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The Chicago Reader

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Arts & Culture, Theater Review Feb 10, 2021
Recommended
Weaving tangled webs with Constellations and Missed Connections

Theatre Above the Law and A Red Orchid Theatre dive into the physics and magic of being alive together.
- By Kerry Reid
- Tags: Theater Review, Constellations, Theatre Above the Law, Nick Payne, Tony Lawry, Melanie McNulty, Ross Compton, Missed Connections, Jon Tai, A Red Orchid Theatre, string theory, Craigslist, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Theater Preview Jan 28, 2021
Missed Connections starts with the human, not the trick

Jon Tai's intimate take on magic and storytelling comes (virtually) to A Red Orchid.
- By Catey Sullivan
- Tags: Theater Preview, Jon Tai, A Red Orchid Theatre, Missed Connections, Haruki Murakami, Marshall McCluhan, Derren Brown, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Grey House, Levi Holloway, Alex Gruhin, Ricky Jay, Jeffrey Cowan, Steve Cohen, Lance Burton

Arts & Culture, Feature Feb 21, 2020
Defending your life

How to Defend Yourself and Do You Feel Anger? ask us to consider how to survive patriarchy without losing our minds—and bodies.
- By Kerry Reid
- Tags: Feature, How to Defend Yourself, Do You Feel Anger, Victory Garden Theater, A Red Orchid Theatre, Lilian Padilla, Marti Lyons, Mara Nelson-Greenberg, Jess McLeod, Steph Paul, Emjoy Gavino, Sadieh Rifai

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Feb 4, 2020
Recommended
Bug still gets under the skin

David Cromer's production for Steppenwolf taps into our current conspiracy-theory culture.
- By Kaylen Ralph
- Tags: Theater Review, Bug, Steppenwolf Theatre, Tracy Letts, David Cromer, Namir Smallwood, Carrie Coon, Jennifer Engstrom, Takeshi Kata, Shannon Cochran, Michael Shannon, Kate Buddeke, A Red Orchid Theatre, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Feb 4, 2020
Recommended
Office and gender politics collide in Do You Feel Anger?

An "empathy coach"' tries to fix a toxic workplace in A Red Orchid's latest.
- By Dmitry Samarov
- Tags: Theater Review, Do You Feel Anger, A Red Orchid Theatre, Mara Nelson-Greenberg, Jess McLeod, Emjoy Gavino, Sadieh Rifai, Lawrence Grimm, Bernard Gilbert, Levi Holloway, Paul Dillon, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Oct 23, 2019
Recommended
A couple finds themselves in a creepy cabin in the woods in Grey House

Levi Holloway's horror show for A Red Orchid Theatre gives a feminist makeover to a familiar genre.
- By Catey Sullivan
- Tags: Theater Review, Grey House, A Red Orchid Theatre, Levi Holloway, Shade Murray, Sadieh Rifai, Travis A. Knight, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Dado, Sara Cartwright, Haley Bolithon, Kayla Casiano, Autumn Hlava, Charlie Herman, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Theater Review May 16, 2019
Ionesco’s Killing Game gets too busy with the dying

There's not enough room in this scattershot world for ideas to deepen.
- By Justin Hayford
- Tags: Theater Review, Killing Game, A Red Orchid Theatre, Eugène Ionesco, Dado

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Feb 14, 2019
Four characters battle existential dread in an Amazon-like Fulfillment Center

The Red Orchid cast is adept at humanizing some incredibly flawed human beings.
- By Dan Jakes
- Tags: Theater Review, Fulfillment Center, A Red Orchid Theatre, Abe Koogler, Toya Turner, Jose Nateras, Natalie West, Steve Schine, Jess McLeod, Amazon, warehouse

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Oct 31, 2018
A silent retreat fails to provide enlightenment in Small Mouth Sounds

Behold another exemplary production from A Red Orchid.
- By Max Maller
- Tags: Theater Review, Small Mouth Sounds, A Red Orchid Theatre, Bess Wohl, Heather Chrisler, Travis A. Knight, Meighan Gerachis, Shade Murray, Levi Holloway, silent retreat, technology

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Jul 18, 2018
Recommended
Victims of Duty: An absurd show for absurd times

