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Arts & Culture, Theater Review Oct 9, 2019
Richard III walks into a karaoke bar . . .

Shakespeare's villain goes flat in Eclectic Full Contact's production.
- By Irene Hsiao
- Tags: Theater Review, Richard III, Eclectic Full Contact Theatre, Natividad Uehara, Andrew Pond

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Jul 31, 2019
Recommended
The video game’s the thing in Super Richard World III

Otherworld Theatre’s Stupid Shakespeare Company makes a low-budget, high-laugh debut.
- By KT Hawbaker
- Tags: Theater Review, Otherworld Theatre, Stupid Shakespeare Company, Richard III, Joshua Messick, Katie Ruppert, Nintendo, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Aug 17, 2018
With a confused Richard III, Muse of Fire goes out with a flicker

The company's attempts to play with gender dynamics just create confusion.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, Richard III, Muse of Fire Theatre Company, Ingraham Park, Jemma Alix Levy, Jon Beal, Sonia Goldberg, Shakespeare

Film, Movie Review Sep 21, 2017
Recommended
Love is the drug in Andrzej Żuławski’s L’Important C’Est D’Aimer

Romantic passion consumes everything in this 1975 drama from the director of Possession.
- By Ben Sachs
- Tags: Movie Review, L’Important C’Est D’Aimer, The Most Important Thing: Love, Andrzej Zulawski, The Third Part of the Night, Possession Andrzej Zulawski, On the Silver Globe, Cosmos Andrzej Zulawski, Georges Delerue, Fabio Testi, Romy Schneider, Richard III, Jacques Dutronc, French cinema, Polish cinema, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Jun 7, 2017
Candide, Gidion's Knot, and ten more stage shows to see now

A revamped version of Leonard Bernstein's operetta and a taut, intense two-hander are among this week's best bets.
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, Leonard Bernstein, Candide, Leibniz, Voltaire, Richard Wilbur, Stephen Sondheim, John Latouche, Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker, Music Theater Works, Light Opera Works, Rudy Hogenmiller, John Caird, Gary Alexander, Ben Barker, Cecilia Iole, Roger L. Bingaman, Cunegonde, Clued In: An Improvised Murder Mystery, Second City, Judy's Beat Lounge, Gidion's Knot, Johnna Adams, Eclectic Full Contact Theatre, Michelle Annette, Julie Partyka, Katherine Siegel, Hair, Lauren Rawitz, Noah Spiegel-Blum, Her Majesty's Will, Robert Kauzlaric, David Blixt, Lifeline Theatre, Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare, Peter Greenberg, Improvised Jane Austen, Ana Silva, Kate Parker, Stephanie Jones, King Liz, Windy City Playhouse, Chuck Smith, Lanice Shelley, Eric Gerard, Fernanda Coppel, Not Quite: Asian American by Law, Asian Woman by Desire, Ada Cheng, Ragtime musical, Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens, and Stephen Flaherty, E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime, Scott Weinstein, Denzel Tsopnang, Richard III, Fury Theatre, Nathan Agin, David Gonzalez, Mark Dodge, Indian Boundary Park, Save Ferris: The Unofficial Sequel to Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Under the Gun Theater, Christian Missonak, Andrew Bentley, Kayla Cole, Shrimp Boys Present: Seinfeld, Shrimp Boys, Seinfeld

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Dec 21, 2016
2016 in theater was wildly convulsive on- and offstage

Controversies over abuse, alleged druggings, and “whitewashing” roiled even as Shakespeare 400 Chicago soared.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, Profiles Theatre, Darrell Cox, Joe Jahraus, Aimee Levitt, Christopher Piatt, Brianna Wellen, Peter Kim, Chicago magazine, Second City E.T.C., Second City, Porchlight Music Theatre, Usnavi, Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights, Hamilton, Victory Gardens Theater, ALTA, Alliance of Latinx Theater Artists of Chicago, Actors' Equity, Women in Comedy, Not in Our House, Theater Wit, Annus Mirabilis Award, Shakespeare 400 Chicago, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Company Theatre Mumbai, Piya Beharupiya, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Belarus Free Theatre, King Lear, Alex Weisman, Hand to God, the Gift Theatre, Michael Patrick Thornton, Richard III, Rough House Theater, Ubu the King, puppetry, Year in Review 2016

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Sep 29, 2016
Recommended
Chicago Shakespeare's Tug of War: Civil Strife is a battle to engage in

