One of our objectives is to write occasional feature articles on theatre, theatres, and theatre people. You’ll find them archived here.
It’s that time of year when critics create sometimes arbitrary “Top 10” lists, and (being a bit of a list nerd) I feel like adding my own to the ever-growing mix. However, I have a bit of a problem: 2017 was the year in which I launched this site, and it only launched at the start […]
“I was kind of upset. You could tell there was not a transgender person within twenty yards of the rehearsal room” Delia Kropp, one of Chicago’s preeminent transgender actors and advocates, is speaking of theatres trying to tell trans stories without actually consulting trans people. “What the directors usually say is ‘I have a friend […]
A firebrand is, according to google.com’s dictionary, a person who is passionate about a particular cause, typically inciting change and taking radical action. Dictionary.com goes further, adding “agitator” and “troublemaker” to the definition. Somehow I don’t think that any of these would be offensive to Harmony France, co-founder and Artistic Director of Firebrand Theatre, Chicago’s only Equity […]
Nov. 29, 2017 Warning: Do not read this prior to seeing the play. Major spoilers are included. It will ruin the experience for you. When the audience gets to the end of the 100 minutes or so of Tracy Letts’ The Minutes, they pretty much need to stop and take a breath. It is a brilliant play, to be […]
Chicago theatre celebrated its finest last night at Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace, as the 49th Annual Equity Jeff Awards presentation rewarded a wide variety of achievements. There was no doubt whatsoever, though, as to who the big winner was for the evening: Aurora’s Paramount Theatre, which took home a grand total of eight awards (twice […]
According to the League of Chicago Theatres, there are about 200 theatre companies in the city of Chicago. Wikipedia also lists about this many, as well as thirty long-standing companies that are now defunct. And that doesn’t even begin to include the multitudes of companies that have appeared for a show or three only to […]
Bevery Friend shares her thoughts on what being a theatre critic is all about… It is far easier to review a bad play than a good one. Opening sentences seem to write themselves! For Hunting Cockroaches, a supposed comedy by Polish playwright Janusz Glowacki, I wrote, “While the characters on stage discussed various ways to […]