By Beth Henley Directed by Brad Akin Produced by Step Up Productions, Chicago Three Sisters’ Lives Make for One Dark Comedy This month in Chicago, playgoers can get a double-helping of dark comedies about southern families. The 1939 play The Little Foxes, about the thieving rich is playing at the Goodman, and at the Athenaeum … Read more
By Lillian Hellman Directed by Henry Wishcamper Produced by Goodman Theatre, Chicago Depraved Greed Shows Why Melodrama is Fun Modern writers are generally advised not to make the divide between good and evil characters too stark. But modern writers aren’t Lillian Hellman. And her 1939 play The Little Foxes depicts a time and place, 1900 … Read more
By Joshua Harmon Directed by Jeremy Wechsler Produced by Theater Wit, Chicago Future of Judaism Dramatized with Wit Joshua Harmon’s play Bad Jews, which debuted in New York in 2012, has been causing such a stir that despite its newness I was a little surprised to see it is only now being produced in Chicago. … Read more
Written and Directed by Carla Stillwell Produced by Ma’at Production Association of Afrikan Centered Theatre, Chicago MPAACT Find Beauty in Growing Pains I hope everybody enjoyed Mother’s Day, because MPAACT has a show that will remind everyone of how upsetting losing a mother is. The Divine Order of Becoming, written by MPAACT playwright-in-residence Carla Stillwell, … Read more
By John Marans Directed by Timothy Gregory At Provision Theater, Chicago “Art consists of knowing the basic rules and realizing when it is time to deviate from them.” “Life is not clear cut.” “The combination of joy and sadness – this is the core of truly beautiful music. Just as it is the core of … Read more
By Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson, and Daniela Vlaskalic Directed by Melanie Keller Produced by Signal Ensemble Theatre, Chicago How to Have Fun with Murder Respectfully One hundred years ago, the English serial killer George Joseph Smith was captured, convicted, and executed for the murders of three of his wives. Bessie Munday Williams, Alice Burnham Smith, … Read more
In Remembrance of the Oklahoma City Bombing By Isaiah Werner Directed by Aaron Hannrickson Produced by adapt theatre productions in association with Redtwist Theatre At Redtwist Theatre, Chicago Haunting remembrance of an American Tragedy mostly works Adapt Theatre Productions and playwright Isaiah Werner’s world premiere: Scissortail: In Remembrance of the Oklahoma City Bombing presents its … Read more
By P J Paparelli & Joshua Jaeger Conceived and directed by P J Paparelli Choreographed and music composition by Jakari Sherman At ATC -American Theatre Company, Chicago Oral history chronicles the Chicago social experiment of stacking large numbers of poor folks into high rise building. P J Paparelli and Joshua Jaeger utilized the Studs Terkel … Read more
By John Patrick Shanley Directed by William Brown Produced by Writers Theatre, Glencoe Strong Performances Rise to Shanley’s Work “They’re Children, They Can Talk to Each Other.” By now, it is likely that most theatre-goers are aware of Doubt: a Parable, John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer and Tony Award winning 2004 drama. For the uninitiated, Doubt … Read more
By Karen Tarjan Directed by Robert Kauzlaric Produced by Irish Theatre of Chicago At The Den Chicago Amazing adventure of 2oth century explorers highlights endurance, tenacity and the power of the human spirit. If there ever was a ‘director’s show.’ it is director Robert Kauzlaric’s world premiere of Karen Tarjan’s The White Road. This ambitious … Read more