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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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
Tuesday, 04 October 2022 15:53
Review: Hell in a Handbag's "Frankenstreisand" @ Redline VR
Written by John Accrocco
Nobody does camp like Hell in a Handbag Productions. Ensemble-developed, oddball parodies of queer iconoclasts are what they do best. For their 21st season, longtime collaborators Tyler Anthony Smith and director Stephanie Shaw meld Barbra Streisand’s enduring legacy with Mary Shelly’s classic horror story. A cast of loveable weirdos round…
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Theatre in Review
Sunday, 02 October 2022 12:29
Highly Recommended! "Botticelli in the Fire" at First Floor Theatre
Sarz Maxwell
BOTTICELLI in the FIRE is a delight! I’ve got a lot to say about this production, but if you want to cut to the chase: See BOTTICELLI in the FIRE! I’d little idea what to expect, except that queerness would be a major theme, and I’m afraid reading this review…
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Theatre in Review
Tuesday, 27 September 2022 14:53
Review: Idle Muse Theatre Company's 'The Strange Case of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE' at The Edge Off-Broadway Theatre
Sarz Maxwell
I found DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE to be weird. Well, it’s supposed to be weird, right? It’s a weird and spooky story about Dr. Henry Jekyll, a respectable, conventional Victorian physician, liberating his dark side: a persona named Edward Hyde, whose cruel and amoral exploits prove ruinous. Yeah. Weird.…
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