2,260 stories from Chicago Theater Beat
Victory Garden's Roz and Ray, by Karen Hartman, is both sobering and upsetting. It is also commands your attention. Hartman has captured a world of Big Pharma injustice in the two-person dra…
With Northlight Theatre's Miss Bennet-Christmas at Pemberley, playwrights Margot Melcon and Lauren Gunderson craft a sparkling, witty, feel-good world premiere rom-com that is also a sharp, …
As clever and gorgeous as King Charles III is to behold, Mike Bartlett's tale about what would happen if Prince Charles took the throne falters in the storytelling. The Royal family never se…
Filled with fights, shipwrecks, mutiny and requited love, Rutherford's Travels resembles an action movie. Based on the award-winning novel *Middle Passage* by Charles Johnson, the play was a…
Thanks to the late, great Charles M. Schulz, the Peanuts gang lives on " and Emerald City Theatre's glowing adaptation of A Charlie Brown Christmas is a sweetly existential reminder that the…
Farce is hard to do well: it's a strange balance of comedy and satire that often falls flat. With First Floor Theater's world premiere of Emily Zemba's Deer and the Lovers, sadly this is the…
"Annie" the musical is a lovely, glorious, filled-with-happiness evening. If the tour is coming to your city, be sure you don't miss out on this feel-good, family-friendly production. Highly…
As musicals go, Marriott Theatre's Singin' in the Rain is entertaining. The songs are marvelous, the dancing is terrific, the cast is likable. But pull back the covers on this nearly 65-yea…
Eclipse Theatre has a challenge on their hands in topping this fascinating 2016 season. Playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis' Little Flower is both tragic and strangely optimistic, leaving the au…
With actress Sarah Gise serving as The Amish Project's sole performer, Jessica Dickey's one-woman production is a much-needed and powerful reminder that hope can arise from the direst of cir…
Theatre Y's Macbeth, workshopped and directed by Georges Bigot, borders on gimmicky, and almost cheapens Shakespeare's text. If only Bigot and company had stepped back a bit, lessened their …
With Agency Theater Collective's Chagrin Falls, a play set in small town Oklahoma, playwright Mia McCullough has done an excellent job in giving her characters a tangible sense of humanity. …
Directed by Andrew Volkoff for About Face Theatre, I Am My Own Wife is a rich, enthralling docudrama that shines a klieg light on the very worst and the very best aspects of humankind. Highl…
Directed and choreographed by Matt Crowle, the charms of Drury Lane's Crazy for You aren't limited to a single Gershwin song. The entire show is a hoot, with a huge heart, killer dancing, an…
Simply put, I was really impressed with what Collaboraction's The Mars Assignment, a world premiere by Elsa Hiltner and Ronan Marra, was trying to do in exploring depression and how it affe…
End of the Rainbow is a sad but respectful tribute to the end of an icon, Judy Garland, and the end of an era. Rich with beautiful music and nuanced portrayals, Porchlight Music Theatre's la…
Betrayal explores an affair from all angles: primal, emotional and intellectual. A Last Five Years of infidelity, Harold Pinter's *Betrayal* gives both woman and man the respect they deserve…
The Magic Play, Andrew Hinderaker's world premiere at Goodman Theatre, is embedded with stunning magic and aerial stunts. It's also full of distracting side stories and underdeveloped chara…
"Fun Home" is a moving musical that's delivered through sheer, enthralling storytelling. Based on Alison Bechdel's autobiographical graphic novel, it has more emotion-per-measure than most l…
Eugene Lee's *East Texas Hot Links* is a Brutal, lyrical play that immediately hits you on a visceral level. With a superb design and masterful direction, Writers Theatre has created a must…
With *Saturn Returns*, Tif Harrison and company present a thoughtful, comprehensive look at the major life changes of one's late twenties. If only the show weren't bogged down by superfluous…
Strong cast tell fascinating story of the first black actor to play Othello that contains strong parallels to today. Recommended. (read Duan Barnes' entire review....)
Interrobang Theatre Project's *Still*, by Jen Silverman, deftly explores the phenomenon of the stillborn child with a distinctive twist - it is told from the perspective of the child himself…
Check out Chicago theater's 2016 Equity Jeff Awards. Big winners include Chicago Shakespeare's *The Tempest*, Porchlight Music Theatre's *Dreamgirls*, Paramount Theatre's *West Side Story*,…
Now in its 48th Equity season, the Jeff Awards has been honoring outstanding theatre artists annually since it was established in 1968. The Jeff Awards Committee judged the opening nig…
