Chicago

THE SEAGULL AS AN ALBATROSS At over two hours, it’s almost as long as its source. So it’s a good thing that Stupid Fucking Bird is more than a parody or it would soon lose its welcome. Aaron Posner’s reductionist, presentational semi-musical and meta-theatrical updating of Chekhov’s The Seagull, a drama where one generation frustrates…

THE GREAT GAY IMPROVISERS You could call it an action meditation on marriage. As if to sum up his own theatrical legacy, as well as 70 years of gay life and love, Terrence McNally’s valedictory drama Some Men is a collage that merrily defies chronology. The reason: To prevent us from confusing the challenges of…

A TRAGEDY OF EPIC PROPORTIONS Writing a play of more than 800 pages that takes twelve hours to perform is both an act of hubris and an act of genius. Written and directed by The Hypocrites’ founder Sean Graney, All Our Tragic distills all 32 surviving Greek tragedies into one nearly seamless narrative. The result…

A REVIVAL WHICH ISN’T FIDDLING AROUND “To Life” indeed. There’s a ton of it, not to mention heartbreak and wisdom, in Rudy Hogenmiller’s warmly wise revival, Light Opera Works’ second coming in 11 years. The universality of this nearly flawless, 50-year-old musical comes from its spontaneous specifics, the story of a scripture-citing, God-fearless milkman who’s…

A JEWEL OF THEIR SOULS The Gift Theatre’s production of Othello – their first Shakespeare, and my first exposure to this company – is a gift indeed. The doubly minimal set, combined with the decision to frequently execute the Elizabethan script with contemporary vernacular rhythms, serves to rid the production of any period distractions and…

THE  OTHER  DREAMGIRLS Black Ensemble Theater’s latest summer-long tribute is to a girls group who never quite achieved escape velocity to lasting fame. Reginald Williams’ faithful chronicle of the rise and fall of the marvelous Marvelettes is a happy excuse to revisit a jukebox full of sassy songs, perfectly reinvented by director Rueben D. Echoles. It also…

SAMUEL BECKETT: MINIMALISM IN EXTREMIS Dark doings on a claustrophobic stage. These are the 80+ minutes at Mary-Arrchie Theatre’s Angel Island. Six short but not sweet offerings by the late Samuel Beckett create their own Hellish Half-Light. Audience members are scattered about the appropriately minimalist playground, a stark home for Jennifer Markowitz’ awesomely disciplined and…

IT’S NOT JUST THE MEAT, IT’S THE MISERY The final searing image in Oracle Theatre’s pile-driving retelling of Upton Sinclair’s muckraking masterwork is a bold take on the Chicago flag: Now the blue stripes flank not four stars but four bloody handprints. The vandalism happens just after the magnificent ten-member ensemble have erupted in a…

ELEVATED EXPERIMENTS Now in its 14th season, New Dances 2014, Thodos Dance Chicago’s weekend-long premiere at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts is a grueling, ambitious, and often successful showcase for nine company members. Instead of marching to another’s rhythms, they’re here allowed to design their own dances. Maybe it’s because these performers are…

T.M.I. AS DRAMA The Qualms (a cute title that sounds like both a setting and a condition) is basically an Internet forum made flesh, a “truth or dare” confessional in one act. Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s new 90-minute offering from Pulitzer/Tony-winning playwright Bruce Norris is one loud argument divided into eight characters. Four couples in what…

HORTON HATCHES A HIT “Oh! The Thinks You Can Think!” proclaims this joyous romp as it proves what it belts. One of those powerful pensées  is: “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” That truth from Dr. Seuss sits well with the kids flocking to Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Courtyard mainstage. Because Seussical is the kind…

HIDDEN IN THE MASTER’S SHADOW The sardonically named Twain’s World (that hint of amateurism is to be heeded), this year’s week-long LitFest from First Floor Theatre is devoted to the works (first act) and life (second) of America’s crown jester, Mark Twain. Seven ten-minute plays written by local writers and staged by Chicago directors testify…

MUSICALS LIKE THIS OCCUR ONCE EVERY 100 YEARS What won’t some do to flee the ravages and anguish of war? In 1947, when Brigadoon confirmed the mutual genius of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, timing was everything: A second global conflict had just ended, leaving in its wake postwar angst and searing doubts that…

A MAIDENLY DEATH Victory Gardens Theater’s Death and the Maiden is one of the most highly anticipated Chicago productions this year: Ariel Dorfman’s well-known play (made famous by Roman Polanski’s film) is rarely done, and stars Sandra Oh, who recently left her recurring role in the primetime drama Grey’s Anatomy. Oh plays Paulina Salas, a…

WHILE GENERIC, A SINCERE SHIP HARDLY CAPSIZES The Last Ship, now in a shakedown cruise at Bank of America Theatre, joins a proud list of fervent tributes to blue-collar Brits. These salutes to stolid survival honor underdog heroes fighting hard times and mean bosses. Invariably, they take a dramatic stand, however doomed or demented’”Billy Elliott,…

COME ON AND SHOOT A PRESIDENT Assassins ushers together the horde of maniacs who have made attempts on the lives of US Presidents, seeking to examine their varying degrees of sanity, as well as their motivations. A sleazy proprietor entices each character to try their hand at shooting a president, presented as a carnival game,…

TILL DEATH DO US RECONCILE In little more than an hour Sharr White pulls off a (one) act of forgiveness, reuniting estranged partners in a foul trailer in Paonia, Colorado. The unpromising setting, delivered in detail by set designer Katie-Bell Springmann, is a sty surrounded by dog shit where anything good has to fight against…

A JUICY CLUSTER OF APES There are no simians in Apes of Wrath, Second City e.t.c.’s new revue at Pipers Alley’”but then, as always, the jokes are on us. The vague premise behind this trenchant, well-targeted sketch satire is that humans are specks in an uncaring universe–so it’s better to light your Chinese lanterns (as…