, and a formulaic plot. However, between the songs we learn about Abraham’s persecution at the hands of the Nazis.

Eroica

by

Alex’s Eroica is a 75 minute morality play about secrets and hypocrisy. Victor (Felipe Carrasco) is the popular 20something basketball coach at the town’s local high school. He has a medical deferment from the draft, but he is a pro-war patriot. His wife Sally (Sara Pavlak McGuire) is a super-patriot who lost her father before she was born to WWII and now has her brother MIA in Vietnam. She laments that Victor can’t serve. Why?

David Carl’s Celebrity One-Man Hamlet

by

Why do a show about a possibly brain-damaged actor interpreting every role in Hamlet with the aid of puppets, projections, facial spasms, and acronyms? The answer, “Busey” says, is to prove that he can. And for a hilarious seventy-five minutes, we can watch a slow-rolling disaster interlaced with occasional flashes of genius as Carl pars down Shakespeare’s longest play into a rapid-fire series of commentaries, deluded sidetracks, and high tragedy.

Between Riverside and Crazy

by

Add the wonderful, two-level apartment set (designed by Collette Pollard) based on the look and feel of playwright Guirgis’ Manhattan apartment and the set becomes a character in the play! Riverside is filled with several monologues that are full of social commentary. Quotes like this one from Lulu: “I may look how I look, but that don’t mean I am how I look” add rich insights and honest humor and some sex.

Without giving away more, Between Riverside and Crazy is a master work, a terrific night of theatre as well as a timely honest look at racial issues especially dealing with cops. We see Eamonn Walker as the Battalion Chief on the TV series Chicago Fire-now see Walker in a fabulous live turn as the flawed ex-cop. Between Riverside and Crazy is one of the best plays of 2016, don’t miss it.

My Son the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy

by

Last February, as I sat reviewing a one-man play in a Florida theater, an immediate thought hit me: “This is a perfect show for Skokie!”

I was right! Brad Zimmerman’s My Son the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy just opened at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts for a 4- week run, and it is a perfect match — just as funny and delightful the second time around as it was originally.

Wastwater

by

By Simon Stephens

Directed by Robin Witt

Produced by Steep Theatre, Chicago

A Little Bit of the Lake District Brought to Heathrow

While Hamilton is dominating the coverage of the upcoming Broadway in Chicago tours, another hotly-anticipated event later in the year is British playwright Simon Stephens’ stage adaptation of Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Followers of Steep Theatre Company are already familiar with Stephens, since three of his works have enjoyed American or Midwestern debuts there. His works have gained a following in some circles, but also gained contempt in others, because they are often episodic and feature seedy characters in mysterious situations. Wastwater is another one of those, and in Steep’s production, is directed by Robin Witt to deliver the atmosphere Stephens fans expect.

Read more

The Cousin from Nowhere 2016

by

One of the joys at this operetta is in the fabulous 22 member orchestra, conducted by Anthony Barrese that sounded magnificent! The cast of classically trained singers projected and enunciate expertly despite no amplification. The cast has professional singers from both the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Choruses. I was particularly impressed by the skilled comic chops from Nicholas Pulikowski who carried the lead with immense empathy. He gave one of the strongest performances seen on a Chicago stage this year!

The Importance of Being Earnest

by

By Oscar Wilde

Directed by Jim Schneider

Produced by Dead Writers Theatre Collective, Chicago

At the Athenaeum Theatre, Chicago

“The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means.”

A year after their visually sumptuous production of Lady Windermere’s Fan, Dead Writers Theatre Collective returns to Oscar Wilde with their production of his most famous and final play, The Importance of Being Earnest. The company defines itself as adhering as closely as possible to the author’s intent, and their productions, which so far have tended to focus on either Wilde or Noël Coward, often showcase elaborate costumes and set pieces. But Earnest’s aesthetic is somewhat different from last year’s show, in that Dead Writers utilized a grant from The Saints to construct sets, designed by Eric Luchen, which resemble the miniatures in the toy theatres of Wilde’s day. The result takes some getting used to, but combined with the old-fashioned exaggerated style of acting, it produces a cohesive whole and an amusing production.

Read more

Explore

Discover

About

© 2026 ChicagoCritic.com · Independent Chicago theater coverage since 2001.