Review: Artistic Home’s Eurydice Captures Playwright Sarah Ruhl’s Quirky Charm
Orpheus and Eurydice are on the beach—two adorable young lovers. He’s lost in his music and in describing his love for Eurydice. He plays the melody he wrote for her […]
Review: Broken Nose Theatre’s Audio Play, Kingdom, Tells a Black LGBTQ Story With Heart
Arthur and Henry are long time partners; they’ve lived together for 40 years in Orlando, in the shadow of the “Magic Kingdom.” Now same-sex marriage has been legalized and the […]
Preview: WTTW Celebrates Mother of Invention Viola Spolin in Inventing Improv
Tonight WTTW’s Chicago Stories premiers “Inventing Improv,” a one-hour special about “Chicago’s greatest export,” improvisation, and its visionary creator, Viola Spolin. Writer/producer Jude Leak chronicles the journey of Spolin, the […]
Review: Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s As You Like It Combines the Bard and the Beatles to Surprising, Engaging Results
Over the centuries, Shakespeare has been adapted in countless ways. It’s the appeal of his work, after all: universal in its appeal, timeless in its messages, and just as entertaining […]
Review: Windy City Playhouse Serves a Banquet of Delights with A Recipe for Disaster
Food impresario Rick Bayless and his writing colleagues Carl Menninger and Amy Rubenstein, along with skilled director David H. Bell, have whipped up quite a treat in the Petterino’s banquet space […]
Review: Steppenwolf Opens 2021-22 Season With Tracy Letts’ Trio of Virtual Plays Set in an Off-Kilter World
Steppenwolf Theatre adds to its Steppenwolf Now series with three short plays by Tracy Letts, available virtually through October 24. These three pieces, totaling about 40 minutes, create the opening […]
Review: Hermanas Do It for Themselves in Goodman’s American Mariachi
The Destinos Latino Theater Festival is Chicago’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, and the Goodman Theatre’s offering is American Mariachi, a co-production with the Dallas Theater Center. Henry Godinez directs […]
Review: Lyric Uncorks the Charm with The Elixir of Love
The two works that began Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2021-22 season could hardly contrast more. The first opening, on September 17, was Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth: Dark, brutal, gory, filled with lust for power, rage […]
Review: Lyric’s Macbeth Delivers the Sound and Fury in Return to Live Performance
Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its 2021-22 comeback season September 17 with Giuseppe Verdi’s 1847 interpretation of William Shakespeare’s 1606 play Macbeth. There have been few works of literature more […]
Preview: Fall Beckons and Chicago Gets Its Circus On (with Two Tours—CirqueUs and Midnight Circus)
“High-flying, knot-tying, gravity-defying aerialists, loopy jugglers, musicians that pull at your heartstrings, and comedy that will leave you in stitches!” It happens every summer now for the past few years […]
Review: Controlled Burn–Raks Inferno Makes a Safe but Sizzling Return to In Person Shows
It’s been a long while since things were “normal.” And the last time we set foot in the Newport Theater, it was over a year ago and cold out. Very […]
Dialogs: Architecture Collides With Theater in Steppenwolf Podcast, “Collision,” Featuring AS+GG’s Gordon Gill
Theater and architecture share a creative bond in this edition of Steppenwolf Theatre’s Half Hour podcast series. The podcast features Gordon Gill, the architect for Steppenwolf’s new Arts and Education […]