Wednesday, 09 November 2022 13:27
And Now Something Completely Different: 'The Conspirators 125th Anniversary Jubilee'
Written by Bill Esler
The title alone is the tip-off that “The 125th Anniversary Jubilee” from The Conspirators is out of the ordinary—an irreverent show that is both laugh-inducing and thought provoking. “Jubilee” consists of a sampling of skits from The Conspirators past performances, as well as “imagined” skits from an impossibly distant past…
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Theatre in Review
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Sunday, 06 November 2022 14:05
Review: Porchlight Music Theatre's 'Rent' - Highly Recommended!
Sarz Maxwell
RENT opens with three slides projected one-by-one onto a billowing curtain: rent noun a payment made periodically by a tenant to a landlord in return for the use of a building rent verb [past tense of rend] to tear apart, split, or divide an object or community rent…
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Theatre in Review
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Tuesday, 01 November 2022 15:36
'American Son' at Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre: This show is miraculous!
Sarz Maxwell
You know that breathless moment of silence after the curtain falls and before the applause begins? That moment doesn’t happen often, and it always indicates a truly extraordinary performance. That silence occurred Sunday night as the stage of AMERICAN SON at Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre went black: we all sat stunned for…
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Theatre in Review
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Saturday, 29 October 2022 19:18
True Story of a False Prophet: Man of the People Is a Powerful Tonic for What Ails Us
Written by Bill Esler
“Man of the People,” an original play by Dolores Diaz, tells the incredible but true story of a 1920s medical charlatan, Dr. John Romulus Brinkley, who garnered a large following with a popular medical advice radio program. He then scammed thousands of his devoted listeners into buying useless tonics, some…
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Theatre in Review
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Wednesday, 26 October 2022 16:51
THERE ARE NO FAULTS, DEAR BRUTUS, IN INVICTUS THEATRE’S “JULIUS CAESAR”
Written by Wesley David
Invictus Theatre Company is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues in Chicago. They consistently produce excellent theatre without pretension or fanfare. For a small storefront theatre, they more than hold their own against larger, better financed houses. They are always punching above their weight class and winning. I had…
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Theatre in Review
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Playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury titled the play ‘Marys’ Seacole to emphasize its depiction of multiple Marys. Jerrell L. Henderson and Hannah Todd direct the collective Marys in kaleidoscopic vignettes at breakneck pace. Mary Jane Seacole was a British-Jamaican nurse. At the outbreak of the Crimean War she applied to the British War Office…
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Theatre in Review
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Monday, 24 October 2022 15:16
Laugh Until You Cry: "The Conspirators` 125th Anniversary Jubilee, Featuring the Ineptidemic"
Written by Bill Esler
The Conspirators is readying its next production—"The Conspirators `125th Anniversary Jubilee, Featuring the Ineptidemic"—opening Friday November 4 at the Otherworld Theatre 3914 N. Clark and running through Saturday November 19. True to the company’s inimitable, off-beat approach, it promises to be loaded with laughs yet packed with the incisive social…
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Upcoming Theatre
Sunday, 23 October 2022 15:05
'Clue' at the Mercury Theater a mystery with loads of laughs and fun
Written by CJ Burroughs
One of my earliest memories going to a movie theater is seeing Clue on the big screen. It not only started a lifetime love of Tim Curry, but cemented the Parker Brothers board game as the only board game little me ever wanted to play. And it still remains as…
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Theatre in Review
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Monday, 17 October 2022 17:42
'The Wizards' at APO Cultural Center - Supernaturally Imaginative!
Sarz Maxwell
THE WIZARDS explores the convoluted synergy of racism and urban gentrification. From the Oregon Black Laws and the more widely prevalent Sundown Laws, America has used statutory exclusion to uphold and reinforce segregation. Chicago remains the most segregated city in America; even the heinous redlining that propelled development of the…
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Theatre in Review
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More...
A title like “Swing State” is certainly provocative and might suggest exactly what Rebecca Gilman’s new play is about, but oddly enough it’s not about an election. Two of Chicago’s best actresses; Mary Beth Fisher and Kristen Fitzgerald join director Robert Falls in this much-anticipated production at Goodman Theatre. Chicago-based…
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Theatre in Review
Saturday, 15 October 2022 15:19
The Joffrey Ballet's 'Beyond Borders' at the Lyric Opera House Resplendent… Transcendent… Provocative
Sarz Maxwell
My major reaction to the Joffrey Ballet’s Fall season opening is deep gratitude: I feel privileged to have seen BEYOND BORDERS. I need to offer a caveat: I love ballet, but I know very little about it. Please, look to the experts for a technical critique. I offer only what…
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Theatre in Review
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Monday, 10 October 2022 16:41
Review: Three Crows Productions' 'MACBETH' at Redtwist Theatre
Sarz Maxwell
This is the fourth or fifth time I’ve seen Shakespeare’s MACBETH, though not since the 2009 Babes with Blades’ all-female-cast production. That was memorable, and continues to stand as my favorite rendition of The Scots Play. But Three Crows comes damn close! Edited and most ably directed by Dusty Brown…
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Theatre in Review
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Tuesday, 04 October 2022 13:47
Review: Congo Square Theatre Company's 'What to Send Up When It Goes Down' at Lookingglass Theatre
Sarz Maxwell
Described as a play-pageant-ritual-celebration, WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN is both scripted and improvised, participatory and performed – for the purpose of empowering Black People’s response to WHAT GOES DOWN: past, present, and future violence against Black People. “IT? You know what IT is. IT is that…
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Theatre in Review
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