Review: Trapped in Abby Geni’s The Body Farm
The characters in The Body Farm span across generations, backgrounds, lifestyles, and conflicts, but they all seem to share one thing: they’re trapped. This is Abby Geni’s second short story […]
Review: The Kite Runner Reveals Complex Story of Guilt and Redemption
The Kite Runner is a contemplative play that spans decades, continents and various aspects of the human heart. The national tour production is currently playing at the CIBC Theatre through […]
Review: A Few Bad Apples Can’t Sour Three Sisters, Chekhov’s Masterwork, Presented by Invictus Theatre Company
Melodrama gets a bum rap. It’s silly, the cynics say, unrealistic, it’s too much. But when melodrama is done well there’s nothing else like it. The genre appeals to the […]
Review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Stars in Tuesday, a Vulnerable, Whimsical Exploration of Self Preservation and Perseverance
There’s no denying that there are more movies than ever. Film festivals routinely report higher submission numbers than ever, and it’s next to impossible to keep track of what’s premiering […]
Review: Róisín Murphy Delivers a Shapeshifting Electropop Dance Party at the Riviera Theatre
Róisín Murphy is a powerhouse performer. The Irish electropop artist vamps, dances, and whirls from one end of the stage to the other throughout the show. She changes into a […]
Review: Pixar Channels Familiar Emotions (and Several Charming New Ones) for Inside Out 2, the Rare Sequel Success
For many animation fans, the original Inside Out represents not only the best that Pixar has to offer, but also the depths to which animation as an art-form can go […]
Review: Ghostlight Portrays a Chicago Family Tragedy That’s Healed Through Theater
Chicago-based actor Keith Kupferer is your ultimate every-man performer. I’ve seen him in many stage roles over the years (The Humans, God of Carnage, Support Group for Men, Cake) but […]
Review: Allie X Debuts Girl With No Face US Tour at Thalia Hall
I have been waiting a long time for the opportunity to catch Allie X live again; especially with her latest immensely synth-heavy record Girl With No Face that I am […]
Riot Fest Announces Departure from Douglass Park, Making a New Home at RiotLand in Bridgeview
Change is nothing new to Riot Fest. Starting off as a multi-venue festival before calling Humboldt Park home for a few years, then migrating to Douglass Park, the festival is […]
Preview: Classics, Contemporary Plays and a World Premiere at Wisconsin’s American Players Theatre
With summer temperatures beckoning us, Chicago theatergoers may start thinking about an escape to the lush, green countryside of Spring Green, Wisconsin, home of American Players Theatre. For nearly half […]
Review: Tuta Theatre Stages an Experimental and Mystifying Play, Attempts on Her Life, With Style and Flamboyance
Seventeen unrelated scenes. Six actors playing nameless characters. Joy and celebration, sadness and grieving, terror and violence. But no discernible plot. Attempts on Her Life, an experimental play by Tuta Theatre, […]
Feature: The Return of Fig Dish!
In the second wave of label signings as the music industry descended on Chicago in the mid-’90s, Fig Dish stood out as particularly resistant to playing the major label game. […]