By Taylor Mac With Music by Ellen Maddon Directed by Bonnie Metzgar with Eric Hoff Produced by Red Tape Theatre At Steppenwolf Garage Rep Series Wildly poor taste rules in manic performance piece disguised as a play. Taylor Mac, himself a fringe actor/playwright, has organized a wild manic performance art piece featuring a dozen weird … Read more
By Joel Z. Cornfield & Richard James Zieman Directed by Michael Stults Produced by Bread & Roses productions At the Athenaeum Theatre, Chicago Poor acting and a poor script make for a long 1 hour, 45 minute show I’m not sure what Picture Imperfect is really about. The press notes mention an autistic son, Cole … Read more
By David Greig Directed by Roxana Silbert Produced by The National Theatre of Scotland, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater No Happily Ever After for Scotland Shakespeare’s Macbeth pretty clearly divides violence into the demonic and anti-demonic. Popular for four hundred years and counting, the play has vastly overtaken the real life king … Read more
By Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett Adapted by Wendy Kesselman Directed by Kimberly Senior At Writers Theatre, Glencoe Intimate production honestly presents the fears, the terror, and the blind hope of young Anne Frank The Diary of Anne Frank, one of the largest selling books of all-time with several movies and many stage adaptations, still … Read more
By John Henry Roberts Directed by Marti Lyons Produced by Strawdog Theatre Company Crime Drama Creates Noir Atmosphere Strawdog Theatre Company is celebrating its 100th production with a dark, but fun new heist drama. Written by company member John Henry Roberts, The Sweeter Option is the kind of story that is presented onstage because that … Read more
By Idris Goodwin and Kevin Coval Directed by Lisa Portes Produced by Steppenwolf Theatre Modern Art Could Have Gone a Lot Deeper By now, you may be aware of the controversy surrounding Steppenwolf’s new play This is Modern Art and the hostile response it received from other critics. The show is part of Steppenwolf’s program … Read more
By Nicky Silver Directed by Sean Murphy Produced by Benevolent Theatre At Angel Island, Chicago “I’ll give it to you one pearl at a time. Each day. Every day you love him.” – Nessa Strange quirky dark farce a mixed bag of drama and comedy Nicky Silver loves to stretch credulity in his plays. He … Read more
By Marco Ramirez Directed by Jaime Castaneda At American Theatre Co. (ATC) Theatrically pleasing tale of glory, bravery, and determination through boxing is a winner Loosely based on Jack Johnson’s being the first African-American to defeat a white man for the professional heavy-weight championship, playwright Marco Ramirez has penned a strong 75 minute profile of … Read more
By Steven Dietz Directed by Joanie Schultz Produced by American Blues Theater 9-11 Conspiracies Fuel Drama The complexity of conspiracy theories are naturally fascinating to a storyteller. Not that they’re necessarily well-told or sensible stories, but their believers and repeaters grant them an importance many artists wish their own stories could gain. In his 2009 … Read more
Opera in two acts By Mieczyslaw Weinberg Libretto by Alexander Medvedev based on the novel of the same name by Zofia Posmysz Conducted by sir Andrew Davis Stage Direction by David Pountney At the Lyric Opera of Chicago Stunningly powerful Holocaust opera is a tasteful testimony to the courage and heroism of the human spirit. … Read more