RECOMMENDED Where: Remy Bumppo Theatre Company at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. When: through April 29 Tickets: $42.50-$52.50 Phone: 773-404-7336 By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic British playwright Debbie Tucker Green’s 2015 “hang,” which is enjoying a well-acted U.S. premiere directed by Keira Fromm at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, is one of those […]
RECOMMENDED Where: Refuge Theatre Project at the Windy City Café, 1062 W. Chicago Ave. When: through May 5 Tickets: $30 For tickets: www.refugetheatre.com By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic Adept at staging musicals in unconventional spaces, Refuge Theatre Project is dishing up an enjoyable version of “The Spitfire Grill” at a real diner, the Windy City […]
SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED Where: Lookingglass Theatre Company, Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. When: through April 22 Tickets: $40-$75 Phone: 312-337-0665 By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic It takes a lot of chutzpah to write a farce about racism and reparations. But with the world premiere of “Plantation!” at Lookingglass Theatre, ensemble member Kevin Douglas […]
RECOMMENDED Where: Northlight Theatre, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie When: through April 22 Tickets:$30-$81 Phone: 847-673-6300 By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic Martin McDonagh’s 1996 “The Beauty Queen of Leenane,” the first play in his Leenane Trilogy (“A Skull in Connemara,” “The Lonesome West”), is almost always described as “darkly […]
RECOMMENDED Where: Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St. When: through April 15 Tickets: $33-$125 Phone: 800-775-2000 By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic There’s an arresting scene in the middle of the second act of the pre-Broadway world premiere of “Pretty Woman: The Musical” at the Oriental Theatre that suggests how good this show could be with […]
RECOMMENDED Where: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. When: through April 15 Tickets: $44-$74 Phone: 773-753-4472 By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic When I first heard that Court Theatre was staging “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” Todd Kreidler’s contemporary play based on the classic 1967 film about race relations written by William Rose and directed by […]
RECOMMENDED Where: Goodman Theatre Albert Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St. When: thrrough April 15 Tickets: $25-$80 Phone: 312-443-3800 By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic Goodman Theatre’s production of Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” comes across as a combination call to action and cry of despair. Based on Eleanor Marx-Aveling’s late-Victorian translation, director Robert Falls’ […]
SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED Where: American Blues Theater at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. When: through March 24 Tickets: $19-$49 Phone: 773-327-5252 By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic The world premiere of “Six Corners” at American Blues Theater is guaranteed not to put your mind at ease about police malfeasance. In the third installment of playwright Keith […]
RECOMMENDED Where: Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Courtyard Theater, Navy Pier When: through April 15 Tickets: $48-$88 Phone: 312-595-5600 By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic Friedrich Schiller’s play may be called “Mary Stuart,” but the main issue in the 1800 drama is whether or not Queen Elizabeth I will order the execution of her cousin, aka Mary, Queen […]
RECOMMENDED Where: Writers Theatre, Nichols Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe When: through March 18 Tickets: $35-$80 Phone: 847-242-6000 By ANNE SPISELMAN Theater Critic Eugene O’Neill is one of the greatest American playwrights, but the truth is that many of his plays, which were written between the 1920s and ’40s, are so intensely melodramatic and humorless […]