When 21-year-old Mathew Shepard was brutally murdered in Laramie, Wyoming, the victim of an unspeakable hate crime, it shocked the nation and left Laramie unraveled in the midst of a media maelstrom. Forced to both pick up the pieces of…
Noises Off at the Guthrie Theater
Nonstop laughing!Are you ‘bout ready for a good laugh? How about a couple hours of nonstop laughing? That’s what the Guthrie Theater delivers with Noises Off, by Michael Frayn, a classic modern farce (and there sure aren’t many of those!) If…
Review | The Tempest: spare and wondrous
By Theatre Coup d’Etat at Springhill Ministry through November 17Theatre Coup d’Etat heads into Halloween with spirits and spells in an absorbing and taut production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. We sit in a square, empty room. Chairs in a circle – one row only. A few dramatic lights. Sound…
Review | Scapin: a servant of no masters
Ten Thousand Things, through Nov 4A director friend of mine once said, “A little stupid is funny; a lot of stupid is just stupid.” The Ten Thousand Things staging of Scapin is just the right amount of stupid and it is very funny. (Ten Thousand Things…
Review | I Come From Arizona: beautifully bilingual
Childrens Theatre Company, through November 25What does “Global Perspectives” mean, anyway? Carlos Murillo’s I Come from Arizona (CTC) offers a few suggestions. In this bilingual play, 14-year old Mexican-American Gabi Castillo (Ayssette Muñoz), who, living on the South Side of Chicago, moves to the elite…
Review | Mary Poppins: timeless appeal
Artistry Theatre, though Nov 4Mary Poppins may be returning to the silver screen with a new Disney film Mary Poppins Returns but the original movie starring Julie Andrews exudes a timeless essence that continues to enchant audiences today. You can relive the magic of Mary…
Two Degrees: timely and well-played
The Guthrie’s Dowling Theatre, through Oct 21Watching Prime Productions’ staging of Two Degrees (the Guthrie‘s Dowling Stage) about a woman scientist asked to testify before a senate select committee on the effects of climate change, one might think that this play was birthed over the past weekend…
The Great Society: a fascinating look at LBJ
History Theatre, through Oct 28Pearce Bunting plays Lyndon Baines Johnson in Robert Schenkkan‘s theatrical (and loud) The Great Society (History Theatre) with none of the crude charm, the country-boy excess, the rude physical bullying that I’ve come to associate with our former president. Bunting’s LBJ…
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / when the rainbow is enuf: poetry and movement beautifully fused
Penumbra, through Oct 14The Penumbra Theater’s production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf is nothing short of an immersive feat and it’s an experience not to be missed. The play is actually a series of choreographed poems…