Reviews Category
Somebody’s Watching You
Bug – Steppenwolf Theatre
In a foul, frowzy hotel, two lost souls find one another, but that’s only the beginning. Agnes lives in these two fetid rooms while she works at the nearby strip club. The phone rings and rings, but Agnes refuses to answer it because she’s fairly certain that someone’s watching her. And that someone is Jerry, her violent ex husband, who was sent to prison, but may have finagled his way out in an early release. But there are others watching the occupants of the grimy little motel room.
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A Thriller That Disappoints
How a Boy Falls – Northlight Theatre
It seems like mysteries and whodunits are playing in theatres all over the Windy City. At Northlight, under the tight direction of Halena Kays, prolific playwright Steven Dietz’s latest play is being given its World Premiere, right here in Chicago. Like his play, “On Clover Road,” a hit hair-raiser at American Blues Theater a season ago, this new play, although not nearly as filled with tension, is another thriller.
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Rooted in the Mistakes of the Past
Labyrinth – Broken Nose Theatre
Beth Steel’s powerfully intoxicating drama is a roller coaster ride through the whirlwind world of international finance. It’s about swaggering, profit-hungry American banks lending excessive amounts of money to countries on the brink of bankruptcy. The play drives the audience at breakneck speed inside the 1980’s Latin American financial crisis in a hard-hitting trip through a nightmarish Wonderland world of debt and would-be redemption.
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Empathy is a Bird
Do You Feel Anger? – Red Orchid Theatre
Brava to Mara Nelson-Greenberg, a talented, new playwright who, clearly, has a lot to say about toxic workplaces. In her comically absurdist one-act play, she depicts a place of business in which male stupidity dominates and the females have sadly been reduced to babbling idiots, trying their best to survive in this septic environment. Ms. Nelson-Greenberg’s play had its professional debut at the 42nd Humana Festival of New American Plays and went on to its Off-Broadway New York premiere at The Vineyard Theatre. Chicago audiences can now enjoy a powerfully intimate production of this play at A Red Orchid Theatre, under the sharp direction of Ensemble member, Jess McLeod.
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Shameful Feelings and Ideas
How to Defend Yourself – Victory Gardens Theatre
Filled with crude comic moments, views on attracting the opposite sex and all kinds of flirtatious situations, Liliana Padilla’s new play takes place on a college campus. The setting is the university gymnasium where a series of free workshops are being offered. Taught by a perky coed named Brandi, a determined young woman devoted to making a difference, the classes attempt to instruct interested students in how to fend off unwanted sexual advances. The impetus for this informal, student-led lecture/demonstration is the violent rape of the leader’s sorority sister in a brutal assault that’s landed her in the hospital. Brandi, assisted by Kara, her friend and fellow sorority sister, wants to do something positive to prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again. The results are debatable.
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A Woman’s Right to Chose
Roe – Goodman Theatre
In 1973, the Supreme Court heard an historic, controversial case that would continue to remain a point of debate far into the twenty-first century. The Court ruled in Roe v. Wade, in a landmark decision, that the Constitution protects the rights of a pregnant woman to have an abortion, without government interference. In other words, when it comes to her own body, it was finally deemed that a woman had a right to make her own choices. Under the current, coldhearted administration, however, that Court decision could be in peril of being overturned. So it’s only right that this excellent, entertaining and educational play by Lisa Loomer be seen by as many theatergoers as possible.
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Written By Kids, Enjoyed By All
PlayMakers Laboratory Presents That’s Weird, Grandma: Travels Through Time
That’s Weird, Grandma: Travels Through Time is a hilarious and ingenious show brings the light from Chicago’s public schools to life. Currently in its 18th year, That’s Weird Grandma features 17 stories from creative writing students in the greater Chicago area.
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No Real Heroes
Thirst – Strawdog Theatre
In a bleak, dystopian world, not too far in the distant future, another civil war has ravaged America and taken its toll in many ways. Bombs have fallen, many lives have been lost, natural resources are at a premium and former relationships have been destroyed while new families have been forged. Water is particularly scarce, and an African-American warlord named Terrance, who has taken the moniker of the King and the Water Man, controls the nation with an iron hand.
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Hit Me With a Hot Note
Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies – Porchlight Music Theatre
How long has it been since you’ve attended a musical production and wished you could simply press a magic replay button and immediately see it all over again? Well, this is that show. Don’t let this one pass you by because there’s just not enough superlatives in the dictionary to do justice to this wonderful, professionally polished production. It’s that good!
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Because Someone Has to Be
The Adult in the Room – Victory Gardens Theatre
Shining a respectful spotlight on Nancy Pelosi, this solo performance by Orlagh Cassidy is a reverent look at a woman about whom everyone has his own opinion, but few actually know or understand. In Bill McMahon’s fascinating one-act play, he imagines the current Speaker of the House engaging in an interactive internet conversation with a group of young women who are considering entering politics. Ms. Pelosi has some very good advice for her audience. Her shared wisdom comes with an interesting peek into her background and what brought Nancy Pelosi to become the highest-ranking elected female official in history, the second in line to the presidential succession and the first female Speaker of the House.
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