WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW A charming revue reminds us why Burt Bacharach’s songs remain timeless An overture! An honest-to-goodness overture! All right, so maybe I’m overreacting a bit, b…
TRUTH, CONSEQUENCES, AND CONTAMINATED WATER A superb production of Ibsen’s classic finds unsettling echoes in the present day There are plays that endure because their themes and character…
DANCING THROUGH THE DECADES A mesmerizing theatrical collage that rewards surrender over analysis One never quite knows what to expect from the good folks at Trap Door Theatre, and I’m sur…
THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA York Walker’s Southern Gothic keeps its secrets close and its audience on edge “Everybody got a secret” That is the line that opens Covenant, the grippin…
SIGNALS IN THE STATIC A Red Orchid’s compelling world premiere favors empathy over satire, sometimes at the expense of deeper exploration Thus far, 2026 has been an uncommonly good year in…
HOOP DREAMS IN HARLEM Young People’s Theatre closes its season with a charming, energetic celebration of childhood, friendship, and community In The Hula-Hoopin’ Queen, the stakes are ve…
EN GARDE, YOU FOOLS A spirited cast and plenty of swashbuckling fun can’t quite compensate for a forgettable score “He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad…
GUILT TRIP TUTA Theatre turns Dostoevsky’s sprawling masterpiece into a feverish psychological horror story of conscience, damnation, and salvation Fyodor Dostoevsky’s masterpiece Crime …
LOG OFF AND SING Dave Malloy’s brilliant chamber musical turns doomscrolling, loneliness, and internet addiction into something unexpectedly humane I don’t know what I was expecting when…
IT’S TIME TO RAGNARÖK ‘N’ ROLL An exuberant Norse rock opera with enough swagger to survive the apocalypse A corner of a decrepit night club greets you as you walk into Lifeline The…
MOTHER KNOWS BEST— UNTIL SHE DOESN’T A devastating, clear-eyed revival that refuses comfort and lingers long after the lights go down I first watched ‘night, Mother, the Pulitzer-prize…
CASH, GRIEF, AND THE COST OF RESISTANCE A gripping, immersive premiere dissolves the line between audience and action Steppenwolf’s excellent 50th season continues with Windfall, the new p…
FAULT LINES A glossy production sinks under the weight of a script that mistakes talk for wit Unpleasant, unfunny, misogynistic, and worst of all, boring. Let’s play a drinking game: every…
OUT OF THE CLOSET, INTO THE FIRE A messy, ambitious new musical about divorce lands more as play than score— but still entertains Court Theatre closes out its 2025/2026 season with Out Her…
TRAUMA, TRUTH, AND THE STORIES WE SELL A taut psychological thriller that cuts deep and lingers “Look at this place. Just how rich did our trauma make you?” Of all the devastating zinger…
A GREAT, GREEN ROOM YOU'LL NEVER WANT TO LEAVE Chicago Children's Theatre closes out its 20th anniversary season with a picture(book)-perfect triumph! "I wish I might, I wish I may / go live…
THE BLUES THAT BUILT AMERICA" AND THE COST OF SINGING THEM August Wilson's masterpiece lands with devastating force in a blazing Goodman revival Four black musicians amble into a recording s…
A GREAT PERFORMANCE IN SEARCH OF A BETTER PLAY Gary Houston towers in a two-hander that never quite lives up to its premise Outside a run-down cottage in rural Connecticut, a white-haired ma…
THIS SLOW-BURNING, DEVASTATING DRAMA REFUSES EASY ANSWERS The Sugar Wife is a gripping and complex examination of morality and the individual's responsibility towards society The Sugar Wife …
ARGUMENTS WITHIN ARGUMENTS A fiercely intelligent play that challenges ideas more than it deepens character A large, welcoming room lined with stained wood bookshelves greets you when you wa…
ALL FOR ONE"AND A WHOLE LOT OF MEANWHILES A rollicking, cleverly staged adventure that balances spectacle with comic flair Xavier Lagunas, Jack Sharkey and Boomer Lusink Swash your buckler a…
MEMORY PLAYS TRICKS" AND SO DOES EVERYTHING ELSE An immersive maze where perception falters and certainty slips through your fingers Unreliable narrators everywhere"but not the ones you thin…
PHILOSOPHY, FARCE, AND ART UNDER SIEGE Witkiewicz's dense, absurdist text sparks to life" until unnecessary asides break the spell Gus Thomas and Venice Averyheart Theatre does not get much …
FOLKLORE, GHOSTS, AND THE WEIGHT OF THE DEAD Matthew C. Yee's wildly ambitious world premiere dazzles, even as its larger shape remains elusive Death, and coming to terms with it, have been …
AIN'T NOTHING DROWSY ABOUT THIS CHAPERONE Theo Ubique's joyous revival of the Tony-winning musical turned this critic into a tap-dancing, high-kicking fool. Darian Goulding as Aldolpho In a …