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Arts & Culture, Theater Review Nov 19, 2019
Lindiwe is at its best when it lets the music do the talking

Steppenwolf's latest collaboration with Ladysmith Black Mambazo has too much story, not enough song.
- By Kerry Reid
- Tags: Theater Review, Lindiwe, Steppenwolf Theatre, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Eric Simonson, Jonathan Berry, Nondumiso Tembe, Erik Hellman, Yasen Peyankov

Arts & Culture, Theater Review May 8, 2019
Recommended
The Children vividly imagines the worst-case scenario after an environmental disaster.

Playwright Lucy Kirkwood's devastated world is nightmarishly familiar.
- By Catey Sullivan
- Tags: Theater Review, The Children, Steppenwolf Theatre, Lucy Kirkwood, Fukushima disaster, Janet Ulrich Brooks, Yasen Peyankov, Ora Jones, Jonathan Berry, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Oct 11, 2018
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time bloats up on its journey to the stage

But patient audiences will find something to like in Steppenwolf for Young Adults's new production.
- By Dan Jakes
- Tags: Theater Review, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Steppenwolf Theatre, Mark Haddon, Simon Stephens, Terry Bell, Jonathan Berry, Cedric Mays, Rebecca Spence, Young Adults lineup

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Aug 8, 2018
Recommended
In The Harvest, Samuel D. Hunter suggests that even fundamentalists are human

The play defeats expectations and shakes its audience up.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, The Harvest, Griffin Theatre, Samuel D. Hunter, Jonathan Berry, Whale, Rest, Idaho, Christian fundamentalism, missionaries, Raphael Diaz, Kiayla Ryann, Paloma Nozicka, Collin Quinn Rice, Patrick Blashill, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Feb 13, 2018
You Got Older doesn’t try for wiser

Clare Barron’s autobiographical play is the dramatic equivalent of a foodie Instagram.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, You Got Older, Clare Barron, Steppenwolf, Caroline Neff, Jonathan Berry, Francis Guinan, autobiographical theater

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, Performing Arts Feature Nov 30, 2016
Winterset, Finding Neverland, and three more alternatives to holiday fare

A resonant period piece and a musical that does it better than the movie are among this week's best bets.
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, The Hypocrites, Cinderella at the Theater of Potatoes, Andra Velis Simon, Pauline Viardot-García, Cendrillon, Sean Graney, Amanda Martinez, Cinderella, Finding Neverland, J.M. Barrie, Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, Peter Pan, Gary Barlow, Eliot Kennedy, Broadway musicals, Broadway in Chicago, Kevin Kern, Christine Dwyer, Equity touring shows, Diane Paulus, Mia Michaels, Calamity West, Sideshow Theatre Company, Rolling, Jackalope Theatre, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, Give It All Back, Bob Dylan, Marti Lyons, Mary Williamson, R. Crumb, Allen Ginsberg, Mr. Natural, ShawChicago, Jeeves Intervenes, Margaret Raether', P.G. Wodehouse, Bertie Wooster, Eustace Bassington-Bassington, Robert Scogin, Winterset, Sacco and Vanzetti, Griffin Theatre Company, Jonathan Berry, Maxwell Anderson, Maurice Demus, Larry Baldacci

Arts & Culture, Feature Jun 8, 2016
At Profiles Theatre the drama—and abuse—is real

For more than 20 years, actors and crew members stayed silent about mistreatment they suffered at the acclaimed storefront theater. Now they’re speaking up, hoping to protect workers in non-Equity theaters across the country.
- By Aimee Levitt and Christopher Piatt
- Tags: Feature, News, Profiles Theatre, Darrell W. Cox, Joe Jahraus, Maryann Carlson, Eric Burgher, Erica Daniels, Martha Lavey, Steppenwolf, Royal George, Actors Equity, American Theater Company, Writers Theatre, Not in Our House, R&D Choreography, Scharf Banks Marmor, Jeff awards, Lilly Awards Foundation, Tracy Letts, Neil LaBute, Chris Jones, Hedy Weiss, Rick Snyder, Rick Gilbert, David Bareford, Somer Benson, MaryEllen Rieck, Claire Wellin, Jonathan Berry, Darcy McGill, Kevin Bigley, Corey Weinberg, Kelly O’Sullivan, Tyler Gray, Hans Fleischmann, Jeremy Hersh, Melissa Sanchez, Sue Redman, Dan Savage, Oprah Winfrey, Lori Myers, Laura T. Fisher, Sarah Marmor, Killer Joe, Kid Sister, Things We Said Today, The Glory of Living, Popcorn, In a Dark Dark House, Snakebit, Reasons to Be Pretty, Stray Dogs, Jerusalem

