Playwright and TV writer Tanya Saracho, who launched her career in Chicago, has been named showrunner for the new Starz series "Pour Vida," which is currently in development. According to a …
Outside of Second City, you don't see much topical comedy in Chicago sketch shows. More often the focus is on characters than social commentary, and that's not a knock. But these are strange…
When onstage mishaps strike, the rule is always the same: The show must go on. But the best kind of improv acknowledges what's happening in the room. And when an audio glitch from iO Theater…
Outside of Second City, you don't see much topical comedy in Chicago sketch shows. More often the focus is on characters than social commentary, and that's not a knock. But these are strange…
Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" has had many a screen adaptation over the years, the most popular by far being the 1995 BBC rendering (known as The One With Colin Firth in a Wet Shirt). …
"You look really good, and you smell really good," a woman says to her estranged lover in this sketch comedy show at the Annoyance. He's a no-good something-or-other she just can't quit. "Do…
A gruesome crime occurs offstage in this tense 1997 drama from Northern Irish playwright Gary Mitchell. A teenage girl is raped after a party one night and left for dead, a shocking turn of …
A neighborhood halfway to gentrification offers all sorts of ideological clashes between the working-class old guard and their moneyed new brethren. And Chicago's Uptown, where Neil Connelly…
Among the comedy pilots CBS is shooting this spring is "Superior Donuts," based on the 2008 Tracy Letts play of the same name. Like its source material, the pilot centers on the owner of a …
Among the comedy pilots CBS is shooting this spring is "Superior Donuts," based on the 2008 Tracy Letts play of the same name. Like its source material, the pilot centers on the owner of a C…
So often it is the little things that set off a marital battle royale. All those petty irritations (would it kill you to pick up your socks?!?) have a nasty way of underscoring bigger issues…
The setting is a cozy middle-class living room, like something out of a Pottery Barn catalog, if somewhat messier. Along the back wall are built-ins filled with books and attractive knickkna…
Len Stuart, the co-owner and co-chairman of The Second City since 1978, died on Sunday night, the theater confirmed. He was 73. "He died peacefully while surrounded by his family and friend…
Len Stuart, the co-owner and co-chairman of The Second City since 1978, died on Sunday night, the theater confirmed. He was 73. "He died peacefully while surrounded by his family and friends…
The producer and artistic director at iO West, the Los Angeles outpost of the Chicago improv theater, was fired Friday amid reports he had sexually harassed female employees and performer…
The producer and artistic director at iO West, the Los Angeles outpost of the Chicago improv theater, was fired Friday amid reports he had sexually harassed female employees and performer…
It was with sadness that I climbed the stairs one last time for the final show by Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co., which is closing up shop next month after 30 years as an offbeat but integral part…
It was with sadness that I climbed the stairs one last time for the final show by Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co., which is closing up shop next month after 30 years as an offbeat but integral part…
Teen love is tested in this stage adaptation of the 2005 novel of the same name by Chicago-area writer Kalisha Buckhanon, who grew up in Kankakee. It focuses on Natasha, smart and ambitious,…
In this romantic comedy set in Mumbai, the focus is not on the tradition-flouting 20-something of the story (played with equal parts petulance and real feeling by Vahishta Vafadari) but on h…
At a bar one night after an improv class several years ago, performer Angie McMahon remembers socializing with a teacher who, without warning, crossed a line. "He shoved his face into my che…
At a bar one night after an improv class several years ago, performer Angie McMahon remembers socializing with a teacher who, without warning, crossed a line. "He shoved his face into my ch…
In this romantic comedy set in Mumbai, the focus is not on the tradition-flouting 20-something of the story (played with equal parts petulance and real feeling by Vahishta Vafadari) but on h…
How interested are you in cockfighting? The answer will determine how interested you may be in this drama from Eric Dufault about a sad-sack McDonald's cashier who sees hoped-for domination …
This two-person sketch show at the Annoyance starring Sarah Dell'Amico and Rashida "Sheedz" Olayiwola needs work " a lot of work " but it has one thing going for it that suggests real potent…