Chicago Theatre Review

Author: Kevin Curran

[sound of door slamming shut]

December 5, 2018 Comments Off on [sound of door slamming shut]

Deathscribe – Wildclaw Theater

For one night only, Lincoln Hall was home a collection of macabre and spine tingling stories. WildClaw Theater was holding its 11th annual competition for horror stories staged as radio plays. Five finalists were read aloud, accompanied by expert Foley artists on stage. The five stories, plus some songs and commercial breaks, run a gamut from the overtly scary to the deeply unsettling. This year’s winner, Whisper Trigger tells the story of a man trying to get help getting to sleep with the soothing sounds of the ocean, and gets more than he bargained for. My personal favorite was Migraine, a story about a woman who meets the personification of her migraine and chaos ensues. The other stories included the horror standards of being haunted by family members, terror at an insane asylum, and the horrifying experiments of a mad scientist, each with their own twist on the tropes. 
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Letters from Home

December 4, 2018 Comments Off on Letters from Home

The Holiday Radio Show of 1943 – Three Cat Productions

Holiday shows have a more difficult job than you might think. They have to appeal to everyone at once and find a way to present songs and stories most people know even if they don’t know they know them. The Holiday Radio Show of 1943, performed in the cozy confines of the Berger Park Coach House, finds a charming way to do that.

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Derailed

December 1, 2018 Comments Off on Derailed

Holiday El Stories – Waltzing Mechanics 

For anyone not familiar with it, every holiday season, the CTA runs a holiday train around the city.

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Something Old, Something New…

November 30, 2018 Comments Off on Something Old, Something New…

Familiar – Steppenwolf Theater

Danai Gurira’s most recent play, Familiar, gets its Chicago premiere at the Steppenwolf Theater this month.

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Confronting the Past, Dreaming of the Future

November 26, 2018 Comments Off on Confronting the Past, Dreaming of the Future

HeLa – Sideshow Theater Company

HeLa, a new play by J. Nicole Brooks, produced by the Sideshow Theater Company premiered at the Greenhouse Theater Center this weekend. The play weaves together three stories.  

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The Safe House

November 19, 2018 Comments Off on The Safe House

The Safe House – City Lit Theater

The Safe House, premiering this month at City Lit Theater, focuses on Bridget, a young actress in 1982 returning to her family’s home in Lansing, Michigan, and her grandmother, Hannah.

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Old Sins Cast Long Shadows

November 12, 2018 Comments Off on Old Sins Cast Long Shadows

Ghosts – Redtwist Theatre

 

Ghosts, by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, had its world premiere in 1882 – in Chicago, of all places. Like Ibsen’s other works, it’s a

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Burden of Proof

November 6, 2018 Comments Off on Burden of Proof

Proof – Skokie Theatre

Proof tells the story of Catherine, a young woman whose father, a legendary mathematician and professor at the University of Chicago,

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Dance Dance Revolution

October 23, 2018 Comments Off on Dance Dance Revolution

American Revolution – Theater Unspeakable

Premiering last week at the Greenhouse Theater Center, Theater Unspeakable’s American Revolution is show that uses seven actors on a

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WaistWatchers the Musical

October 15, 2018 Comments Off on WaistWatchers the Musical

WaistWatchers the Musical – Royal George Theatre

 

WaistWatchers is about a group of friends at a women’s gym, all of whom are trying to navigate their complicated lives while

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