Emma S. Rund

Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s North American premiere of Paranormal Activity is guaranteed to deliver the horror movie-style scares you’re looking for this Halloween season, but if you’re looking for thematic depth, you’re searching the wrong haunted house. Cher Álvarez and Patrick Heusinger Levi Holloway took on the nearly impossible task of writing an original story for stage…

STUNNING AND UNSETTLING, MR. WOLF IS AT THE DOOR Steppenwolf Theatre’s Chicago premiere of Mr. Wolf is a searing examination of parental sacrifice, loss, and the elusive nature of home. Under K. Todd Freeman’s direction, this production takes what could be an exploitative premise and instead delivers something hopeful and profound. Caroline Neff, Namir Smallwood,…

A CLAUSTROPHOBIC MISERY AT CITADEL Citadel Theatre’s production of Misery by William Goldman, based on the novel by Stephen King, is a respectable staging that scratches the itch for a spooky night out this fall, even if it doesn’t fully deliver the chest-tingling suspense of King’s original. As a frequent reader of King’s thrillers, I considers Misery…

AN EXTREMELY FEMINIST PLAY. OR IS IT? Never meet a man, they say. What happens if we have to work with one? Artemis Books & The Well-Meaning Man poses the complex question of how, if at all, men should be allowed into women’s safe spaces—or if it’s unethical to exclude them. The Village Theater’s world…

CHICAGO-BORN AND HEAVEN-SENT, THIS IS NOT A REVIVAL. IT’S A RECKONING. Angels in America is one of the greatest plays in the American theatre canon. Period. Tony Kushner created a two-part epic story of unforgettable characters, both lovable and despicable, that captures a moment in American history—the Ronald Reagan era—that changed our community forever. If…

A MUSICAL COMEDY TO REMIND YOU WHY YOU FELL IN LOVE WITH THE ARTFORM IN THE FIRST PLACE “In 1982 a man called Larry put himself in a lawn chair, got some 42 balloons, and went to sixteen thousand feet up in the air. This actually happened. You can look it up,” creator Jack Godfrey…

JUDGING THE BOOK OF GRACE BY ITS (VERY IMPRESSIVE) COVER The Chicago Premiere of The Book of Grace at Steppenwolf Theatre is an expertly executed production of an underwhelming family drama. I’m a long-time fan of Steppenwolf, and every aspect of this production demonstrated the artistic excellence that I’ve come to expect, but the play…

KNIGHTS AND ACROBATS AN ODD PAIR AT LOOKINGGLASS Circus Quixote—Lookingglass Theatre’s fun spectacle best suited for a family crowd—is an ambitious attempt to merge Miguel de Cervantes’ timeless tale, Don Quijote of La Mancha, with impressive circus artistry. While the production offers tantalizing talents, it ultimately feels like an unfinished work. Michel Rodríguez Cintra The…

NOW VS. THEN A historic confrontation between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., America’s most influential conservative intellectual, took place on February 18, 1965 in a packed Cambridge Union in England. Broadcast live on the BBC and later re-broadcast across America, the question up for…

A HEARTWARMING ADAPTATION The world premiere of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women adapted by Lauren Gunderson as a co-commission from Northlight Theatre, City Theatre, People’s Light, and TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is a delightful yet imperfect exploration of the beloved classic novel. By framing the story with Alcott herself as a narrative presence, Gunderson offers audiences a meta-theatrical…

AN INCREDIBLE SCORE; A FINE PRODUCTION; A FUNNY AND POIGNANT FRACTURED FAMILY PORTRAIT; WHY, THEN, DOES THIS REVIVAL NOT EMOTIONALLY RESONATE? Court Theatre and Timeline Theatre‘s joint production of the sung-through musical Falsettos offers a technically superb exploration of a family in flux during the cusp of the AIDS crisis with exceptional vocal talent and…

INTO THE WOODS ACCOMPANIED BY TWO PIANOS? IN A STOREFRONT THEATRE? IT’S A DREAM COME TRUE Kokandy’s production of Into the Woods directed by Derek Van Barham with music direction by Nick Sula is a clever reimagining of this Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine classic for a storefront theatre space. Most notably, this production reimagines the orchestrations…

The devil’s voice is sweet to hear. — Stephen King, from the novel Needful Things Steppenwolf’s production of Leroy and Lucy by Ngozi Anyanwu is a seductive and life-affirming reimagining of the legend of Robert (Leroy) Johnson and his deal with the devil. Little is known about Robert Johnson’s life, largely because it was so…

THE SKOOBY ON HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THIS BUSH, OR SKOOBY DON’T GO? DEPENDS ON YOUR TASTE Hell in a Handbag Productions‘ world premiere of The Golden Girls Meet the Skooby Don’t Gang: The Mystery of the Haunted Bush promises a highly entertaining evening with drag, raunchy humor, and beloved characters young and old….

YOUR PRIMARY CHOICE FOR GREAT THEATER. TRUST ME. The Goodman’s Chicago-premiere production of Primary Trust by Eboni Booth is everything I’ve been craving in theatre lately. Directed by Malkia Stampley, this Pulitzer Prize-winning play about loss and loneliness is intimate, dripping in empathy, but most importantly full of hope. I’ll even dare to say it’s…

AN EXTREMELY HEAVY PORTRAYAL OF ABUSE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH It’s no secret that the Catholic Church has a sordid history of covering up sexual abuse, and many have made art on this topic to keep it in the spotlight (pun intended, as the 2015 film Spotlight is an excellent example). This is the first…