A Red Orchid revives its 1995 staging for the Trump era.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, Victims of Duty, A Red Orchid Theatre, Michael Shannon, Eugene Ionesco, Shira Piven, Guy Van Swearingen, Karen Aldridge, Bald Soprano, The Shape of Water, French theater, theater of the absurd, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Jan 17, 2018
Brett Neveu’s Traitor takes Ibsen’s Dr. Stockmann down many pegs

In an update of An Enemy of the People, the hero ain’t what he used to be.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, A Red Orchid Theatre, Traitor, Brett Neveu, Michael Shannon

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Oct 12, 2017
Choir Boy, Foxfinder, and 12 more stage shows to see now

A play by Moonlight author Tarell Alvin McCraney and a paranoiac drama by British playwright Dawn Hall are among this week's best bets.
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, Blue/Orange, Runcible Theatre Company, Joe Penhall, National Theatre of Great Britian, Owen Hickle Edwards, Stephen Fedo, Nathaniel Andrew, Idi Amin Dada, Uganda, National Health Service, Andrew Root, Royal George Theatre Center, Raven Theatre, Tarell Alvin McCraney, the Brother/Sister Plays, Moonlight, Choir Boy, Michael Menendian, Christopher W. Jones, Breon Arzell, Frederick Harris, The Crucible, Steppenwolf for Young Adults, Arthur Miller, Arnel Sancianco, Jonathan Berry, Wallace Shawn, Evening at the Talk House, A Red Orchid Theatre, HB Ward, Shade Murray, Foxfinder, Dawn King, Interrobang Theatre, Alexandra Fisher, David Anthony Marshall, Jack Olin, Margaret Knapp, The Invisible Hand, Ayad Akhtar, Steep Theatre, Joel Reitsma, Audrey Francis, Lady Faust, Sharai Bohannon, Sophie Duntley, Christopher Marlowe, Faust, Torey Byrne, The Making of an American Folk Hero, Martin Zimmerman, Kelly Howe, The Other Theatre Company, The Man-Beast, First Folio Theatre, Joseph Zettelmaier, Hayley Rice, Elizabeth Laidlaw, Aaron Christensen, Lyric Opera, Rigoletto, Verdi, Victor Hugo, Ryan Opera Center, Quinn Kelsey, Mathew Polenzani, Michael Yeargen, Marco Armiliato, Saint Joan, George Bernard Shaw, Marylynne Anderson-Cooper, Poetic Forum Collective, Christabel Donkor, de Chirico, UniverSoul Circus, Cedric Walker, Bone Breakers, Reutan Collective, Wasteland Hero, Kyle Encinas, Nicky Jasper, Kate Lass, Bobby Hoffman, Kim Fukawa, Witi, an Interactive Show, Matthew Hoelter, iO

Arts & Culture, Theater Review May 3, 2017
Playwright David Adjmi tears the cushions off Three’s Company

3C—get it?—is a dark parody of the old sitcom.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, A Red Orchid Theatre, 3C, Three's Company, David Adjmi, Shade Murray, Lawrence Grimm, Sigrid Sutter, Christina Gorman, Jennifer Engstrom, Steve Haggard, Nick Mikula

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Feb 8, 2017
The Nether, The Book of Joseph, and seven more plays to see now

Thought-provoking productions at A Red Orchid and Chicago Shakespeare Theater are among this week's best bets.
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, The Assembled Parties, Richard Greenberg, Raven Theatre, Cody Estle, Loretta Rezos, JoAnn Montemurro, Niko Kourtis, The Book of Joseph, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Joseph Hollander, Every Day Lasts a Year: A Jewish Family's Correspondence From Poland, Barbara Gaines, Sean Fortunato, Francis Guinan, the Holocaust, Bootycandy, Windy City Playhouse, Robert O'Hara, Travis Turner, Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller, Redtwist Theatre, Steve Scott, Brian Parry, Jan Ellen Graves, Matt Edmonds, Faceless, Selina Fillinger, Northlight Theatre, BJ Jones, Ross Lehman, Susaan Jamshidi, Timothy Edward Kane, Joe Dempsey, Hobo King, Congo Square Theatre, Kyle Smith, Lionel Gentle, Velma Austin, Lyle Miller, Javon Johnson, Manual Cinema, The Magic City, Chicago Children's Theatre, the Station, The Nether, A Red Orchid Theatre, Jennifer Haley, Karen Kessler, Guy Van Swearingen, pedophilia, Starrs Is Getting Up There, John Starrs, Rhinofest, Doug Chamberlin

