Chicago

FORGIVE AND FORGET The Amish people of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, taught the world a sobering lesson in 2006 when they instantly forgave the man who murdered five girls in their one-room schoolhouse. They offered condolences to – and even shared donations meant for the victims’ families – with the murderer’s widow. Here was a man…

WHAT ARE ANY OF US BUT A COLLECTION OF STORIES? Collaboraction’s 1001 spins the audience into a delightful vertigo. This whirling postmodern adaptation of The Arabian Nights collapses time and space, drawing vital connections across wildly disparate cultures and eras. Jason Grote’s poetic new play cleverly paces itself. After a shocking nuclear explosion, the collection…

  FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO WATCH The rumblings of the elevated train beside Steep Theatre are chillingly atmospheric for the Midwest premiere of Simon Stephens’ Pornography. After all, this collection of monologues and two-person scenes are unified by an intense week in London in 2005, which included the Live 8 Concert, the G8 summit,…

CARLO COLLODI’S CLASSIC TALE COMES TO LIFE At the heart of Chicago’s Navy Pier lies the stunning Chicago Shakespeare Theater. On a recent Wednesday morning, this 500-seat space was packed with eager families and young summer campers for The Adventures of Pinocchio. Despite some narrative rockiness in this new musical, it is thrilling to see…

IN THE BEGINNING, IT WAS EVEN GREASIER Apparently Los Angeles is not the only city prone to over-praise its local theater. American Theater Company’s The Original Grease has been receiving consistently strong reviews and national attention for its return to the “gritty” musical that started at Chicago’s Kingston Mines Theatre Company in 1971. While a…

NOTHING FEEDS YOUR HEART LIKE A GOOD STORY Truth be told, The Last Act of Lilka Kadison chronicles an entirely conventional story – but Lookingglass Theatre’s production elevates this historical melodrama to a work of theatrical magic. Written by Nicola Behrman, David Kersnar, Abbie Phillips, Heidi Stillman, and Andrew White, The Last Act of Lilka…

STEPPENWOLF PROVES ITS WORTHY REPUTATION Will Eno’s Middletown suggests that life is a black hole; there will always be a gulf between reality and our perception of it, between our desire for human connection and our ability to actually connect. Loneliness pervades this small mid-American town. Yet in a beautiful production, Steppenwolf fosters an inspiring…