Lela & Co. at Steep Theatre: Searing Story of a Woman in a War Zone
Lela & Co. sounds like a chic boutique, a business story. And it is. It’s a horrifying story of a woman alone in a conflict zone. The business theme is […]
Broken Nose Theatre’s At the Table Asks Who Gets a Seat at That Table
Six friends sit around a table, in a weekend home outside Chicago. The table is covered with the detritus of dinner. Wine glasses are filled and emptied. Several conversations are […]
Oeuf Oeuvre Scrambled in Something Rotten! at the Oriental Theatre
To get to the bottom of the boisterous mélange that is the multi-Tony-nominated Something Rotten!, audiences need an appreciation–and perhaps a thick lexicon–of all things musical (and probably also Elizabethan), […]
Learn How to Be a Rock Critic at Steppenwolf, But Skip the Romilar
Two 3CR writers—Nancy and [Karin]—went to see Erik Jensen’s one-man performance of the life and times of rock critic Lester Bangs. Nancy wrote the review and Karin added comments. This […]
O’Neill’s Only Comedy, Ah, Wilderness!, Recreates 4th of July Family Story at Goodman Theatre
Ah, Wilderness!, Eugene O’Neill’s only comedy, is a charming, light-hearted play with an element foreign to most O’Neill scripts: a happy ending. The hero, teenaged Richard Miller (truthfully played by […]
Hitler on the Roof Is Akvavit Theatre’s Manic Meditation on Propaganda
Hitler on the Roof, I was happy to learn, is not a parody of Fiddler with Hitler playing Tevye. No, it’s a tragicomedy subtitled “A Play for Two Clowns.” The […]
Pass Over Reworks Waiting for Godot in an Exploration of Racial Oppression
Have you heard about Pass Over? It’s a play written by Antoinette Nwandu reworking Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot that opened at Steppenwolf Theatre last week. Pass Over uses the structure of absurdist theater to explore […]
Griffin Theatre’s Ragtime Shows History Surrounds Us
Based on E.L. Doctorow’s 1975 novel, Ragtime, now playing in a production by Griffin Theatre Company at the Den Theatre, weaves together three families’ stories at the beginning of the […]
Parade at Writers Theatre: A Powerful Musical About Prejudice
Set in 1913 Atlanta and written in 1998 (the same year it won two Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Original Score), Parade recounts the events surrounding the lynching […]
King Liz Is a High-Powered Sports Agent. She’ll Make You Laugh, Sigh and Think
King Liz, the new production at Windy City Playhouse, will make you laugh, make you sigh and make you think, on several levels. Directed by Chuck Smith, the play is […]
A Prayer for the Sandinistas: Period Piece About Chicago’s Polish Community
Subtext Theater Company’s new production, A Prayer for the Sandinistas, is a world premiere by Leigh Johnson, one of the two-year-old company’s founders. It’s a slow-moving period piece, the story […]
Strawdog’s The Night Season Entertains With Irish Charm and Literary References
There are literary references galore in The Night Season by Rebecca Lenkiewicz at Strawdog Theatre Company. But although you might be tempted to Google something at intermission, you’ll find this […]