Chicago

THE ONCE AND FUTURE FESTIVAL PRESENTS SIX NEW PLAYS BY CHICAGO PLAYWRIGHTS Six Chicago playwrights have come together to self-produce their own plays, their way. Inspired by previous self-producing collectives, the festival will feature two world premieres and four staged readings. The world premiere productions will be performed in rep with each other every night,…

NATIONAL THEATRE MUSICAL GETS US PREMIERE Determined and tenacious, the residents of Ipswich, UK mobilize to overcome the immense fear and media circus that unfolds following the serial murder of 5 sex workers in their small town. This experimental and innovative musical by Alecky Blythe (Book and Lyrics) and Adam Cork (Music and Lyrics) is…

CARMEN FOR THE WOKE Like many organizations coming to grips with structural racism in American society, Lyric Opera has been making tremendous efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Lyric has done this above all by casting more performers of color, especially African-Americans, and by incubating a world-premiere opera by and about African-Americans —…

REAL LIFE TRANSCRIPT MAKES FOR RIVETING THEATER Collaboraction Theatre‘s Emmy-winning teleplay, Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, is back at The DuSable Museum as a live, interactive, fully-produced stage production. It opened last night and runs through Feb. 19, 2023. Trial in the Delta is a live, interactive reenactment of what actually…

One of my favorite theater companies is also one of the best at putting on what we used to call “Children’s Theater.” I was hooked almost 10 years ago with my first: The Emperor’s New Threads: A Fashion Statement. Sure, the “KidSeries” is great for the younger ones, but great theater is great theater. And…

GET INTO TROUBLE Written by Alice   Childress — the first Black woman to have a play professionally produced in New York City — Trouble in Mind recently played on Broadway, and it amazed me how a play written in 1955 can remain resilient and provocative and prescient and timely (the production was nominated for four…

LOOKOUT FOR STEPPENWOLF’S NEW SERIES LookOut,  Steppenwolf Theatre’s performance series that presents the work of artists and companies across genre and form, presents the Winter 2023 season, showcasing the work of Chicago’s exciting experimental devisers, choreographers, performers and more. All  LookOut  performances take place in Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theater, an intimate and flexible venue nestled behind Front Bar, 1700…

Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s 2022/23 Season Chicago Premiere The Most Spectaularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington By  James Ijames Directed by  Whitney White Featuring ensemble member  Celeste M. Cooper September 1 – October 9, 2022 In the  Downstairs Theater The recently widowed “Mother of America” lies alone in her Mount Vernon bed, ravaged by illness and attended to by…

GET IN Beginning tonight from Haven is Nikki Lynette’s  multidisciplinary afrogoth musical  Get Out Alive, co-directed by  Roger Ellis  and  Lucky Stiff,  which features the writer and her personal journey with mental health.  The cast also includes  DJ P1, Keeley Morris  and  Jacinda Ratcliffe. Independent artist, actor and activist, Lynette’s recounts her personal journey marked by abuse, grief, sexual assault and suicide, Lynette raises mental…

WINTER IN SUMMER: OAK PARK FESTIVAL THEATRE PRESENTS “THE WINTER’S TALE” JULY 14 – AUGUST 20, 2022 Following Devastating Fire, Beloved Theatre Re-Opens in Austin Gardens with Shakespearean Romantic Tragedy The Winter’s Tale is the Romance play that plunges most deeply into tragedy before finding joy and redemption.   A once-beloved king, Leontes, begins to veer…

The Story Theatre welcomes back audiences with the Chicago premiere of Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes, written and directed by Chicago playwright and Governing Ensemble Member  Terry Guest. This new play, which explores rebellion and Black liberation through the lens of the French Revolution, will play Raven Theatre’s Schwartz Stage beginning June 30 and running…