Theatre with a side of life
Goodman Theatre presents BUST, An Afrocurrentist Play. What happens when a black person is pulled over by the police? A lot of times, they are harassed, beaten or shot. Playwright Zora Howard, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, explores a provocative alternative. In her unique tale, she imagines centuries of ancestral oppression and years of racism uncorking enough ...
Goodman Theatre presents BETRAYAL. Robert and Emma are married. Jerry and Judy are married. Robert and Jerry are best friends. Emma and Jerry are lovers. When juggling intimacy, where does the trust lie? Playwright Harold Pinter delves into the ties that bind and fray under the weight of humanity. Pinter deconstructs a seven year affair. He ...
Goodman Theatre presents INHERIT THE WIND. In 1925, a schoolteacher taught his students that humans evolved from apes. This notion contrasted with their parents’ and their town’s belief that God created the world in seven days. John T. Scopes’ lesson landed him on trial. In 1955, Playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee debuted their play ...
Goodman Theatre presents the World Premiere production of MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL The Musical. Before true crime podcasts and shocking documentaries, John Berendt published his 1994 blockbuster non-fiction book, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” Berendt told the real life story of a murder in Savannah, Georgia. It was a ...
Goodman Theatre presents the World-Premiere production of HIGHWAY PATROL. IRL!? What IS happening ‘in real life’? Is this a staged thriller or a cautionary Ted Talk for celebs? HIGHWAY PATROL blurs ALL the lines between reality and fantasy. The story is the actual experience of Emmy Award-winning actor Dana Delany. In 2012, Delany befriended a terminally ill ...
Goodman Theatre presents The Who’s TOMMY the Musical. TOMMY and Des are back! Thirty years after its Tony Award-winning original production, Des McAnuff (director and co-libretto) returns to reimagine The Who’s TOMMY. In the early 90s, Pete Townshend (music, lyrics, co-libretto) and McAnuff collaborated using existing music for the story and co-creating the book. Now, TOMMY ...
Goodman Theatre presents THE CHERRY ORCHARD. Aristocrats are confronted by a dilapidated estate, a non-producing orchard and a carefree past that no longer exists. In his 1903 classic, Anton Chekhov explored the end of serfdom. Lyubov (played by a fierce Kate Fry) returns to her childhood home after an extended absence. Despite a celebrity welcome from ...
Goodman Theatre presents SWING STATE. Playwright Rebecca Gillman pens an intriguing tale of pandemic wreckage. Gillman sets her story in rural Wisconsin in 2021. The show opens in palpable silence as Mary Beth Fisher (Peg) cracks eggs into a bowl. She methodically beats in the flour. The ordinariness of her actions are momentarily interrupted by the ...
Goodman Theatre, in association with Center Theatre Group, presents The Second Stage Theater Production of CLYDE’S. Playwright Lynn Nottage has penned a helluva comedy! Four ex-cons have struggled to find work after their incarceration. They each have landed a job at Clyde’s, a diner on the Interstate. The owner, Clyde, is an ex-felon and a ...
GoodmanTheatre presents the Chicago premiere of the musical LIFE AFTER. Today is her birthday! And Alice (played by an outstanding Samantha Williams) plans to crush the school debate and then celebrate with friends. When her dad (played by a charismatic Paul Alexander Nolan) shows up unexpectedly to take her to dinner, they quarrel. She storms ...