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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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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Theatre in Review
Goodman Theatre welcomes back audiences with Lynn Nottage’s Broadway hit, “Clyde’s”. Collaboration between Goodman and playwright Lynn Nottage goes way back, including the 2019 production of her second Pulitzer Prize winner “Sweat”. This food-filled dramady is directed by Kate Whoriskey who has directed several of Nottage’s plays around the country.…
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Theatre in Review
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Tuesday, 20 September 2022 15:09
“Red Summer” at Governors State University Center for Performing Arts in Collaboration with MPAACT – Just one story of a shameful past
Written by Wesley David
The term "Red Summer" was coined by civil rights activist and author James Weldon Johnson, who had been employed as a field secretary by the NAACP since 1916. It is the period from late winter through early autumn of 1919 during which white supremacist terrorism and racial riots took place in more than…
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Theatre in Review
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Monday, 19 September 2022 14:08
Review: Kokandy Production's 'Sweeney Todd' at Chopin Theatre
Sarz Maxwell
Oy … where to begin with Stephen Sondheim’s SWEENEY TODD? Let’s begin with what one sees first: the venue. Chopin Theatre opened in 1918 at the Polonia Triangle in Wicker Park. Over 100 years the building has variously housed (among other things) a bank, a thrift shop, and a discotheque. In…
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Theatre in Review
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Thursday, 15 September 2022 13:52
The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington funny but not funny ha-ha, funny like, oh sh*t!
Written by Wesley David
Black and Irish Twitter had a field day upon the death of Her Highness Queen Elizabeth II. No tears were shed other than tears of laughter and joy at the demise of a colonizer. Telling Black twitter to be respectful of the death of the woman who inherited the legacy…
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Theatre in Review
Sunday, 11 September 2022 11:09
Drury Lane’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ Delivers A Fine Whodunit the Leaves Us Guessing to the End
Written by Kimberly Katz
Ken Ludwig has adapted the beloved Agath Christie whodunit 'Murder on the Orient Express' in a rich and wonderful way. The play revolves around the murder of a wealthy businessman aboard a luxurious train. Detective Hurcule Poirot is on the case and there is no shortage of suspects aboard the…
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Theatre in Review
Monday, 12 September 2022 15:29
Review: 'Arsenic and Old Lace' at Court Theatre
Written by John Accrocco
Murder’s a hoot in Court Theatre’s revival of Joseph Kesselring’s “Arsenic and Old Lace.” Lighthearted and stylish, director Ron OJ Parson’s production makes for a charming season opener. Court Theatre was awarded a Tony award for best regional theatre and it feels fitting for a well-known classic to be this…
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