It’s not exactly a secret that the right wing of this country despises transgender people. Since Trump came to power, as a matter of fact, the National Center for Transgender Equality has counted more than thirty separate actions from his administration targeting LGBTQ people and especially transgender people, whom he is trying to “erase” by […]
Review by Karen Topham, American Theatre Critics Association member; photo by Erica Weiss. In Twilight Bowl by Rebecca Gilman, now playing at the Goodman’s Owen Theatre, five young women from rural Wisconsin (and one from Winnetka) examine who they are, what their lives are all about, and the role of choice (as opposed to luck) […]
Review by Karen Topham, American Theatre Critics Association member; photo by Suzanne Plunkett. I found a cartoon on Facebook this evening. In the top panel, labeled “Reality 50 Years Ago,” a Democrat and a Republican look at a sideways number on the ground. “Nine,” says the Democrat, which is accurate from his perspective. The Republican, […]
Review by Karen Topham, American Theatre Critics Association member; photo by Tom McGrath. In his introduction to the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde commented that “there is no such thing as a moral or immoral book; books are well-written or badly written.” This sentiment could be applied to Wilde’s life as well: […]
Review by Bradley Laas; photo by Brett Beiner I have often been told that I have not lived as a young gay man because of my long refusal to see the Mamma Mia film. I still refuse. However, this past weekend I had the opportunity to see the original scripted, live version of Mamma Mia! […]
Review by Joe De Rosa; photograph by Cheryl Mann There is a moment in Leo Tolstoy’s masterpiece Anna Karenina when it is impossible to tell if Anna is brave or crazy. Though her passion for Vronsky–her dashing, dangerous, enigmatic, and maybe a little self-absorbed lover–has overtaken her to the point where she’s made her desire […]
So this week marks my 500th day and 300th show as a reviewer. (Well, I’m at 298 Chicago reviews as I write this but within two days it will be 300, and I also have over forty USAOnStage reviews, about a dozen of which I wrote.) I’m a number person (meaning I like interesting numbers), […]
Review by Karen Topham, American Theatre Critics Association; photo by Michael Brosilow I stare at a photo of my daughter when she was a teenager. She could be headstrong, but for the most part we maintained a solid relationship all the way through those troublesome years. Other parents are not as lucky. Some children tune out; […]
Review by Kelly MacBlane; photo by North Shore Camera Club There are moments in our life when our identity is shaken. For years, decades even, we are labeled… “mother,” “wife,” “homemaker.” But suddenly, something snaps and those labels don’t seem to fit us anymore. Who are we? Casting off these labels and trying to rediscover […]
Review by Karen Topham, American Theatre Critics Association member. The first time I ever saw Yasmina Reza’s Art (translated by Christopher Hampton) it blew me away. The complications that arise when one of three best friends buys a piece of expensive art that consists of a white canvass made for compelling theatre, especially once you […]