Latest from Chicago Critic

Pilgrim’s Progress

By Brett Neveu Directed by Shade Murray At A Red Orchid Theatre, Chicago Games, games, and more games fuel the McKee clan’s Thanksgiving Day holiday Talented Chicago playwright Brett Neveu has penned a most dysfunctional family play, which echos Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? but makes gamesmanship into an art form.  Is this … Read more

New Kid

By Dennis Foon Directed by Julie Ritchey Produced by Adventure Stage Chicago In Association with North Park University Department of Theatre and Performance Studies Playing at Vittum Theater A Smart Play Will Resonate with Smart Kids Adventure Stage Chicago and their partners have produced a number of beloved children’s shows, which range in subject from … Read more

The Firestorm

By Meredith Friedman Directed by Drew Martin Produced by Stage Left Theatre Playing at Theater Wit, Chicago Racial Incident is Unfinished Business In the age of the internet, a college kid who gets arrested at a student union for drunkenly shoving and yelling homophobic slurs at a cafeteria worker for denying him mac and cheese … Read more

White Christmas The Musical at Drury Lane

Based on the 1954 Paramount Picture by Norman Krasna, Norman Panama, and Melvin Frank Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin Book by David Ives & Paul Blake Directed by William Osetek Musical Director Roberta Duchak Choreographer Matt Crowley Produced by Drury Lane Theatre Combination Christmas show and backstage musical soars through song, dance, and comedy … Read more

Chapter Two

By Neil Simon Directed by Jessica Thebus Produced by the Windy City Playhouse “Listen, George, next to Christmas, loneliness is the biggest business in America.” Romantic Banter from a Master Neil Simon fans have had a good autumn at Chicago theatres. Last month, Spartan Theatre Company performed his late career drama Jake’s Women in the … Read more

Wozzeck

Music and Libretto by Alban Berg Based on the Play by Georg Büchner Directed by Sir David McVicar Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis In a new production at the Lyric Opera of Chicago Brass-Infused Madness Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck is a fascinating object of study for students of drama. An early neurologist, communist, and political exile, … Read more

Spill

Written and directed by Leigh Fondakowski based on interviews by Leigh Fondakowski & Reeva Wortal Produced by TimeLine Theatre At Stage 773, Chicago Riveting docudrama about the explosion of the BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico near Louisiana Spill, now in a manic, yet powerful, staging by TimeLine Theatre at Stage 773, is … Read more

Marjorie Prime

By Jordan Harrison Directed by Kimberly Senior Produced by Writers Theatre, Glencoe A Futuristic Take on Living Vicariously Marjorie Prime, now at Writers Theatre, is the latest of several plays in the Chicago area that explores the relationship between memory, intelligence, and possibly artificial intelligence. There’s Love and Information, at Remy Bumppo, The (curious case … Read more

Creature

By Heidi Schreck Directed by Bec Willett Produced by Dandelion Theatre Playing at The Side Project Theatre, Chicago A Mystifying Vision, Sans the Revelation Margery Kempe (1373 – c. 1438) was an English, orthodox Catholic laywoman who, after the birth of her first child, was tormented and tempted in her faith by visions of devils … Read more

Design for Living

By Noël Coward Directed by Derek Bertelsen Produced by Pride Films and Plays At Rivendell Theater, Chicago Wit is Ornamental in this Old-Fashioned Comedy Pride Films and Plays artistic director David Zak has expressed an interest in showcasing the many eras of LGBT-related art. The company’s last show, The Boy from Oz, was a revue … Read more