HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE JOAN CRAWFORD Four Joans, three Christinas, and a torrent of gags make this trip to hell devilishly funny Beginning her film career as a body double for Norma Shearer,…
KOKANDY GETS THE PICTURE A splendid revival turns this cranky critic into a dewy-eyed theatre kid again “Work is what you do for others, Liebchen. Art is what you do for yourself.” In a…
CITY LIT SADDLES UP A WINNER A terrific central trio and striking stagecraft make Mark Pracht’s world-premiere adaptation a winner The venerable City Lit opens its 46th season with Shane, …
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS Five headlines become five new plays, with one terrific entry leading the edition Jackalope Theatre Company’s 17th Annual Living Newspaper Festival, currently being per…
DYING TO BREAK THE CYCLE Three generations speak across time in a harrowing, beautifully orchestrated exploration of trauma and inheritance To a theatre-lover, going to a first production fr…
WINDOWS NEEDS MORE SPIT AND POLISH An appealing young cast can’t overcome a world-premiere script that remains frustratingly unformed On a couch in a small apartment sits a sullen young wo…
SOUND AND FURY, SIGNIFYING PLENTY A sound artist steps out of the booth with a powerful, deeply personal work that, in production, may be better heard than seen Over five thousand shows: tha…
STAY GOLD, GREASERS This gripping musical adaptation honors its beloved source while finding an emotional life all its own S.E. Hinton’s first novel, The Outsiders, written while she was s…
A CRACK IN THE ORDINARY Four remarkable performances make the leap from surrealism to domestic drama worthwhile Marina Carr’s Marble, now in its Chicago premiere at the Copernicus Center a…
CRAM SESSION, CRASH COURSE Natalie Margolin’s sharply observed comedy captures the fleeting intensity of college friendships Natalie Margolin’s All Nighter, which opened Off-Broadway in …
ALL ABOARD THE S.S. SEX FARCE These gender-liberated pirates need to boink more and bicker less On the deck of the pirate ship Revenge, a buxom young lass leads a blindfolded young man to a …
GOOD PEOPLE, GREAT SHOW David Lindsay-Abaire’s poignant drama delivers a powerful reminder that luck, circumstance, and class often shape lives as much as talent or determination In an all…
YESTERDAY’S REBELS Time has softened the musical’s edges, but not its beating heart In 1968, a rock musical featuring a ragtag group of hippies took Broadway by storm. With book and lyri…
STILL ANGRY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS A daring revival proves the musical’s power endures, even when one major directorial gamble doesn’t When people think of musicals, the stereotype is a s…
POP GOES THE BARD A jukebox musical that thrilled its fans while leaving this critic wishing the story mattered as much as the songs As I was settling into my seat at the gorgeous Auditorium…
THE HAIRY APE COMETH This gleefully unhinged musical comedy is a strong play’s journey into wisecracks The Goodman closes out its centennial season in spectacular fashion with a big, brash…
CRITIC’S BITE A gripping solo performance anchors this haunting tale I had not encountered arithmomania in any form of entertainment media in well over two decades. Now it’s popped up tw…
BAD FENCES MAKE GOOD COMEDY Big laughs bloom from a tiny patch of disputed ground. In a tony suburb of Washington, D.C., a young upwardly mobile Hispanic couple move into their first house, …
THE WEIGHT OF HERITAGE A thoughtful work that doesn’t always come together An unusual and ambitious production, L.M. Feldman’s A People is a sort of theatrical mosaic. Mounted by Arts Ju…
OUT OF TUNE WITH CHEKHOV Chekhov’s quiet desperation is drowned out by one very loud performance What would a season of theater be without a Chekhov play? Or five? Following Red Theater’…
SUCKING FACE Chemistry, comedy, and a little bloodlust make for an irresistible evening. Is there a quality more indefinable and unpredictable than the chemistry between two people, whether …
GETTING CAUGHT UP WHEN THERE’S A CATCH A baffling experiment eventually reveals a powerful emotional core Why? That one-word refrain was what repeatedly popped up in my head through most o…
[Editor’s Note (June 2026): Raven Theatre’s astounding production of Octet, originally reviewed by Stage and Cinema in May, transfers intact to the Goodman Theatre for a limited engageme…
THE GHOSTS IN THE FAMILY TREE Tom Stoppard’s final play is as intellectually dazzling as it is emotionally devastating “Barbarism will not be eradicated by culture.” That line, spoken …
LOVE ON THE RANGE, PAIN ON THE HORIZON A beautiful musical framework strengthens a stage adaptation that never quite resolves its competing impulses In 1997, a short story from Pulitzer winn…