“The Birth of the Pill” Shows Contraception’s Inception
The adaptation of Jonathan Eig's book on the pill's invention struggles to express the complexity of a topic suited for a documentary.
The adaptation of Jonathan Eig's book on the pill's invention struggles to express the complexity of a topic suited for a documentary.
Twenty years of comedy come together for Nick Thune's "three-parter" special.
Marriott Theatre's beautiful and highly relevant production celebrates the heroic efforts of everyday citizens who welcome and help heal those devastated by national events.
Rare and first-time visits by internationally renown companies land one night in the windy city.
Joey Chelius resurrects the hitmaker and teen heartthrob in “The Buddy Holly Story.”
Trap Door Theatre puts on a simple yet powerful play based on a short story by magical realist master Gabriel García Márquez that makes one wonder if there's anything humans won't exploit.
Chicago’s storefront company on the meaning of success.
Ahead of an appearance at Printers Row Lit Fest, the author and PBS Newshour co-anchor discusses his new book on the history of Black comedy in America, "Black Out Loud."
This fall, the Joffrey brings a dark tale envisioned by Neumeier to these shores. “Liliom,” the source material for the musical “Carousel,” runs September 17-27 at the Lyric Opera Ho…
Kokandy's intimate staging focuses less on the grandeur of Seurat’s pointillist magnum opus and more on the cerebral tortures of being an artist.
TimeLine begins its first full season at its new home, Kokandy brings "Jekyll & Hyde" to a bigger stage and more.
Mark Pracht's adaptation of the 1949 book rewrites masculinity in a Western setting, with a phenomenal performance by lead Michael B. Woods.
Chicago author Jonathan Eig discusses “The Birth of the Pill” with Jessica Huang, who adapted his book into a play staging its world premiere this month at TimeLine.
Ginger Krebs brings “Protected By Invisible Fence” to the MCA.
The Chicago premiere of Tim Venable's play starts as a Zoomer screwball and ends as an indictment of the way adults fail to protect their children.
On Sunday evening, the opera company performed selections from five of the six staged operas that will make up its 2026-27 season, among other works.
Jackalope's seventeenth edition of the festival turned five recent news stories into short plays, accompanied by filmed commentary from two news anchors.
The production, which shows the relationship between a human woman and her AI sister over decades, does little to push any conversation of this technology forward.
At the Empty Bottle, drag, puppetry, acting, singing and dancing combine to make "Ripley" an ultimate work of art.
Trisha Brown Dance Company celebrates choreographer Merce Cunningham's collaborations with artist Robert Rauschenberg, plus four other dance productions not to miss.
Big shows hit big stages as the fall theater season kicks off.
This production of Leonard Bernstein’s classic goes big in every way, featuring tremendous singers and actors, fabulous costumes, explosive choreography and a nimble twenty-two-piece orche…
The evening of performances gave Chicago audiences a sampling of the productions that will appear on the company's stages in the year to come.
“I start with anger because it’s the most taboo.”
Instrumental Theatre Company introduces the Chicago Theatre Composers Club.
Howard's nonprofit helps people with multiple sclerosis find a way to laugh through the pain and live for today.
Non:op’s "Inventory of Lost Books" immerses itself in design and abstraction.
"We’ve been through this before. We've been through erasure. We’re asking the legacy bearers how they got through it."
Bring a tissue to this retelling of a modern classic at the James M. Nederlander Theatre, which adds details that greatly expand the experience.
Endings are never easy, but rarely does a play that begins so well move so decisively in the wrong direction as does Marina Carr’s 2009 work, an Irish dramedy that’s almost salvaged by a…
The world premiere from Babes With Blades Theatre Company is a comic twist on the fabled romance between the noted pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonny.
Comedy-lovers will revel in this four-day festival founded by Ariel Julie, featuring more than twenty shows across nine of the city’s most iconic comedy venues.
The annual benefit to alleviate the cost of medical care for folks in Chicago’s dance community, now in its thirty-fifth year, was born during the height of the AIDS epidemic.
The Chicago comedy legend on winning an Emmy and growing up in the city's stand-up scene.
Benanti bridges the gap between Broadway and stand-up in this playful one-woman show.
Presented by the youth and community-focused Albany Park Theater Center, the production is completely sold out for good reason: this is drama that glows red hot with passion and authenticity.
In Shakespeare's comedy, the characters go to the forest and become more fully human. The same thing happens when you see theater in the woods at Spring Green, Wisconsin.
Kokandy Productions revives the "tribal love-rock musical" at Chopin Theatre.
In Franklin's new piece, little chapters explore various ways people experience vulnerability, relating to physical, emotional, social, relational and existential challenges, and to identity.
On stage at American Players Theatre, Wisconsin native Thornton Wilder's play is an old-fashioned but well-made farce that was later adapted into the 1964 Broadway hit.
These recent transplants represent a new generation of theater artists who have chosen this city based on its reputation as a place open to brash, bright young thespians willing to do their …
Authentic Chicago Ensemble production spans everything from coyote-masked interpretive dance to a thriller with hitmen, trapping itself in too many conflicting choices.
Sight gags go Wilde in No Dogs in the Kitchen Theatre Company’s revival of the classic comedy, overwhelming the play’s trenchant commentary on Victorian social mores.
Broadway in Chicago's musical on the suffragist movement makes feminism sing.
Now in its third year, Hsiao's walking outdoor performance in Chicago Parks is a summertime must for all ages.
The Eugène Ionesco play, on stage at American Players Theatre, is philosophically bleak, but with a comedic vaudeville feeling.
The Oak Park Festival Theatre's take on Shakespeare's classic, directed by Peter G. Andersen, is a blend of modernization and appreciation.
These two months in theater have all the touchstones of a great summer season, like music, parks and old Western novels.
The Marriott Theatre's "A Little Night Music" is an optimistic operetta.
Come to understand dance as a series of actions—actions that sit closer to everyday experience than you may have thought.