Alias Grace Shines at Rivendell Theatre
Adapting a Margaret Atwood novel to a two-hour play is a noble and massive undertaking. Perhaps that’s why Netflix chose to create a miniseries of the book due to come […]
Goodman’s A View From the Bridge: Powerful Story, Visceral Language = Great Theater
Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge is performed on the most minimal of stages with few costume changes (and no shoes), thus proving that it’s really the script and […]
Honest Abe’s Spiritual Awakening in The Heavens Are Hung in Black
Shattered Globe Theatre presents the first in its all-Chicago premiere season, Pulitzer-nominee James Still’s The Heavens are Hung in Black, at Theater Wit through October 21, and directed by Louis […]
Orwell’s 1984 at AstonRep Is a Chilling Dystopia, Now More Than Ever
Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell’s dystopian novel, was considered science fiction when it was published in 1949. Almost 70 years later, in an era of alternative facts and so-called fake news, […]
Get Serious About Nerding Out at 5th Annual Chicago Nerd Comedy Festival
Were you left a little wanting when Wizard World wrapped up at the end of August? A little bit sad that C2E2 won’t pop up till spring, and can’t wait for […]
Deirdre of the Sorrows, Synge’s Romantic Irish Legend, on Stage at City Lit
Deirdre of the Sorrows by John Millington Synge is based on the Irish legend of Deirdre, set in ancient times in the Irish kingdom of Ulster. City Lit Theater is […]
Stages Monthly: What to See in Chicago Theaters in September
September is a hectic month for theater in Chicago. Although summer is no longer the slow season it used to be, September sees a lot of season openers and just […]
Strawdog Theatre’s Barbecue Roasts Our Attitudes About Race, Class and Celebrity
Robert O’Hara’s Barbecue is not a treatise on meat-grilling. It’s a satire that roasts our attitudes about race, class and money. It’s a funny, biting family story with a twisty, […]
Black Button Eyes Productions’ Shockheaded Peter Has More Style Than Substance
Presented at the Athenaeum Theatre by Black Button Eyes Productions, Shockheaded Peter presents a series of gruesome vignettes adapted from a German book entitled The Struwwelpeter, written in 1845 by […]
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity: The American Dream in All Its Slamming, Kicking Glory
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity is about pro wrestling in all its pounding, banging, slamming, kicking performance art glory. It’s loud and obnoxious. And much of the play that […]
Writers Theatre’s Trevor Polished, But Misguided
If the crux of your musical’s story centers around its 13-year-old protagonist’s attempted suicide, it may be best to forgo an Act II opener that dresses its young cast in […]
Theatre Oobleck’s Closed Casket: Baudelaire’s Final Act
It is no small undertaking to decide to adapt Charles Baudelaire’s seminal 19th century volume of poetry, Les fleurs du mal. Some may find its sheer length and poetic complexity daunting, […]