Theater

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 I was expecting when I walked into Raven Theatre’s first ever mounting of a musical, but it wasn’t the basement of a church (rec center? YMCA?). Closing out Raven’s triumphant 43rd season,…

MAKING A LIFE, ONE BIRTHDAY AT A TIME A meditation on aging, loss, and the small rituals that shape a lifetime After leaving Buffalo Theatre Ensemble’s sweet little play Birthday Candles last Sunday, another story that also looks at the sweep of time soon rushed to mind: Thornton Wilder’s The Long Christmas Dinner, a play…

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…

TO BE OR NOT TO BE… IN SHOWBIZ A lively revival finds humor and heart in the actor’s eternal struggle Anyone who pursues the arts as a career or avocation knows they’re not well understood by the greater population. The satisfaction derived from being a creative and the commitment required to excel in a specific…

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…