GRAPES OF WRATH Features Solid Performances
Namir Smallwood and Kona N. Burks. Photo: Claire Demos Review: THE GRAPES OF WRATH at The Gift Theatre By Tonika Todorova Seeing the epic journey of the Joad family in THE GRAPES OF WRATH at the Gift Theatre can be quite the immersive experience given the hot sticky days of...
Neo-Futurists Announce 28th Season
The Neo-Futurists have announced their 16/17 season, which includes a prime-time line-up of Neo-Futurist developed premieres and the on-going, ever popular, TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND as part of their returning productions. Neo-Futurists 28th season prime-time line-up: SATURN RETURNS October 13 – November 19 Created by Neo-Futurist Ensemble...
Spectacular Design and Delightful Surprises Abound in SPONGEBOB THE MUSICAL
I was skeptical. I loathe the cartoon, but SpongeBob Squarepants the Musical just might be the surprise “feel good” musical that delights kids of all ages and gets everyone excited about Broadway musicals.
Hypocrites Name Their First Logan Fellow
As part of a multi-year fellowship program established by the Logan Foundation, The Hypocrites announced the company’s first Logan Fellow.
Collaboraction Sets Line-Up for PEACEBOOK
Photo of past Collaboraction parks event. Collaboraction, which now bills itself as “Chicago’s social issue-driven contemporary theatre”, has announced the schedule for PEACEBOOK, a new collaborative city-wide festival of theater, dance, music, visual art, and spoken word focused on cultivating peace in Chicago as part of the Chicago Park District’s...
DEATHTRAP: A Sharp Thriller with a Deliciously Shocking Storyline
Two acts, one set, five characters– a sharp thriller spun as a play-within-a-play, Ira Levin’s hit DEATHTRAP will surprise even the sharpest connoisseurs of murder mysteries.
THE HO– USE THAT WILL NOT STAND Stands Tall
Jacqueline Williams, Lizan Mitchell. Photo by Michael Courie What happens when people are too White to be Black and too Black to be White? Playwright Marcus Gardley’s THE HO– USE THAT WILL NOT STAND brings this conversation to the forefront in a dance with dialogue and history. There are advantages...
10 Things We Learned Buying HAMILTON Chicago Tickets
We, like many others, stood by our computers at 10am today, prepared for the rush to buy tickets for HAMILTON in its Chicago incarnation. Lessons were learned.
Steep Theatre’s 16/17 Season Features a Chicago Playwright
Directed by Josh Sobel Chicago Playwright Alex Lubischer’s, BOBBY CLEARLY, a play that went through workshops and public readings at Steep, will receive it’s world premiere staging and kick off the 16/17 season. In addition to BOBBLY CLEARLY 3 other shows, including a U.S. premiere and a Midwest premiere make...
Inside WASTWATER Part 2: Dialect
The principal mistake that many productions make when using dialects is that dialect becomes an add-on, a superficial layering on character rather than the mode by which a character expresses themself. Just as our respective geographic origins affect the way that we interact with other people, a theatrical character’s cultural, regional, and class background greatly reflect how an individual articulates the value system comprised of those elements. In other words, our dialect in many ways articulates us whether we love that or reject it. So, in exploring dialect work for WASTWATER—set around Heathrow airport—my goal is to mine the dialect of the region for as many tools as possible to help our team unlock that us within the ensemble of characters of this piece.