performing arts
Our reviews and news about theater, dance, opera, comedy, and more.
Spaceman is a tour de force for Ashley Neal
A woman on a solo flight to Mars confronts misogyny, marketing demands, and memories in [producingbody]’s Chicago premiere.
Gee’s Bend provides a vibrant tapestry
A family of Black women quilters from Alabama share stories through enslavement, sharecropping, Jim Crow, and the civil rights movement.
CIRCA Pintig gives King Lear a new adaptation
The company’s staged reading echoes recent history at the Rizal Center.
Chicago actor Netta Walker adds ‘playwright’ to her résumé
Mythology and family history inspire her upcoming productions of keerah at Definition and Hayward at Gift.
On StageS this week
Spaceman is a tour de force for Ashley Neal
Spaceman, through 6/13, [producing body] at Edge Off Broadway
Gee’s Bend provides a vibrant tapestry
Gee’s Bend, through 6/7, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre at Noyes Cultural Arts Center, Evanston
CIRCA Pintig gives King Lear a new adaptation
King Lear, through 5/30, CIRCA Pintig at the Rizal Center
Chicago actor Netta Walker adds ‘playwright’ to her résumé
keerah, 5/29-6/28 at Definition Theatre
The Targeted is a smart and empathetic look at conspiracies and paranoia
The Targeted, through 6/21, A Red Orchid Theatre at Chopin Theatre
In the Continuum remains a compelling drama about Black women and HIV
In the Continuum, through 6/14, Pegasus Theatre Chicago at Chicago Dramatists
Spamalot brings the bright side of parody to life
Spamalot, through 5/31, Broadway in Chicago at CIBC Theatre
indicates Reader Recommended
ghost light
Kerry Reid reports on what’s happening backstage and offstage in the performing arts.
Power and grace
Women dance leaders emphasize collaboration, community, and empathy.
DANCE
Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month on local stages (and abroad)
Asian American artists nourish the Chicago cultural landscape year-round, but this month gives them an extra spotlight.
Power and grace
Women dance leaders emphasize collaboration, community, and empathy.
Going through the motions
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s Winter Series revisited old favorites, but lacked distinction.
From our Community Calendar
Everything in performing arts
The Targeted is a smart and empathetic look at conspiracies and paranoia
Hanna Kime’s drama receives a thoughtful and sometimes harrowing production at A Red Orchid Theatre.
In the Continuum remains a compelling drama about Black women and HIV
Nikkole Salter and Danai Gurira’s 2005 play explores stigma and fear for two pregnant women facing their diagnoses.
Spamalot brings the bright side of parody to life
The current touring production of the Python-inspired musical offers a bit of goofy comic relief.
An Enemy of the People kicks open the doors of TimeLine’s new home
Amy Herzog’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s 19th-century drama contains wit, pathos, and passion.
Le Bal gives us history without words
Trap Door’s adaptation of Ettore Scola’s 1983 film covers nine decades of U.S. history in movement and costumes.
The Golden Girls: The Cheese Pyramid balances kitschy homage and diva drag perfection
A multilevel marketing scam entraps Rose in Hell in a Handbag’s latest “lost episodes” parody.
Work Hard Have Fun Make History looks at the destructive impulses behind Big Tech
First Floor Theater’s production works hard, but the splintered elements of the script don’t fully cohere.
Fire House offers stories about burning down and rebuilding
Chicago Shpatz turns Firehouse Art Studio into an immersive environment for meditations on clandestine love, revolution, ghosts, and more.
Urban legend and teenage tragedy combine in Hookman
Lauren Yee’s disquieting tragicomedy about death and emotional dislocation returns with Bump in the Night.
Do Something Pretty is an aching look at adolescent longing and fear
Melissa Ross’s drama is set in the early 90s, but it feels disquietingly contemporary at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble.
Covenant is a compelling Southern Gothic thriller with a sorrowful soul
York Walker’s drama draws on the Robert Johnson myth, but the women are the center of the story.
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Always . . . Patsy Cline celebrates the singer and her superfan
Harmony France’s staging for American Blues Theater brings out the magic in the music.
Confronting the monster of the Internet—through song
Dave Malloy’s a cappella musical Octet at Raven is one of the most engrossing pieces of theater this year.
Scaramouche is a fun theatrical fandango
City Lit Theater’s new musical set during the French Revolution bursts with romance, adventure, and comedy.
Spark provides history lessons, inspiration, and a call to action
Free Street’s new devised piece draws on the stories of older activists through the eyes of youth.
Circle stories
The Hula Hoopin’ Queen at Young People’s Theatre of Chicago is a sweet and wise celebration of friendship and community.
Dirt, death, and redemption
TUTA’s Crime and Punishment is spare, hypnotic, and multilayered.
A fractal and heartfelt Architecture of Memory
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble’s latest presentation is big on feelings, light on narrative.
Laughing into the abyss
Second City’s Pandemonium, Please Hold revels in our current madness.
Frasier and family ties
In Spinoff at the Neo-Futurists, Alé Ramirez finds comfort in a sitcom as they help their ailing mother.
Rock gods
Loki—The End of the World Tour at Lifeline is a smart and exhilarating romp through Norse mythology.