“N” bites off a bit more than it can chew
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Marcus Davis. Here I sit, a white liberal theatre critic, […]
Month: October 2019
Strawdog’s emotional play asks if we can ever be certain of “The Effect” of the drugs we take
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Jesus J. Montero. Emotions are complicated things. We all experience […]
JPAC’s “In the Heights” is a joyous and exuberant experience.
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Dylan Cruz Photography. In the Heights, the first musical from […]
First Floor Theater’s tender but painful melodrama “Sugar In Our Wounds” is a reminder of how far we have yet to go
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Gracie Meier. Partly a story about the experience of slaves […]
Proxy shows great potential but it needs much more work
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Michael Brosilow. Proxy, the latest premiere musical from Underscore Theatre, […]
Invictus’ brilliant “Merchant of Venice” adds a (too?) painful layer to the show’s antisemitism
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Brian McConkey. How do you write a review of a […]
Complex, Intense, and Timeless–The Joffrey Ballet’s Jane Eyre is Extraordinary
Review by Joe DeRosa; photo by Cheryl Mann For two extraordinary hours on Wednesday evening, the Joffrey Ballet’s Chicago Premiere of Cathy […]
A visit home reveals both internal and external dysfunction in the poignant and funny “Kentucky”
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Claire Demos. Leah Nanako Winkler’s Kentucky, now playing at Theater […]
“Grey House” adds a few turns of the screw to the cabin in the woods genre
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by FadeOut Foto. Stop me if you’ve heard this one or […]
Exquisita Agonia explores the pain of loss
Review by Karen Topham, ChicagoOnstage, member American Theatre Critics Association. Photo by Carlos García Servín. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross defined the “five stages of […]