WHEN SHAKESPEARE NEEDS A LITTLE HELP Physical comedy drives the laughs"sometimes to excess"in Phillip Breen's energetic production The Merry Wives of Windsor is not one of Shakespeare's most…
MUCH ADO ABOUT ADO AND EVERY BIT WORTH THE FUSS ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Selina…
Steppenwolf's in-the-round production of Amadeus, directed by Robert Falls, takes a sparse approach to design, perhaps by necessity, or perhaps to highlight the juxtaposition between the cou…
Chicago Shakespeare Theater's North American premiere of Paranormal Activity is guaranteed to deliver the horror movie-style scares you're looking for this Halloween season, but if you're lo…
STUNNING AND UNSETTLING, MR. WOLF IS AT THE DOOR Steppenwolf Theatre's Chicago premiere of Mr. Wolf is a searing examination of parental sacrifice, loss, and the elusive nature of home. Unde…
A CLAUSTROPHOBIC MISERY AT CITADEL Citadel Theatre's production of Misery by William Goldman, based on the novel by Stephen King, is a respectable staging that scratches the itch for a…
AN EXTREMELY FEMINIST PLAY. OR IS IT? Never meet a man, they say. What happens if we have to work with one? Artemis Books & The Well-Meaning Man poses the complex question of how, if at …
CHICAGO-BORN AND HEAVEN-SENT, THIS IS NOT A REVIVAL. IT'S A RECKONING. Angels in America is one of the greatest plays in the American theatre canon. Period. Tony Kushner created a two-part e…
A MUSICAL COMEDY TO REMIND YOU WHY YOU FELL IN LOVE WITH THE ARTFORM IN THE FIRST PLACE "In 1982 a man called Larry put himself in a lawn chair, got some 42 balloons, and went to sixteen tho…
DIAL M FOR MURDEROUS LAUGHTER Chicago is the city of improv, but excellent improv can still be hard to come by. Yet the magnificent company Hitch*Cocktails always delivers, and they do it wh…
JUDGING THE BOOK OF GRACE BY ITS (VERY IMPRESSIVE) COVER The Chicago Premiere of The Book of Grace at Steppenwolf Theatre is an expertly executed production of an underwhelming family drama.…
KNIGHTS AND ACROBATS AN ODD PAIR AT LOOKINGGLASS Circus Quixote"Lookingglass Theatre's fun spectacle best suited for a family crowd"is an ambitious attempt to merge Miguel de Cervantes' time…
NOW VS. THEN A historic confrontation between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., America's most influential conservative inte…
A HEARTWARMING ADAPTATION The world premiere of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women adapted by Lauren Gunderson as a co-commission from Northlight Theatre, City Theatre, People's Light, a…
AN INCREDIBLE SCORE; A FINE PRODUCTION; A FUNNY AND POIGNANT FRACTURED FAMILY PORTRAIT; WHY, THEN, DOES THIS REVIVAL NOT EMOTIONALLY RESONATE? Court Theatre and Timeline Theatre's joint prod…
THE REAL TRAGEDY WOULD BE MISSING THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET Legendary director Robert Lepage and dancer/choreographer Guillaume Côté reunite to re-imagine theatre's most timeless, persistent…
INTO THE WOODS ACCOMPANIED BY TWO PIANOS? IN A STOREFRONT THEATRE? IT'S A DREAM COME TRUE Kokandy's production of Into the Woods directed by Derek Van Barham with music direction by Nick Sul…
The devil's voice is sweet to hear. " Stephen King, from the novel Needful Things Steppenwolf's production of Leroy and Lucy by Ngozi Anyanwu is a seductive and life-affirming reimagining of…
THE SKOOBY ON HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THIS BUSH, OR SKOOBY DON'T GO? DEPENDS ON YOUR TASTE Hell in a Handbag Productions' world premiere of The Golden Girls Meet the Skooby Don't Gang: The Myst…
YOUR PRIMARY CHOICE FOR GREAT THEATER. TRUST ME. The Goodman's Chicago-premiere production of Primary Trust by Eboni Booth is everything I've been craving in theatre lately. Directed by Malk…
AN EXTREMELY HEAVY PORTRAYAL OF ABUSE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH It's no secret that the Catholic Church has a sordid history of covering up sexual abuse, and many have made art on this topic to…
A WITCH'S BREW WHICH EFFECTS HOPE AT HALLOWEEN There's a play about the Salem witch trials playing in Chicago, and amazingly it's not Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Sarah Ruhl wanted a turn a…
A SWEET, QUEER, NEURODIVERGENT LOVE STORY Open Space Arts' Chicago premiere of Light Switch by Dave Osmundsen is a charming play with representation that is refreshing to see on stage. The p…
THEATER THAT BINDS Raven Theatre's production of Martyna Majok's Ironbound directed by Georgette Verdin is a brilliantly patient drama supported by a stellar cast and a detail-oriented creat…
NOISES OFF AND ON AND OFF AND ON Presented in partnership with L.A.'s Geffen Playhouse (where Steppenwolf Ensemble Member Tarell Alvin McCraney is the new Artistic Director), Steppenwolf's p…