C.J. Fernandes

HEAVY LIES THE CROWN Manny Buckley’s commanding production finds its greatest strength in the performances surrounding its troubled protagonist “If I’d been carrying twenty pounds of potatoes maybe I would have went home a shorter way.” A fading mural of Willie Mays peeks from a corner onto two weathered houses in Pittsburgh. The year is…

DANDELIONS AND DARK CLOUDS A deceptively simple children’s story delivers a powerful emotional punch for grown-ups and youngsters alike The Chicago Children’s Theatre opens its 21st season with a revival of Carmela Full of Wishes. Adapted by Alvaro Saar Rios from the children’s book written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson,…

BUILT ON SHAKY GROUND The direction dazzles, the acting impresses, but the writing falls short It doesn’t help Mud Row that it’s the second Dominique Morisseau play performed on a Chicago stage this year, after the excellent Confederates at RedTwist. The two plays share a great deal in common, both thematically and (especially) in how…

A TALE OF TWO PLAYS A gripping first act gives way to overplayed comedy before Edward Hall finds an enchanting, bittersweet finale The Winter’s Tale has long been considered one of William Shakespeare’s problem plays, whiplashing as it does between an intense drama and a light-hearted pastoral, and throwing in a sixteen-year gap into the…

A LITTLE PEEP GOES A LONG WAY The artistry is extraordinary, even when individual stories fall short It begins like clockwork when October comes around: there’s a fresh nip in the air, the leaves start to turn, the streaming services are suddenly inundated with scary movies, and that unholy blend of cloves, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg,…

A PARTY WITH TOO MANY UNINVITED GUESTS Insightful, hilarious, and ultimately undone by its own ambitions Phanésia Pharel’s Dead Girl’s Quinceañera, now being performed at the Goodman Theatre, is several genres fused into one wobbly script. It’s a satire of a police procedural, a send-up of true crime podcasts, a coming-of-age story, a socioeconomic study,…

NO CATHARSIS, NO COMPROMISE A fearless musical refuses easy answers Could we compel Raven Theatre to mount at least one unconventional musical every season? After the smashing success of their production of Dave Malloy’s Octet—their first-ever musical—earlier this year, Raven have teamed up with About Face Theatre to mount the Chicago premiere of another offbeat…

WHERE THERE’S A WILL, THERE’S A WAY OUT A son gets the boot, his parents get their kicks, and the audience gets a riot In keeping with the expectation at Trap Door Theatre, when one walks into the performance space, the stage is occupied by performers: stage-center, a stone-faced woman in an enormous apron chops…

BLOWN AWAY Jon Fosse’s haunting meditation on life, companionship, and depression becomes an extraordinary theatrical experience in the hands of two remarkable actors In a misty space, two roughly hewn planks of wood swing from the ceiling, suspended by nautical ropes. Flanking the planks are wide swaths of white cloth stretching from ceiling to floor….

A STREETCAR NAMED BRANDO Johnny Galecki’s marvelous Tennessee Williams anchors an enormously entertaining imagined encounter that offers more theatrical fun than insight In the summer of 1947, an up-and-coming young actor called Marlon Brando hitchhiked his way to Provincetown, Massachusetts, to audition for the part of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, the eagerly…

WITH THIS RING, I THEE KIDNAP A deranged celebrity fantasy gets plenty of laughs from three fearless performers, but Samantha Hurley’s comedy runs out of ideas before it runs out of steam In a basement bedroom in the year 2004, a CRT television blares clips from Tobey Maguire movies on a loop. The wall above…

GIVE THIS MOUSE ALL THE COOKIES! So wildly inventive that even the grown-ups can’t believe their eyes The Young People’s Theatre of Chicago opens its new season with Jody Davidson’s adaptation of the children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by writer Laura Joffe Numeroff and illustrator Felicia Bond. Skewing to a younger-than-usual…

A LITTLE TOO MUCH CARRY-ON The crew earns its wings; the script, not quite There’s no denying Rivendell’s commitment to the bit in its production of Eliza Bent’s Bonnie’s Last Flight, the final show of their season. The front staff are clad in flight attendant garb. The ushers wear hazard vests. The audience is separated…

NO TIME LIKE THE TESSERACT Almost four decades after its Lifeline premiere, James Sie’s adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s novel still enchants On Lindsay Mummert’s cool Fibonacci-esque set, a sulking Meg Murry sits, hunched over. She’s gotten into trouble at school again. Her teachers hate her, and her principal is exasperated with her. It’s been two…

A CLASS OF HER OWN Tania Richard recalls being the only Black girl in a white Chicago suburb, with humor that makes the painful memories hit harder “I am not the author of my life, but I am the author of my story.” — Tania Richard American Blues Theater ushers in its 41st season with…

A LIFE IN THE AIR Shana Carroll’s extraordinary theatrical memoir finds wonder in the moments between falling and flying Well, it’s finally happened; I’ve been rendered speechless. The Attic, subtitled Things I’ve Seen While Lying on My Back, is unlike anything I’ve seen on a stage. Is it a drama? A musical? A ballet? A…