Best of Chicago, Reasons to love Chicago Jun 23, 2016
Critics' Picks
Chicago’s most uncomfortable theaters can offer exceptional theatrical experiences

Close quarters, minuscule budgets, and structural limitations can work wonders when it comes to creating intimacy and forcing invention.
- By Zac Thompson
- Tags: Reasons to love Chicago, uncomfortable theaters, A Red Orchid Theatre, the Gift Theatre, Trap Door Theatre, Jeanne Gang, Chopin Theatre, Our Town, Glencoe, Writers Theatre, the Hypocrites, Critics' Picks

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Apr 28, 2016
Ike Holter's astonishing Sender brings a hipster back from the dead

Shade Murray directs the Chicago wunderkind's latest, now premiering at A Red Orchid Theatre.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, Sender, A Red Orchid Theatre, Ike Holter, Hit the Wall, Shade Murray, McKenzie Chinn, Steve Haggard, Mary Williamson, Steve Wilson, Cassandra, Steep Theatre, The Few, Samuel D. Hunter, Calamity West, The Rolling, Jackalope Theatre

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Jan 29, 2016
Le Switch, The Mutilated, and nine more new reviews worth your notice

On the off-Loop scene: the latest from local playwright Philip Dawkins, an obscure Tennessee Williams one-act, and a Neil LaBute funfest
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, Bye Bye Birdie, Tammy Mader, Drury Lane Theatre, Michelle Aravena, Leryn Turlington, Signal Ensemble Theatre, The Consultant, Heidi Schreck, Courtney Jones, Aguijón Theater, Epopeya, Hecuba, Euripides, Abel González Melo, Oracle Theatre, The Hairy Ape, Eugene O'Neill, Julian Parker, Monty Cole, The Mutilated, Tennessee Williams, Mierka Girten, Jennifer Engstrom, A Red Orchid Theatre, Dado, Steep Theatre Co., Posh, Laura Wade, Dash Barber, Christopher Borek, Jonathan Barry, Bruce Norris, Domesticated, Sunset Baby, AnJi White, Kelvin Roston Jr., TimeLine Theatre Company, Dominique Morisseau, About Face Theatre, Le Switch, Philip Dawkins, The Homosexuals, Charm, Northlight Theatre, Steppenwolf Garage, [Title of Show], Jeff Bowen, Hunter Bell, Open Door Repertory, Ashton Byrum, Kellye Howard, Transparent, Vices & Virtues, Profiles Theatre, Neil LaBute, Betsy Bowman, Tom McGregor, 10-K, Swallowing Bicycles

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Nov 5, 2014
Strandline: A play maybe too Irish for its own good

A Red Orchid Theatre's black comedy has the ache but not the clarity.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, Strandline, A Red Orchid Theatre, Conor McPherson, The Night Alive, AstonRep, Martin McDonagh, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Pumpgirl, Pumpgirls and Dinettes, Ireland, Irish playwrights, Kirsten Fitzgerald, J.R. Sullivan, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Bruce Norris, The Qualms, Natalie West, John Francis Babbo

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Aug 27, 2014
Cole Theatre aims high with its debut production, Ecstasy

But Mike Leigh's 1979 play is more about the agony.
- By Chloe Riley
- Tags: Theater Review, Cole Theatre, A Red Orchid Theatre, Boyd Harris, Layne Manzer, Secrets & Lies, Topsy-Turvy, Vera Drake, Hampstead Theatre, Shade Murray, Abigail's Party, Maura Kidwell, Michaela Petro, The Glass Menagerie, Heath Hays, Grant Sabin

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Apr 15, 2014
Recommended
Three flight attendants cut loose on a layover in Mud Blue Sky

