Next Theatre Company presents the Midwest Premiere of LUCK OF THE IRISH. Obie Award-winning Playwright Kirsten Greenidge tackles entitlement in a multi-layered, multi-generational tale about a house. At the heart of Greenidge’s story is a 1950s arrangement between a black couple and a white couple. Dr. and Mrs. Taylor want a better life for their daughters. They ...
The Fourth Walsh
Theatre with a side of life
Category The Fourth Walsh
-
Review “Through The Leaves” (Side Project Theatre): Heartbreaking yet Hopeful
Reviewed by Sara Eisenbaum and Katrina L. Wyss Side Project Theatre presents Through the Leaves. “Through the Leaves” is a play that represents well what happens when stream of consciousness takes center stage. The play centers around a middle aged woman in Germany who is a butcher. While she does not outwardly struggle with the fact that she ...
-
Review “Solstice” (A Red Orchid): Riveting!
A Red Orchid Theatre presents SOLSTICE. Playwright Zinnie Harris penned a disturbing tale. The setting and time period is anywhere in the near future. In a town separated by economic and religious differences, one family is the microcosm. Dad is a religious fanatic. Son is a rebellious teenager. Mom is afflicted with an environmental disease. Uncle tries to ...
-
Review “Phantom of the Opera” (Broadway in Chicago): Extraordinary!
Broadway in Chicago announces Cameron Mackintosh presents the new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. In one word, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is Extraordinary! I was supposed to see PHANTOM in 1990. My friend’s father had a heart attack and we gave our tickets to my parents. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score has haunted and eluded me for 24 ...
-
“Our Country’s Good” (Shattered Globe): True Dramedy
Shattered Globe Theatre presents OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD. Timberlake Wertenbaker’s clever premise imagines the 1788 British export of criminal types to Australia. The penal colonization is managed by a collection of dignified and smarmy soldiers. Within this new world, Wertenbaker places a play within a play. The convicted are forced into theatrical roles. The coerced opportunity turns redemptive. ...
-
The Mandrake (Commedia Beauregard): A Hit or Miss Production
Reviewed by Jennifer Benoit-Bryan Commedia Beauregard’s interpretation of Machiavelli’s The Mandrake at Raven Theatre was scattered and overwrought. The plot of the Mandrake is full of comedic possibility with a playboy, Callimaco, scheming to trick another man in to allowing Callimaco to sleep with his beautiful and virtuous wife. However, the adaptation fell a bit flat, largely due ...
-
Review “The Shadow over Innsmouth” (WildClaw Theatre): Edgy!
I was a novice to H.P. Lovecraft. Then on Saturday, I had a crash course about one of the most influential American authors in the horror genre. The Super Lovecraft Saturday featured a reading of THE DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE and the play THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH. In between the shows, Lovecraft expert Kenneth Hite led a discussion ...
-
About The Fourth Walsh
The fourth wall is the theatre term used to describe the invisible wall that separates the audience from the stage. When a friend suggested The Fourth Walsh as the name of my blog, I agreed it was perfect! I'm reviewing theatre from the audience perspective. I'm not a theatre expert or a critic. I'm just an opinionated person who ...
-
Theatre Openings
I'm lucky enough to live in a city that has over 200+ theatres and boundless talented actors, writers, directors, and designers. I try my hardest to see as many openings as possible. And if I can't see it, I have some friends that delight in reviewing on occasion. Here's what I have coming up...