GREEK TRAGEDY IN THE 'HOOD Luis Alfaro's slant on the Oedipus myth is at no point more transparent than the opening of his play, when several Latinos in orange jumpsuits sit behind bars, nod…
STEADY AS IT GOES A Steady Rain, Chicago Dramatists' prodigal son, has finally come home, giving audiences a chance to sit down again with Denny and Joey, the two cops that disturbed the hel…
IF YOU LET IT, FERVENCY AND JOY COMPENSATE FOR TROUBLING SCRIPT A joyful noise is rising out of the Goodman Theatre this summer. With hearty vibrato and a religious fervor rivaled only by te…
WATKINS HAS US IN THE PALM OF HIS HANDS I had one reservation headed into The House Theatre of Chicago's The Magic Parlour: almost every magic show I had ever been to has been obnoxiously sh…
A LUKEWARM PRODUCTION OF A HOT SCRIPT This July, Pastime Theatre is ripping off their clothes and inviting audiences to join in on the fun. "Naked July: Art Stripped Down" is a theatre festi…
THE YODELING ROCKS, THE SHOW DOES NOT Before Adam Guettel was declared the next Sondheim by many for his beautiful, swelling Light in the Piazza score, he drew on the rich folk sounds of Ken…
LET ME GO, LOVER I'll be the first to admit as a twenty-something that I don't know what it's like to feel like your sex life has passed you by " something I'm told that many couples expe…
MR. SANDMAN, BRING ME A NIGHTMARE There is something passing strange at the Oracle Theatre, and you won't want to miss it. In Oracle's The Sandman, dreams are not to be trusted, illusion and…
SHANGHAIED It takes a rare courage to brave Chicago's Navy Pier during the summer. A combination of lines and advertisements threaten to ensnare you and your wallet with just a simple misste…
A FRAGILE PRODUCTION STILL RESONATES Stepping from the bustling, sunny streets of Lincoln Park into Steppenwolf's Garage Theatre feels like traveling back almost a century into the sepia-ton…
A TRIUMPHANT FLY TO BUZZ ABOUT I won't try to tell you the plot of Anger/Fly, other than that a fly lands in soup and the world ends. In Theatre of the Absurd, plot is rarely the point " and…
SHOULD YOU GO TO HELL? Sarte said that Hell is other people, but playwright Ethan Coen proposes that watching other people experience hell is supposed to be hysterical. Coen's Almost An Even…
[title of review] The Northlight Theatre decided to step off of the beaten path this season, putting on the relatively unknown cult musical [title of show]. The simple premise has two writer…