Author: Colin Douglas
Fanatic Fandom
I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire
Teenage obsession turns into a sad and sinister fetish in Samantha Hurley’s absurdist, over-the-top, one-act comic drama. Meet young Shelby Hinkley. She’s a petite, 14-year-old eighth-grader who’s pretty intense and rabidly obsessed with movie star, Tobey Maguire. Did I say obsessed? Shelby is consumed, fixated on and dominated by the handsome young actor. It’s 2004 and being the self-proclaimed president of the Tobey Maguire Fan Club is pretty much Shelby’s entire existence.
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Take the A Train
Play On!
In 1996, a cleverly written musical version of Shakespeare’s classic, TWELFTH NIGHT, conceived and directed by Sheldon Epps, featured a clever update in a book by Cheryl L.West. She shifted the comedy to Harlem during the 1940’s. Because we’re suddenly in New York at the famed Cotton Club during the Swing Era, the musical score dictates it be based upon the iconic music of Duke Ellington. All the characters in this musical are based upon original Shakespearean characters, but with names that reflect the originals, that were given by the Bard. But the basic story is essentially the same and it’s quite delightful.
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The Kindness of Strangers
Kowalski
Anyone who has ever read about an event, and thought to himself, “What would it have been like to be there,” will fall in love with KOWALSKI. The highly anticipated one-act play by Gregg Ostrin nicely continues Lookingglass Theatre Company’s 2026-27 season. For theatergoers who relish the kind of fictionalized historical scenarios captured in such plays as HENRY V, THE CRUCIBLE or AMADEUS, this is a great evening of theatre. And for audiences who can’t get enough of the backstories behind great plays, their gifted authors and the talented stars of the original Broadway productions, KOWALSKI will be like mothers’ milk to them. But actually, anyone who simply enjoys a well-written, beautifully directed and professionally performed drama, liberally laced with comedy, will love this new play.
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Divine Contract Killing
Prayer Circle
Most people have probably known someone who has made their lives miserable, if not completely unlivable. It’s a sad fact of life. We wish, hope and pray for that person to just vanish and leave us alone. It would be great if, somehow, we could get rid of that individual, without breaking the law or dirtying our hands. Playwright Erik Gernand’s full-length, 90-minute one-act is about a prayer group at a small country church whose members discover that their invocations to God have far greater consequences than they ever imagined possible. Essentially, this gathering of seemingly innocent parishioners discover they can and will unite every week in a spate of divine contract killing.
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An American Comic Classic
The Front Page
Take a deep breath and hang onto your seat because once the lights come up and the cast bursts onto the stage, theatergoers will find themselves on a runaway train racing toward intermission. But then after a drink and a bathroom break, the high speed pacing resumes, coming even faster and more furious, never letting up until the final curtain. The overall effect is an explosive, hilarious look at old school Chicago journalism, politics and scandal during the 1920’s. Surprisingly, almost nothing has changed in the 21st century!
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Taking Theatre to New Heights
The Attic
As the lights come up we discover a lovely young woman, dressed only in a slip. She stands silently for a few minutes seeming to study the entire audience. Then the woman dons a hospital gown and speaks directly to the audience, telling us ominously, “I fell once.” The woman adds the puzzling, recurring phrase, “Things I’ve seen while lying on my back.” What can she mean by this cryptic declaration—a secretive statement that she will repeat throughout this play?
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Everyone is Heard and Respected
Eureka Day
The recent upheaval that’s taken place in America’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention have been a cause for alarm. Notably, the appointment of anti-vaccine activist, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as the country’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, as well as the removal of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, have caused plenty of anxiety and fear. Today’s headlines report that Covid, although thankfully not at pandemic level again, continues to infect Americans. And measles has returned as a National epidemic, even resulting in several deaths in unvaccinated individuals. Health issues have returned to the forefront of the country’s conscience.
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A Battle Between Good and Evil
A Wrinkle in Time
Lifeline Theatre is a truly special place. On its modest, intimate stage, the Rogers Park company, now enjoying its 44th season of breathtaking productions, specializes in presenting exciting dramatic and beautifully written and acted adaptations of noteworthy literature for all ages. The company calls their productions “Big Stories, Up Close,” and A WRINKLE IN TIME is one of the biggest and most marvelous productions that once put Chicago’s Lifeline Theatre on the map.
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Fresh and New
Dirty Dancing, The Musical
There’s no denying it. This is an era when both jukebox musicals and film adaptations dominate the Broadway scene. So it isn’t surprising that “Dirty Dancing,” one of the most popular movies of the 20th century, was eventually adapted into a theatrical musical. DIRTY DANCING, THE MUSICAL combines both genres in one. It’s like a theatrical presentation made in heaven. And while this new production is back in Chicago for at least a third visit (I’ve lost count), it feels fresh and new and much welcome, especially now.
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The First Oral Contraceptive
The Birth of the Pill
TimeLine Theatre Company, now comfortably ensconced in their stylish new home, is following up their spectacular opening production, ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, with a historical story that’s more contemporary than the Ibsen classic. Based upon Jonathan Eig’s 2014 nonfiction work, The Birth of the Pill, subtitled “How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution,” this new play is enjoying its World Premiere in Chicago. Both the book and playwright Jessica Huang’s interesting one-act play, reveals the rocky road toward the creation and controversial impact of the first oral contraceptive for women.
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