In Rebecca Gilman’s new ‘Luna Gale,’ judgment and the judged
Rebecca Gilman's last play at the Goodman, 2010's "A True History of the Johnstown Flood," used the 1889 cataclysm that killed more than 2,200 people as a sweeping indictment of...
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Not the usual feminine role in ‘Through the Leaves’
"Through the Leaves" If you saw Marisa Wegrzyn's "The Butcher of Baraboo," your notions of how female butchers of a certain age hold their own in the world will get...
In ‘Our Country’s Good,’ the stage is set in an Australian penal colony
At one point in Timberlake Wertenbaker's "Our Country's Good," now receiving a handsome and thoughtful (if occasionally too polite) production with Shattered Globe under Roger Smart's direction, the governor of...
Winter 2014 on the Fringe: ‘Plainsong’ and the festivals
Here at On the Fringe we love holiday-themed shows as much as the next person. But after weeks and weeks of seasonal productions, we're ready for the winter theater season...
Winter 2014 on the Fringe: ‘Plainsong’ and the festivals
Here at On the Fringe we love holiday-themed shows as much as the next person. But after weeks and weeks of seasonal productions, we're ready for the winter theater season...
On the Fringe: Resolutions for audiences and theaters in 2014
The holidays are winding down, but we have a few modest proposals for fringe theater companies and audiences to make going to shows a better experience for all of us...
A few more theater highlights from 2013
In addition to sharing Friday's "On the Fringe" column with Nina Metz, I have the pleasure of writing individual reviews of many other shows the rest of the week. Below...
The ones who said it: Best of On the Fringe in 2013
In his Tony Award acceptance speech this year for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Tracy Letts gave special thanks to the Chicago storefront scene that nurtured him. "We are the...
One-percenters are the obvious targets
"Elemeno Pea" Class warfare goes on vacation in Molly Smith Metzler's one-act comedy, which gets its local premiere under Steve Scott's direction at Redtwist. Scott's solid cast invests in the...
In Seanachai’s intimate card game, the devil is as real as the details
Playwright Conor McPherson's "The Seafarer" takes place on the kind of Christmas Eve too often ignored in the season of mandatory cheer — one filled with recrimination, booze and soul-crushing...