Wednesday, September 11, 2024
As my first experience with this Kenneth Lonergan 1996 contemporary classic, seeing it in a small black box, directed by and starring twentysomethings, was a visceral thrill. Under Andrew Sh…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 11:55AMWednesday, August 14, 2024
Tin Drum Theatre Company’s inaugural production is well-suited for its motto, “where dramatic disturbances are the norm.” Founding member Steve Needham’s original one-act, directed b…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 09:23AMWednesday, May 15, 2024
Young People’s Theatre of Chicago brings this musical adaptation of the children’s book classic Last Stop on Market Street back to Chicago in a vibrant production that packs soul, substa…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 12:36PMWednesday, April 17, 2024
My first visit to Trap Door Theatre did not disappoint, from the hidden alley entrance to the immediate sense of time travel and disorientation upon entry. For the last show of its 30th anni…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 01:17PMWednesday, March 27, 2024
I can’t remember the last time I left a theater a little teary and a lot inspired, with a carpe diem spring in my step. Remy Bumppo’s production of John Kolvenbach’s one-act rom-com, h…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 03:42PMThursday, February 1, 2024
Ma’at Production Association of Afrikan Centered Theatre’s (MPAACT) latest production, a revival of Carla Stillwell’s 2012 adaptation of Orron Kenyatta’s poetry (also directed by Sti…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 12:10PMWednesday, July 26, 2023
The Mercury Theater production of this five-time Tony-nominated musical re-creates the 80s with such abandon that the audience’s fervor was palpable (and loud) on the night I attended. Tom…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 04:13PMFriday, June 23, 2023
This world premiere from the Plagiarists, written by Chicago-based playwright Alexander Utz and directed by Jonathan Shaboo, has a unique premise and immersive staging (watch out for sand) b…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 12:19PMThursday, April 27, 2023
Eclectic Full Contact Theatre’s first full-length production in Chicago since 2019, a world premiere penned by Maggie Lou Rader, is haunting, literally. Based on the first reported instanc…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 02:48PMWednesday, April 5, 2023
It feels early to stage a play set during, and concerning the effects of, the early days of COVID-19 on its characters. We can still feel those days intimately, given the short passing of ti…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 12:25PMThursday, March 23, 2023
Promethean Theatre’s world premiere of local playwright Trina Kakacek’s two-act dramedy, directed by Anna C. Bahow, is a unique and meaty thought experiment that would benefit from some …
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 12:31PMThursday, February 9, 2023
Alexis J. Roston’s sixth go-round playing jazz legend Billie Holiday in the last year of her life is beautifully layered, heartbreaking, and still affirming of the great vocalist’s accom…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 11:39AMWednesday, January 18, 2023
For the uninitiated like I was, just entering the Chicago Magic Lounge on a chilly Wednesday evening was a thrill. Via a secret door, the faux-laundromat entry gives way to a luxe theater bo…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 12:01PMWednesday, November 9, 2022
After thoroughly enjoying the shameless perversity of Kokandy Productions’s Cruel Intentions, under Adrian Abel Azevedo’s direction, I found Azevedo’s Rent at Porchlight to bring a sta…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 11:35AMFriday, October 28, 2022
The game Clue taught me what “confidential” means, that a conservatory is just a fancy greenhouse, and that Miss Scarlett is always the right choice. Any armchair detective that could [�…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 09:43AMThursday, September 8, 2022
In partnership with the University of Illinois Chicago’s Disability Cultural Center, Babes With Blades’s interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s darkest plays is exciting and subversive…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 04:43PMWednesday, July 27, 2022
More than 30 years into his second act as a mind reader and psychic performer, Ross Johnson, a former schoolteacher, is still eliciting gasps. The second performer at Rogers Park’s new Rha…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 03:28PMWednesday, July 20, 2022
On its ten-year anniversary and return from a COVID-19 hiatus, Midsommer Flight is restaging A Midsummer Night’s Dream,the play that started it all in 2012. On the night I attended, the cr…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 11:01AMFriday, June 24, 2022
We all remember where we were when we saw Cruel Intentions. Its iconic soundtrack (anyone else melt to Counting Crows’ “Colorblind”?) and “shameless perversity” (thank you, Buzzfee…
SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 10:35AMTuesday, February 25, 2020
The tragedy of a single elephant's death has universal implications in Griffin's production.
This Lynn Nottage drama is pure kinetic energy, exploring the illici…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:20PMTuesday, February 11, 2020
Two standout performances anchor Raven's production of the Ibsen classic.
In the Chicago premiere of this Henrik Ibsen adaptation, Raven Theatre and director Lau…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:30PMTuesday, January 28, 2020
Orlagh Cassidy centers this one-woman show, but the script needs more depth.
Nancy Pelosi is having her moment. From her literal clapback at President Trump to h…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:15PMWednesday, January 22, 2020
Kids and families are in charge at this Portage Park theater
It could have been Lord of the Flies. Filament Theatre was giving over complete control of its space…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:15PMTuesday, January 14, 2020
Lifeline Theatre KidSeries brings children and animals together for a family-friendly yarn.
Based on Annie Silvestro's children's book of the same title, this Li…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:10PMTuesday, December 10, 2019
Hell in a Handbag's Midler revue is middling.
Iconic singer Bette Midler cut her teeth at New York City's Continental Baths, earning the nickname "Bathhouse Bett…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:55PMTuesday, November 19, 2019
Githa Sowerby's long-neglected drama has a strong cast at TimeLine, but drags at times.
For a mostly forgotten 1912 play, written by Githa Sowerby (but presented…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:15PMWednesday, November 6, 2019
Forty-three years after its first production, Jackie Taylor's African American adaptation still enchants and empowers.
Now in its 43rd year, this Black Ensemble …
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AMA coworker's suicide leads to soul-searching in Kate Tarker's darkly comic meditation.
We spend at least 40 hours a week next to them and countless more rehashin…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AMWednesday, October 16, 2019
Delicious acerbic drag performances spice up this whodunit.
"I think the most important thing a woman can have—next to talent, of course—is her hairdresser,"…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AMWednesday, October 9, 2019
Mary Bonnett's drama has intriguing subject matter, but doesn't fully connect.
The world premiere of Her Story Theater producing artistic director Mary Bonnett's…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AMWednesday, October 2, 2019
Filament Theatre's staging helps the audience feel right at home.
Recommended for ages four through ten, Filament Theatre's production of this one-act by Ramón …
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00AM 
