89 stories by "C.j. Fernandes"
IBSEN'S ICONIC ANTIHEROINE STILL MAKES A MESS OF POLITE SOCIETY A sleek, sharply acted production driven by a magnetic central performance, even at a lightning pace Redtwist Theatre may have…
MISERY, MARRIAGE, AND A MIDWEST LIVING ROOM THAT CAN'T HOLD IT ALL A powerhouse pairing turns Inge's domestic ache into something bruising, intimate, and hard to shake It may be the season o…
TOLKIEN'S CLASSIC QUEST BECOMES INVENTIVE ENSEMBLE STORYTELLING A clever, resourceful adaptation that turns theatrical minimalism into maximum adventure. Taking you "There and Back Again" in…
It's the little ways you try together; cry together; lie together"that make perfect relationships     " Stephen Sondheim, Company Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, i…
This oral history of the Irish-American journey soars when it sings A history lesson masquerading as a jukebox musical, The Irish … and How They Got That Way is the creation of Pulitzer wi…
HISTORY IN DIALOGUE WITH ITSELF Dominique Morisseau's time-splitting drama refuses easy parallels On paper, Dominique Morisseau's Confederates might read as high concept: two Black women in …
RISING WATER CAN'T FIND ITS CURRENT A powerful premise sinks under miscasting and flat pacing John Biguenet's Rising Water, a Pulitzer-nominated drama set in the immediate aftermath of Hurri…
THEATER IN STEREOPHONIC A terrific docudrama about artistic temperament and the torment of creation David Adjmi's Stereophonic, now playing at the CIBC, is an unusual piece of theater. It's …
About midway through Martha Graham's powerful Chronicle, performed last Saturday at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, I realized that the elevated platform at center stage was not just a pl…
A DELICATE CHAMBER PIECE THAT WILL BREAK YOUR HEART One of the advantages of a small performance space is that, in the right hands, one can set the mood even before the play has begun. In th…
A PRIVILEGED PTA CIRCUS, THEN A VAXNADO The funniest ten minutes onstage, ever, flanked by a modestly amusing satire. In Jonathan Spector's Eureka Day, five concerned parents gather around a…
FOUR UKRAINIAN REFUGEES NAVIGATE WAR'S AFTERSHOCKS IN A NIGHTMARE OF BUREAUCRACY Natalka Vorozhbyt's darkly funny, deeply bruising play finds Trap Door Theatre at its most urgent"and most hu…
A HOLIDAY MYSTERY WITH VICTORIAN MISCHIEF ON ITS MIND Chesterton by way of Conan Doyle, wrapped in Wodehouse-style tomfoolery Arthur Conan Doyle wrote only one Christmas-themed Sherlock Holm…
A THRILLER THAT OUTLASTS ITS TWIST Even when we know what's coming, the tension holds Let's talk about the cojones required to mount a production of Gaslight nowadays. Even if we assume " a …
A FAIRYTALE REBORN ON THE SOUTH SIDE Wheeldon's Chicago-set Nutcracker still casts a decade-long spell Ten years in, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and the World's Columbian Exposition are still a match …
THE OG CHRISTMAS GHOST STORY The Goodman puts the chills back in the chestnuts ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ In some ways, it is remarkable that Goodm…
NO GROWN-UPS ALLOWED " SORT OF CCT's Beatrix Potter party charms kids, critics, and everyone in between ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ "Channel your in…
THE LONGER CHRISTMAS DINNER In Wilder's meditation on time, the actors have to do the heavy lifting ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ "Only time, only the…
TOAD-ALLY DELIGHTFUL Ribbiting from start to finish, this Year goes by in a flash. ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad series h…
THERE IS NO TAMING THIS PRICKLY AND INVIGORATING SHREW ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ I won't deny it: I squealed in excitement when I received the inv…
THE OTHER CHRISTMAS CAROL A clever, moving tale of a ghost searching for grace ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Boy does it suck to be Jacob Marley. You …
A WIG-PULLING, EYE-SCRATCHING BAUBLE OF HOLIDAY CHEER ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ When The Real Housewives of Orange County premiered on Bravo in 20…
COARSE, HAIRY FUN ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ The Christmas pantomime, or "panto", as it is colloquially called, is a longstanding English holiday t…
HELL'S ON FIRE Hell's Kitchen, a jukebox musical featuring the music of R&B superstar Alicia Keys (with several new songs) and a book by Kristoffer Diaz, took Broadway by storm in 2024, …
MURDER, MAYHEM, AND A MANUSCRIPT TO DIE FOR Sometimes uncontrollable forces work in your favor. How fortunate then for MadKap productions that on the opening night of their production of Ira…
