Thursday, October 8, 2020
Rastus and Hattie and Run the Beast Down bring nightmarish scenarios to virtual life.
How do you write dramas about dystopia and alienation in the middle of a pa…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:55PMVisual arts and architecture highlights break us out of our screen life.
Last week, we offered a (very partial) guide to some theater and dance events (as well …
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 11:15AMFriday, October 2, 2020
An overview of theater, dance, music, pop-up performances, and other artists and activists that you should know about—this season and year-round
The 2020 fall…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 02:30PMFriday, September 25, 2020
Chicago-based dancer Paige Fraser advocates for those with scoliosis; plus Fly Honey brings the dance party online.
Paige Fraser started dancing when she was fou…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:30PMWednesday, September 16, 2020
The Pursuit of Happiness and Pride and Prejudice confront the limitations of Zoom culture with exhilarating results.
The age of Zoom has created a split-screen m…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 11:15AMFriday, September 11, 2020
Yanira Castro and Meshell Ndegeocello create performance pieces for the at-home audience; Pride comes out of the closet with a new name.
The Museum of Contempora…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 01:30PMThursday, August 27, 2020
Free Street, Collaboraction, and TimeLine put young theater artists in the frame.
The long hot summer is winding down, according to the calendar, but youth theat…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 03:45PMWednesday, August 19, 2020
PFP's story contains lessons about board oversight and artist empowerment.
There are no shows to speak of happening on Chicago stages, but the offstage drama ha…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 04:45PMThursday, August 13, 2020
A partnership with Little Red Schoolhouse brings art and nature together; plus a new home for Joel Hall Dancers and Collaboraction's virtual season
Frank Maugeri…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:55PMTuesday, August 4, 2020
Trap Door reimagines its aesthetic for film; Otherworld films a onetime live performance (sans audience).
As sacrifices go, staying home when possible and wearin…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 03:50PMFriday, July 31, 2020
But the company remains true to its focus on new work and egalitarian principles.
Prop Thtr will probably never produce Stephen Sondheim's Follies. Yet somehow, …
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 02:15PMThursday, July 30, 2020
A show reopens and closes under fire; plus new leadership and a new funding initiative for Black theater makers
Last weekend, Judy and Liza—Once in a Lifetime:…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 02:00PMWednesday, July 22, 2020
A very incomplete guide on what to read (or listen to) now from Chicago's theater scene.
So you can't go to the theater because (gestures weakly toward everythin…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 01:30PMThursday, July 16, 2020
We See You W.A.T. and Honk for Justice focus on anti-racism; Greenhouse and Random Acts of Theater dip into live performance again.
Back in June, a coalition of …
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:40PMTuesday, July 14, 2020
The Public Theater, Black Lives, Black Words, and Hell in a Handbag put it all online.
In the first days of the COVID-19 shutdown, many theaters scrambled to fin…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 11:20AMTuesday, July 7, 2020
The company's leadership discusses how to create community in times of COVID.
Since its founding in 2001, Steep Theatre has spent most of its institutional life …
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00PMFriday, July 3, 2020
Victory Gardens and Raven name new leadership; J. Nicole Brooks wins a prestigious playwriting grant.
It's been a tumultuous couple of months for Victory Gardens…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:00PMWednesday, June 17, 2020
Storytelling, circus arts, and social justice all find a place in youth training programs.
Summer performing arts camps and training programs usually provide a p…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:20PMFriday, June 5, 2020
In the wake of backlash on institutional racism, the longtime owner announces his departure.
In response to worldwide protests over the killing of George Floyd a…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 10:30PMTuesday, June 2, 2020
The annual celebration of multidisciplinary performance adjusts for the times.
Pivot Arts has been an incubator for multidisciplinary performance for nearly a de…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 04:50PMThursday, May 28, 2020
Three streaming productions give us plenty to ponder in the pandemic.
The world of quarantine is paradoxical, with our immediate environments smaller and more co…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 01:45PMWednesday, May 27, 2020
With VALHA11A, they've created their first online LARP.
Role-playing games and theater seem so closely aligned that it’s surprising more companies haven’t fu…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 11:30AMTuesday, May 12, 2020
Sanctuary in Place! and Isolated prove you don't need a big top.
Flying high and fearlessly in front of awestruck spectators is what circus is all about, right? …
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:20PMWednesday, April 29, 2020
Instructors adapt to online comedy and improv courses.
When the Upright Citizens Brigade announced that it was closing its training center and theater in Manhatt…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:10PMTuesday, April 21, 2020
Virtual classes and activities keep the theater bug alive for young artists.
With schools in Illinois closed for the remainder of the year, families may be scram…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 04:10PMTuesday, April 14, 2020
Online theater pieces, both new and old, remind us to connect.
When you’re used to seeing at least three or four shows a week at the theater, adjusting to onli…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:15PMRelationships and 'yes, and' guide HMS Media's approach to filming live shows.
If COVID-19 hadn't shuttered all the theaters in town about a month ago, Scott Sil…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:35PMMonday, April 6, 2020
Arts for Illinois offers short-term assistance. Will it have long-term implications for funding?
It came in waves last month. At first, we had a trickle of annou…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:55PMFriday, March 27, 2020
The best online options for enjoying theater from local, national, and international companies
I'm compiling this list of online theater options on World Theatre…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 04:00PMThursday, March 26, 2020
From Warp! to Re-Animator, Gordon told the stories he wanted to see his way.
When current mystery novelist and former Reader theater critic Lenny Kleinfeld (aka …
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 03:30PMTuesday, March 24, 2020
Steven Strafford's solo remains honest and hilarious, even through a screen.
Steven Strafford was supposed to be live onstage at Berwyn’s 16th Street Theater t…
SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:15PM 