The second half of Barbara Gaines's epic adaptation compels—never mind the guitars or blood dripping from the wall.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, Tug of War: Civil Strife, Shakespeare's history plays, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Barbara Gaines, Shakespeare 400 Chicago, Henry VI, Part 2, Henry VI, Part 3, Richard III, Tug of War: Foreign Fire, Steven Sutcliffe, Karen Aldridge, Larry Yando, Kevin Gudahl, Timothy Edward Kane, War of the Roses, House of Lancaster, House of York, Queen Margaret, Recommended

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Aug 11, 2016
Ayn Rand in Love, Thrones! A Musical Parody, and eight more new stage shows

An incongruous musical and a Game of Thrones spoof are among this week's highlights.
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, Ayn Rand in Love, MCL Chicago, Premier Premieres, Einstein's Gift, Fritz Haber, Genesis Theatricals, Elayne LeTraunik, Chris Saunders, Vern Thiessen, First Floor Theater, Fitzfest, F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Tender Is the Night, Kevin Rolston Jr., The Jackie Wilson Story, Jackie Taylor, Black Ensemble Theater, Rueben Echoles, Mother and Me, Melinda Buckley, Kimberly Senior, The Promise of a Rose Garden, Babes With Blades, Dustin Spence, Elyse Dawson, Muse of Fire Theatre Company, Queen Margaret, Henry VI, Richard III, Annelise Dickinson, Jon Beal, Thrones! A Musical Parody, Baby Wants Candy, Nicholas Druzbanski, Game of Thrones, Caitlyn Cerza, Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Reutan Collective, Second City, Slate, Unelectable You, Jacob Weisberg, Peter Sagal, Calamity West

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Feature Mar 22, 2016
How Chicago theater artists are diversifying the city's stages

From the downtown theater district to neighborhood storefronts, efforts are underway to make Chicago theater less uniformly white, thin, able-bodied, and gender-conforming.
- By Zac Thompson
- Tags: Performing Arts Feature, diversity, Chicago theater, Hamlet, Equity, Hamilton, True West, Chicago Inclusion Project, Emjoy Gavino, Court Theatre, Wait Until Dark, Audrey Hepburn, Harmony France, Sam Shepard, The Matchmaker, Hello, Dolly!, Ron OJ Parson, Writers Theatre, TimeLine Theatre, Horace Vandergelder, Allen Gilmore, Anita Hollander, Henry Wishcamper, Eric Garner, The Hairy Ape, Eugene O’Neill, Chay Yew, Richard III, Hillary and Clinton, Gift Theatre, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Sydney Germaine, Anita Hollander, Richard III, Year of the King, Antony Sher, Michael Patrick Thornton, Lucas Hnath

Arts & Culture, Theater Review Mar 17, 2016
Richard III was always a monster. Now imagine him as RoboCop

The Gift Theatre and Michael Patrick Thornton use disability to illuminate the Bard's sociopathic conniver.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Theater Review, The Gift Theatre, Michael Patrick Thornton, Richard III, William Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s history plays, Chicago Shakespeare 400, Jessica Thebus, Steppenwolf Garage Theatre, Adrian Danzig, Shanésia Davis, Thomas J. Cox, Olivia Cygan

Blogs, Bleader Jan 21, 2016
What to see at Shakespeare 400 Chicago

We pare the year-long catalog of events down just a little bit.
- By Aimee Levitt
- Tags: Arts, Performing Arts, Theater, Shakespeare 400 Chicago, William Shakespeare, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Barbara Gaines, Belarus Free Theater, iO, Play the Knave, Tug of War, Hamlet, Othello, Revenge of Prince Zi Dan, Twelfth Night, Piya Beharupiya, Complete Deaths, Lincoln Squares, King Lear, Merchant of Venice, King Lear, Song of the Goat, Chicago Mariachi Project, Richard III, Table Top Shakespeare, Yo-Yo Ma, Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Blogs, Bleader May 1, 2014
Video
CIMMFest ascendant, and the rest of this week's screenings

New reviews and notable screenings in this week's issue
- By J.R. Jones
- Tags: Opening, Film, Music, Chicago International Movies & Music Festival, Logan Theater Chicago, Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart, Candy Store Prophets, Boyce & Hart: The Guys Who Wrote 'Em, Monkees, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Angel Ernst Lubitsch, Marlene Dietrich, Melvyn Douglas, Bachelor Weekend, Blue Ruin, Brick Mansions, Luc Besson, District B13, Paul Walker, Dancing in Jaffa, Fading Gigolo, John Turturro, Woody Allen, Locke Tom Hardy, Love Meetings, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Now: In the Wings on a World Stage, Kevin Spacey, Richard III, The Other Woman, Finding Nemo, University of Chicago Doc Films, Robert Altman, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Guillermo del Toro, Pan's Labyrinth, Wojciech Has, The Saragossa Manuscript, Gene Siskel Film Center, Alfred Hitchcock, Strangers on a Train, Music Box, Frank Perry, The Swimmer, Indie Boots Film Festival, Landmark's Century Centre, Kartemquin Films, School of the Art Institute, film festivals, movies, Video