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Jun 8, 2016
Steppenwolf's Constellations and Voice Lessons, and 13 more new stage shows

An endless meet-cute and an off-key farce are among this week's notable plays.
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, Caught, Sideshow Theatre Company, Christopher Chen, Seth Bockley, Ben Chang, Helen Young, Victory Gardens Theater, Cocksucker, The Annoyance Theatre, The Box, Jeff Blim, Jon Matteson, Eric Schinzer, Steppenwolf Theatre, Constellations, Jon Michael Hill, Jessie Fisher, Nick Payne, Jonathan Berry, Slimtack Theatre Company, Cowboy Mouth, Sam Shepard, Patti Smith, The Cure, Walkabout Theater Company, Emma Stanton, Dana Murphy, Nigel Brown, Chicago Cultural Center, Sidney R. Yates Gallery, The Good Doctor, Neil Simon, Anton Chekhov, Organic Theater Company, Josh Anderson, Sara Copeland, Jim Heatherly, Cuckoo's Theater Project, Carlo Gozzi, The Green Bird, commedia dell'arte, The Love of Three Oranges, Amber Lee Olivier, Hillary DePiano, Kegan Witzki, My Fair Lady, Light Opera Works, Lerner and Loewe, Elizabeth Telford, Roger Bingaman, Rudy Hogenmiller, Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen, Robert Kauzlaric, Lifeline Theatre, George Howe, Stephanie Stocksill, Will Burdin, Out of the Blue, Vladimir Zaytsev, Sherlock Holmes, Portage Park, Filament Theatre Company, Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Portage Park, Voice Lessons, Laurie Metcalf, French Stewart, The Program, Jamie Brew, Clickhole, The Onion, Sameena Mustafa, Anthony Bourdain, Joe Schermoly, First Floor Theater, World Builders, Johnna Adams, Carmen Molina, Andrew Cutler, Jesse Roth, American Theater Company, PJ Papparelli, Xanadu, Lilli-Anne Brown, Landree Fleming, Arnel Sancianco, Jim DeSelm, Olivia Newton-John

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature May 12, 2016
Little Shop of Horrors, Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf, and ten more new stage shows

A monstrous revival and a collaboration between Writers Theatre and Second City are among this week's theater and performance best bets.
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, American Beauty Shop, Dana Lynn Formby, Chicago Dramatists, Megan Shuchman, And Now You Know Everything About Laurel Krabacher, Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody, Writers Theatre, Second City, Tim Sniffen, Stuart Carden, Michael Halberstam, Our Town, Olivia Bagan, Double Text, KoolAid Mix, 99 Problems, 90s parodies, Hannah Starr, Joe Janes, American Blues Theater, Little Shop of Horrors, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, Austin Cook, Dara Cameron, Jonathan Berry, The News Is Now, iO Theater, Cody Melcher, Chris Hauser, Once in a Lifetime, Sarah Goeden, Justine C. Turner, Nicole Bloomsmith, George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, Damon Kiely, Shirley Laura, Keith Walker, Vietnam war, Women's Army Corps, Victoria Alvarez-Chacon, Kat McDonnell, A Piece of My Heart, Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, Reality Ever After, Under the Gun Theater, Real Housewives, Seedfolks, Paul Fleischman, Cleveland, Gibb Street, Sonja Parks, Anna Deavere Smith, Chicago Slam Works, This Great Nation, Much Enduring, Felix Mayes, Teagan Walsh-Davis, J.W. Basilo

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Apr 8, 2016
The Hypocrites' Adding Machine, Factory's The Last Big Mistake, and eight more stage shows to see now

What happens when a Mr. Zero goes berserk? A musical, apparently.
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, The Hypocrites, Adding Machine, Elmer Rice, Geoff Button, Matt Deitchman, Mr. Zero, Dreams of the Penny Gods, Halcyon Theatre, off-Loop theater, Callie Kimball, Caity-Shea Violette, Jennifer Adams, Ted James, The Great Love Debate, Brian Howie, Kill Floor, American Theater Company, ATC, Abe Koogler, Jonathan Berry, Sol Patches, Factory Theater, The Last Big Mistake, Ernie Deak, Manny Tamayo, Anthony Tournis, Rachel Sypniewski, The Life of Galileo, Bertolt Brecht, Galileo, Remy Bumppo, Nick Sandys, The Misanthrope, Martin Crimp, Molière, Piccolo Theatre, Michael D. Graham, Dream Theatre, Jeremy Menekseoglu, Olive and the Mouse Spider King, Anna Menekseoglu, Adventure Stage Chicago, Sight Unseen, Tom Arvetis, Rives Collins, Spark, Ulysses, James Joyce, Leopold Bloom, The Plagiarists, Aileen McGroddy, Jessica Wright Buha, Rudy Bloom

