C.J. Fernandes

[Editor’s Note (June 2026): Raven Theatre’s astounding production of Octet, originally reviewed by Stage and Cinema in May, transfers intact to the Goodman Theatre for a limited engagement beginning July 15, 2026.] LOG OFF AND SING Dave Malloy’s brilliant chamber musical turns doomscrolling, loneliness, and internet addiction into something unexpectedly humane I don’t know what…

THE GHOSTS IN THE FAMILY TREE Tom Stoppard’s final play is as intellectually dazzling as it is emotionally devastating “Barbarism will not be eradicated by culture.” That line, spoken midway through Leopoldstadt, the final masterpiece by Tom Stoppard—one of the greatest playwrights of his, or any, generation—made my stomach do a flip. Merely one of…

LOVE ON THE RANGE, PAIN ON THE HORIZON A beautiful musical framework strengthens a stage adaptation that never quite resolves its competing impulses In 1997, a short story from Pulitzer winner Annie Proulx appeared in the pages of The New Yorker. Beginning in the 1960s in Wyoming, it was a restrained yet heartbreaking tale of…

THE TRAGEDY’S THE THING A few baffling choices can’t derail the explosive clash at the heart of Anouilh’s classic There are a number of missteps in this production of Anouilh’s Antigone, presented by the Promethean ensemble at The Den Theatre. Fortunately for the show, they’re almost entirely confined to the relatively unimportant parts. Jean Anouilh’s…

FIFTEEN MINUTES FOREVER Terry Guest turns pop-art icons into a meditation on immortality I may have passed on the foil-lined photo booth—too Bug for me—on my way into Jackalope Theatre’s intimate performance space at The Broadway Armory, but its presence is merely the first indication of the imagination and inventiveness awaiting audiences in the world…

WITH ITS BASES LOADED, THEO UBIQUE HITS ANOTHER GRAND SLAM A clever, heartfelt revival proves this Golden Age favorite still knows how to play ball There’s a bit of a curveball early in Theo Ubique’s sparkling revival of Damn Yankees, the classic 1955 musical from Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, with a book by George…

TRUTH, CONSEQUENCES, AND CONTAMINATED WATER A superb production of Ibsen’s classic finds unsettling echoes in the present day There are plays that endure because their themes and characters are universal, allowing them to be reinterpreted for different eras, locations, and so on—the oeuvre of a certain bard from Stratford-upon-Avon comes to mind. And then there…

DANCING THROUGH THE DECADES A mesmerizing theatrical collage that rewards surrender over analysis One never quite knows what to expect from the good folks at Trap Door Theatre, and I’m sure they wouldn’t want it any other way. The company restricts itself to furiously political works from lesser-known authors; they have a fondness for the…

PUNK, PRAYER, AND PURE CHAOS The Conspirators’ neo-commedia take on Molière finds fresh mischief in a timeless satire What could be better than a saucy, irreverent, seventeenth-century French farce? How about a saucy, irreverent, seventeenth-century French farce performed in the twenty-first century, that marries a punk aesthetic to a modern interpretation of a sixteenth-century Italian…

SIGNALS IN THE STATIC A Red Orchid’s compelling world premiere favors empathy over satire, sometimes at the expense of deeper exploration Thus far, 2026 has been an uncommonly good year in Chicago for new work, bringing forth plays and musicals that push against the boundaries of theatre, in terms of both narrative and construction. The…

THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA York Walker’s Southern Gothic keeps its secrets close and its audience on edge “Everybody got a secret” That is the line that opens Covenant, the gripping play by York Walker, now playing on the Owen stage at the Goodman. It is about as tight a summation as can be…

EN GARDE, YOU FOOLS A spirited cast and plenty of swashbuckling fun can’t quite compensate for a forgettable score “He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.” That terrific sentence opens Rafael Sabatini’s 1921 novel Scaramouche. A smash hit on publication, this swashbuckling adventure has been adapted…

HOOP DREAMS IN HARLEM Young People’s Theatre closes its season with a charming, energetic celebration of childhood, friendship, and community In The Hula-Hoopin’ Queen, the stakes are very low; to an adult, that is. But if you’re a 10-year-old girl like Kameeka (or her friend Jamara), being crowned the Hula-Hoopin’ Queen of 139th Street is…

GUILT TRIP TUTA Theatre turns Dostoevsky’s sprawling masterpiece into a feverish psychological horror story of conscience, damnation, and salvation Fyodor Dostoevsky’s masterpiece Crime and Punishment runs around 700 pages and involves close to two dozen significant characters. TUTA Theatre’s production uses as its text a 2003 adaptation by Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus: this version…

LOG OFF AND SING Dave Malloy’s brilliant chamber musical turns doomscrolling, loneliness, and internet addiction into something unexpectedly humane [Editor’s Note (June 2026): Raven Theatre’s production of Octet, originally reviewed by Stage and Cinema in May, transfers intact to the Goodman Theatre for a limited engagement beginning July 15, 2026. DO NOT MISS.] ✦ ✦…

IT’S TIME TO RAGNARÖK ‘N’ ROLL  An exuberant Norse rock opera with enough swagger to survive the apocalypse A corner of a decrepit night club greets you as you walk into Lifeline Theatre’s performance space. Shabby chandeliers hang from the ceiling. Tinsel and trash are everywhere. Above the instruments, a broken entablature hangs askew, with…

MOTHER KNOWS BEST— UNTIL SHE DOESN’T A devastating, clear-eyed revival that refuses comfort and lingers long after the lights go down I first watched ‘night, Mother, the Pulitzer-prize winning drama by Marsha Norman, when I was in my early teens. I remember being thoroughly absorbed, if slightly shocked, by its matter-of-fact discussion of suicide. Beyond…

FAULT LINES A glossy production sinks under the weight of a script that mistakes talk for wit Unpleasant, unfunny, misogynistic, and worst of all, boring. Let’s play a drinking game: every time you hear the words “banter,” “witty,” or “verbal” in Scooter Pietsch’s Fault, now on stage at Chicago Shakespeare, take a shot. If they…

CASH, GRIEF, AND THE COST OF RESISTANCE A gripping, immersive premiere dissolves the line between audience and action Steppenwolf’s excellent 50th season continues with Windfall, the new play by Oscar winner Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight). Performed in the Ensemble Theatre, Andrew Boyce’s scenic design eschews a traditional set almost entirely. The performance space is a…