Best of Chicago, Arts & Culture Jun 20, 2013
Readers' Poll
Best Revival of a Well-Known Play

Measure for Measure
- Tags: Arts & Culture, Best of Chicago 2013, Measure for Measure, Goodman Theatre, revival of a well-known play, Oklahoma!, Civic Opera House, The Glass Menagerie, Mary-Arrchie Theatre, Richard III, Underground Wonder Bar, Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company, Readers' Poll

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Sidebar Oct 3, 2012
Equivocation gives the Bard a good shagging

Playing English-major games with a writer called Shagspeare
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Performing Arts Sidebar, Sean Graney, Shakespeare, Richard III, Bill Cain, The Hypocrites, Marc Grapey, Arturo Soria

Blogs, Bleader Jul 26, 2012
Smartphones and Soirees: new performing art reviews

New performing arts reviews from Reader critics from the July 26, 2012 issue
- By Sharon Lurye
- Tags: Theater, Arts, Comedy, Dance, The American Plan, The Dumb Waiter, Harold Pinter, Nickel History: the Nation of Heat, Girls Night: The Musical, Sleeping Beauty, Reefer Madness, Richard III, Smartphones: A Pocket-Sized Farce, La Soiree, The Vortex, WTC View, Noel Coward, Comedy Bang! Bang!, Khecari dance company, Pales, Thodos Dance Chicago

Blogs, Bleader Oct 8, 2009
This week's issue
- By Whet Moser
- Tags: Chicagoland, News, Ben Joravsky, Mayor Daley, 2016 Olympics, Michael Miner, Mike Royko, Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field, John Conroy, police torture, Jon Burge, Unspeakable Acts Ordinary People, Chicago International Film Festival, CIFF, Chicago Overcoat, Cropsey, Rogue Cocktails, Violet Hour, Toby Maloney, Bar De Ville, Brad Bolt, Columbia College, Miles Raymer, Bin Laden Blowin' Up, Saverio Trugila, Richard III, David Harrower

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Review Oct 8, 2009
Richard the Toad

Chicago Shakespeare Theater plays the nasty little king for laughs.
- By Tony Adler
- Tags: Performing Arts Review, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Wallace Acton, Barbara Gaines, Jennifer Harmon, Wendy Robie, Angela Ingersoll, Mary Ann Thebus

Arts & Culture, Performing Arts Review May 19, 1988
The Wars of the Roses

Critic Albert Williams on the English Shakespeare Company's seminal 1988 adaptation of Shakespeare's multipart chronicle and tragedy.
- By Albert Williams
- Tags: Performing Arts Review, English Shakespeare Company, The War of the Roses, Shakespeare, Shakespeare's history plays, Shakespeare's tragedies, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Richard II, Richard III, Laurence Olivier, Michael Bogdanov, Michael Pennington, Andrew Jarvis, Paul Brennen, Auditorium Theatre, Jack Cade, Henry Bolingbroke, Queen Margaret, June Watson, Mary Rutherford, Prince Hal, House of York, House of Lancaster, House of Tudor, Henry Jarvis, Paul Castle

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Shakespeare's villain goes flat in Eclectic Full Contact's production.

Otherworld Theatre’s Stupid Shakespeare Company makes a low-budget, high-laugh debut.

The company's attempts to play with gender dynamics just create confusion.

Romantic passion consumes everything in this 1975 drama from the director of Possession.

A revamped version of Leonard Bernstein's operetta and a taut, intense two-hander are among this week's best bets.

Controversies over abuse, alleged druggings, and “whitewashing” roiled even as Shakespeare 400 Chicago soared.

The second half of Barbara Gaines's epic adaptation compels—never mind the guitars or blood dripping from the wall.

An incongruous musical and a Game of Thrones spoof are among this week's highlights.

From the downtown theater district to neighborhood storefronts, efforts are underway to make Chicago theater less uniformly white, thin, able-bodied, and gender-conforming.

The Gift Theatre and Michael Patrick Thornton use disability to illuminate the Bard's sociopathic conniver.

We pare the year-long catalog of events down just a little bit.

New reviews and notable screenings in this week's issue

Measure for Measure

Playing English-major games with a writer called Shagspeare

New performing arts reviews from Reader critics from the July 26, 2012 issue

Chicago Shakespeare Theater plays the nasty little king for laughs.

Critic Albert Williams on the English Shakespeare Company's seminal 1988 adaptation of Shakespeare's multipart chronicle and tragedy.

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