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Jul 23, 2014
Recommended
A gutsy new take on Shakespeare's great Other

This Othello features a more Moorish Moor.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, Othello, Gift Theatre, George Chakiris, West Side Story, Jonathan Pryce, Miss Saigon, Neil Patrick Harris, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Al Pacino, Othello, Laurence Olivier, Kareem Bandealy, Gift Theatre, Jonathan Berry, John Kelly Connolly, Ben Kingsley, Krishna Pandit Bhanji, Christian Gero, Ayad Akhtar, Disgraced, Pulitzer Prize, Michael Patrick Thornton, Ernest Borgnine, From Here to Eternity, Gabriel Franken, Recommended

Blogs, Bleader Sep 28, 2012
Good People and bad dads: new performing arts reviews

From "pointless" to "devastatingly beautiful"
- By Meg Pier
- Tags: Theater, Arts, Comedy, Dance, Good People, Steppenwolf, Sweet Bird of Youth, Goodman, Armageddon Pie, Avenue Q, Seascape, The Big Knife, Remy Bumppo, NightBlue, Stage 773, Greenhouse, Raven, Don't Give That Beast a Name, Mammals, Zoo Studio, The Call Me Mister Fry, School Teacher Productions, Busted City, Prop Thtr, Dirty, Gift, Dearly Departed, Circle, The Skriker, Red Tape, Geography of a Horse Dreamer, Mary Arrchie, I Love Lucy, Broadway Playhouse, Godspell, Brown Paper Box, Collaboraction, A Very Terrible Father, Dream, Woody Sez, Northlight, Woyzeck on the Highveld, Museum of Contemporary Art, Ground Effect, Links Hall, David Lindsay-Abaire, David Cromer, Jonathan Berry, Jack Fry

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Review Jun 6, 2012
I Am Going to Change the World may sound positive

But in this premiere from Chicago Dramatists the world answers, "No, you're not."
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Performing Arts Review, suicide, Andrew Hinderaker, Goldman Sachs, Chicago Dramatists, Jonathan Berry, The Twilight Zone, Nicholas Harazin, Meg Thalkin, Norm Woodel, Ed Flynn, Judy Blue

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Review Dec 8, 2011
Up close but impersonal at Griffin Theatre

Some things work in this black box version of Spring Awakening, some don't
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Performing Arts Review, Steven Sater, Duncan Sheik, Frank Wedekind, Spring Awakening, Jonathan Berry, Griffin Theatre, Aja Wiltshire, Josh Salt, Harter Clingman, Matthew Babbs, Lindsay Leopold, Larry Baldacci

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Review Jun 24, 2010
Suicide Ghost Writers

A conceit doesn't have to be plausible to work.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Performing Arts Review, Legacy Letters, Andrew Hinderaker, Suicide Incorporated, Jonathan Berry, Gift Theatre Company, Ed Flynn, Mike Harvey, Michael Patrick Thornton

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Steppenwolf's latest collaboration with Ladysmith Black Mambazo has too much story, not enough song.

Playwright Lucy Kirkwood's devastated world is nightmarishly familiar.

But patient audiences will find something to like in Steppenwolf for Young Adults's new production.

The play defeats expectations and shakes its audience up.

Clare Barron’s autobiographical play is the dramatic equivalent of a foodie Instagram.

A play by Moonlight author Tarell Alvin McCraney and a paranoiac drama by British playwright Dawn Hall are among this week's best bets.

A resonant period piece and a musical that does it better than the movie are among this week's best bets.

For more than 20 years, actors and crew members stayed silent about mistreatment they suffered at the acclaimed storefront theater. Now they’re speaking up, hoping to protect workers in non-Equity theaters across the country.

An endless meet-cute and an off-key farce are among this week's notable plays.

A monstrous revival and a collaboration between Writers Theatre and Second City are among this week's theater and performance best bets.

What happens when a Mr. Zero goes berserk? A musical, apparently.

This Othello features a more Moorish Moor.

From "pointless" to "devastatingly beautiful"

But in this premiere from Chicago Dramatists the world answers, "No, you're not."

Some things work in this black box version of Spring Awakening, some don't

A conceit doesn't have to be plausible to work.

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