Theatre with a side of life
In partnership with the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents COMPAGNIE NON NOVA’S L’APRE’S-MIDI D’UN FOEHN VERSION 1. The Yard at Chicago Shakes has been converted into an onstage theatre in the round. The limited seating encircles mechanical fans positioned along a circle. The audience enters the theatre together. Jean-Louis Ouvard is inside ...
Windy City Playhouse presents NOISES OFF. Playwright Michael Frayn raises the curtain and the veil on the drama onstage, offstage and backstage. Drama from all these angles makes for a farce like no other. Frayn breaks up his play within a play into three acts: a technical rehearsal, a matinee a month later, and a performance ...
Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival*, in partnership with America Indian Center, presents IBEX Puppetry’s AJIJAAK ON TURTLE ISLAND. ChiPuppetFest kicks off with a first-ever First Nations puppet tale. AJIJAAK ON TURTLE ISLAND is the story of a baby crane. After Ajijaak is separated from her parents, she is forced to migrate on her own. During her ...
Goodman Theatre presents SAINT NICHOLAS. Playwright Conor McPherson takes us on a journey of self-discovery. The monologue play is a theatre critic reflecting on his life. The critic starts out by describing his disdain for theatre. He lets us know he hates most of what he sees. He brags about making a lot of money from ...
Broadway in Chicago presents, by special arrangement with Rick Riordan and the Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency, THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL. A kid mad at a parent for not being around sounds familiar. The absence attributed to being a god isn’t that common. Author Rick Riordan cleverly blended Greek mythology with contemporary teenage angst. Riordan’s ...
Steppenwolf Theatre presents the World Premiere of LA RUTA. Mexican women are being hunted in their own home country. Over the last few decades, it’s been reported 1,400 have been killed and thousands more are still missing. Women disappear. If they reappear, they have been raped, mutilated, dismembered, killed. Thousands remain missing. These ‘lost’ women are ...
Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents a vibrantly reimagined A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Director Joe Dowling puts a fanciful spin on this classic Shakespearean comedy. Dowling skillfully directs the primary comedy-drama of the lovers’ quadrangle. Helena (played by Cristina Panfilio) loves Demetrius (played by Eric Schabla). Demetrius loves Hermia (played by Melisa Soledad Pereyra). Hermia loves Lysander (played by Tyrone Phillips). ...
Chase presents CIRQUE DREAMS HOLIDAZE. Chicago can celebrate the HOLIDAZE inside. Chicago Theatre has been transformed into a kids' vision of Christmas delights. Scenic Designer Jon Craine, along with costume designs by Cirque Productions, stuff the stage with candy-cane-coated delights. Dancing elves, prancing reindeers, and flipping gingerbread provide a festive spectacle. The HOLIDAZE is a shiny, ...
The Second City presents its 107th Mainstage Revue, ALGORITHM NATION Or STATIC QUO. The new mainstage show goes aggressive and dark. The opening bit has Jeffrey Murdoch in a hostage situation. He’s in his underwear with his nipples taped. He’s being threatened and tortured. The vibe isn’t playful. It’s tense. Then, the entire troupe is onstage ...
Goodman Theatre presents SANTALAND DIARIES. I’m a huge fan of David Sedaris. He is an exceptional satirist. His storytelling is vivid and personal. He looks at ordinary things in an extraordinary manner. And he is hilarious! In SANTALAND DIARIES, Sedaris chronicles his work experience as an elf at Macy’s. He takes us behind the scenes to the ...