Sunday, 19 October 2025 14:42
Review: The Sporting Life at Factory Theater
Written by Maddie Burroughs
Let me start by saying: this play is not for anyone unfamiliar with feminine rage. While I’m all for experiential desensitization, diving straight into a show all about female “hysteria,” periods, witches, and penis-biting might be a bit much for your first swim. You don’t need to be a woman…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 20 October 2025 14:31
Disney’s Finding Nemo Charms Audiences of All Ages at Marriott Theatre
Written by Betsy Schmitt
It’s always risky to take a familiar story and translate it from one medium to another, in this instance from film to stage. Will the adaptation do justice to the story? Will our favorite characters be recognizable to us? Will we walk away happily satisfied with the end result? I…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Friday, 17 October 2025 15:14
Chicago Shakespeare Theater Terrifies and Astounds with Paranormal Activity
Written by Lauren Katz
Lou (Cher Álvarez) and James (Patrick Heusinger) are in their bedroom. They are so focused on each other that they don’t notice the flashing light in the bedroom down the hall. The catch? Lou and James are the only ones in the house. So that leaves the question – who…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Friday, 17 October 2025 15:00
Sandra Delgado’s Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars at Timeline Illuminates the Immigrant Experience
Written by Wesley David
TimeLine Theatre opens its 29th season with the world premiere of Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars, a deeply personal and politically charged play written by and starring Sandra Delgado. Under the careful direction of Kimberly Senior, the production folds an intimate family drama into the broader context of immigration under…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 14 October 2025 13:14
“Revolution(s)” – Rage, Reflection, and the Cost of Change at Goodman Theatre
Written by Wesley David
Goodman Theatre launches its 2025/26 season at the Owen with Revolution(s), a world premiere musical that thunders with urgency and defiance. Written by Zayd Ayers Dohrn—2016 Horton Foote New American Play Prize winner and son of Bill Ayers, co-founder of the Weather Underground—the play carries the weight of history and…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 13 October 2025 14:02
Raven Theatre’s OAK Leaves Audiences in Terror and Awe
Written by Lauren Katz
“What happens if we never loosen our grip?” Director Mikael Burke ends his director’s note with the question above. He muses on the responsibilities of parents, and how all we want is to keep our children safe. We hold them close to keep them from harm, but ultimately, what does…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 12 October 2025 13:48
Review: House of the Exquisite Corpse V: Blood & Puppets from Rough House Theater Co. at Steppenwolf's Merle Reskin Garage
Written by Maddie Burroughs
More than a haunted house and not quite a play, the House of the Exquisite Corpse series lives somewhere between immersive theater and a live-action episode of Black Mirror. For the fifth year in a row, Rough House Theater Co. is haunting Steppenwolf's Merle Reskin Garage Theatre with House of…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Saturday, 11 October 2025 13:34
Riding the Ghost Train: Trap Door’s Dutchman Reimagines Baraka’s Curse
Written by Wesley David
Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman remains one of the most incisive allegories in American drama—a modern tale in which seduction, power, and racial history collide in the confined space of a subway car. Trap Door Theatre’s production, directed with precision and calculated risk by Keith Surney, resurrects the play’s mythic and political…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Sunday, 12 October 2025 15:47
Operatic Magic in Motion: Medea a Marvel at Lyric Opera
Written by Kendall Royzen
A famous Chicagoan once said “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Life does move fast, and opportunities and experiences are the simplest way to pause time. For me there’s no better place in all of Chicago where…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Wednesday, 08 October 2025 11:43
In Jojo Jones 'Veal,' Middle School Bullies Cower as Their Former Target Now Rules the World
Written by Bill Esler
Jojo Jones’ “Veal,” premiering at A Red Orchid Theatre in Old Town, is among the recent wave of plays set in a post-apocalyptic near future - the better to show how core social values and structures might play out for individuals placed abruptly in a clean-slate setting. The increasing frequency…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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Those familiar with The Lion King will recognize the opening cords of “Circle of Life.” Rafiki (Mukelisiwe Goba) enters and as she sings, the animals begin to take their places on the stage. Zebras. Birds. Cheetahs. Gazelles. And of course, lions. However, what is especially magical about this Disney musical…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Thursday, 02 October 2025 12:04
Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Rome Sweet Rome Modernizes Julius Caesar
Written by Lauren Katz
Walking into the Courtyard Theater for Rome Sweet Rome, you might find it’s impossible not to be taken aback by the design. College Pollard’s Scenic Design astounds – particularly with the large replica Michaelangelo’s sculpture the David at the center. The catch? The statue is featured from behind, giving the…
Published in
Theatre in Review
Monday, 29 September 2025 12:53
McGovern’s Magnetic Ava Commands the Spotlight at Studebaker Theater
Written by Kimberly Katz
Elizabeth McGovern’s embodiment of Ava Gardner in Ava: The Secret Conversations, now playing at the Studebaker Theater inside Chicago’s storied Fine Arts Building, is a riveting study in fragility, fire, and fierce self-preservation. Written by McGovern herself, the play peels back the layers of Gardner’s tumultuous life and career beginning…
Published in
Theatre in Review
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