A Red Orchid Theatre's production presents a surprisingly poignant group portrait of four lonely people.
- By Zac Thompson
- Tags: Theater Review, Mud Blue Sky, A Red Orchid Theatre, Wrigley Field, Marisa Wegrzyn, O'Hare, Jacqueline Penrod, Mike Durst, Natalie West, Mierka Girten, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Matt Farabee, Recommended

Music, Gossip Wolf Aug 14, 2013
Gossip Wolf: Magas makes some famous fans

Plus: The Whistler celebrates Kate Bush, John Bellows goes electric, and more.
- By J.R. Nelson and Leor Galil
- Tags: Gossip Wolf, Jim Magas, Michael Shannon, Simpatico, A Red Orchid Theatre, Asia Argento, Greta Gerwig, Music Is Easy, Kate Bush, the Whistler, Song of Summer, Distant Cities, Kyle Greer, the Kick Inside, Wuthering Heights, Luke McQuillan, John Bellows, Fast Hits, Sebadoh, Mitch Ryder, Fast Hits, Half Milk, Rockford, Kept Mang

Blogs, Bleader Jul 27, 2013
Reader's Agenda Sat 7/27: AfriCOBRA's impact, General Zod in Simpatico, and Ken Camden

What's on the Reader's Agenda for Saturday, July 27
- By Tosten Burks
- Tags: Do This, Arts, AfriCOBRA, Art and Impact, DuSable Museum, Simpatico, A Red Orchid Theatre, Ken Camden, Constellation

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Jul 17, 2013
Friends recall old crimes in Simpatico

Michael Shannon stars in a death struggle disguised as a comedy.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, Honore de Balzac, Simpatico, Sam Shepard, southern California, Kentucky, bluegrass, Rancho Cucamonga, California, Guy Van Swearingen, A Red Orchid Theatre, Geography of a Horse Dreamer, D.H. Lawrence, The Rocking-Horse Winner, Horse Dreamer, Elmore Leonard, Get Shorty, the Bible, Genesis, Jacob, Esau, True West, Michael Shannon, Kate Arrington, Belleville, Boardwalk Empire, Premium Rush, Doug Vickers, Jennifer Engstrom

Blogs, Bleader Nov 9, 2012
Video
Straight-Up Lincoln, and the rest of this week's movies

New reviews and notable screenings in this week's issue
- By J.R. Jones
- Tags: Film, Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds, The Great Gatsby, Leonardo DiCaprio, Baz Luhrman, Moulin Rouge, Hyde Park on Hudson, Bill Murray, Killing Them Softly, Brad Pitt, Andrew Dominik, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Les Miserables, Tom Hooper, The King's Speech, Not Fade Away, David Chase, Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell, The Fighter movie, Steven Spielberg, Lincoln movie, Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, Daniel Strathairn, Skyfall movie, James Bond, A Late Quartet, Yaron Zliberman, Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Mark Ivanir, Life Without Principle, Johnnie To, Francine Melissa Leo, Holy Motors, Leos Carax, The Lovers on the Bridge, Ben Sachs, The Nine Muses, John Akomfrah, Handsworth Songs, Nobody Walks, Lena Dunham, Older Children, Duncan Riddell, A Red Orchid Theatre, As Long as You're Healthy, Yoyo Pierre Etaix, Gene Siskel Film Center, Pierre Etaix, Gillo Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers, University of Chicago Doc Films, Buster Keaton, The Cameraman, Music Box Chicago, Dennis Scott, Fred Wilcox, Forbidden Planet, Laura Otto Preminger, Northwestern University Block Museum of Art, Marnie Alfred Hitchcock, Northbrook Public Library, Hayao Miyakzaki, My Neighbor Totoro, Vincente Minnelli, Some Came Running, Fred Camper, Lawrence Jordan, University of Chicago Film Studies Center, Chicago Filmmakers, Viaduct Theater, John Davies, V-Day 11.11.11, Loyola University Lewis Towers, Jonathan Rosenbaum, You Got to Move: Stories of Change in the South, Cinema Borealis, movies, Video

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Review Nov 1, 2012
KO'd by The Opponent

Brett Neveu's tale of two boxers draws blood
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Performing Arts Review, boxing, Brett Neveu, Guy van Swearingen, Kamal Angelo Bolden, A Red Orchid Theatre, Karen Kessler

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