Amanda Finn, author at Chicago Reader

Heidi Blickenstaff, a middle-aged white woman with long blonde hair, sits center in a church pew. She is facing the back of the pew, her arm crooked around the back, facing us. Three other people are seated in front her, and we see the backs of their heads. The scene is mostly blue light, with a spot on Blickenstaff.

What goes around comes back around

by Amanda Finn April 17, 2023April 17, 2023

A simple lit rooftop, church steeple, or body-as-a-temple metaphor greets you as you enter the theater. Two bright lines meet in the middle, seemingly pointing upwards towards something greater. Designed by Riccardo Hernández, with lighting brought to life by designer Justin Townsend, the simplicity of the set is apt. Perhaps it serves as a reminder […]

At left is a figure in a white costume representing a stork. The mask looks a little like one worn by a "plague doctor." At right is a Black woman in a blue top, patterned yoga pants, and a long gray cardigan. She is holding a glass and looking at the stork creature with a mix of fear and confusion.

Theater Review

A perfect nightmare

by Amanda Finn March 30, 2023March 30, 2023

Like the people in the allegorical Tower of Babel, the citizens of Jacqueline Goldfinger’s futuristic Babel are seeking oneness. The kind of oneness that mankind has never reasonably come close to, because each person is born with a set of characteristics, skills, and behaviors—unless we engage in eugenics. In an eerily not-so-distant-seeming future, Goldfinger’s world […]

Theater Review

Woven tales

by Amanda Finn March 23, 2023March 23, 2023

Hajja Souad’s story, eight decades of life lived, is woven into a narrative of resilience, hope, and the changing tides in Palestine during her long lifetime. Brought to life in the U.S. premiere of The Shroud Maker at Chicago Dramatists by International Voices Project in collaboration with Intercultural Music, Ahmed Masoud’s play about a burial […]

Two women are onstage. At the left is a woman in a blue polka-dot bathrobe. Her arms are folded in front of her and she looks concerned. At the right is the blurred face of another woman who is in the process of lighting a cigarette. The woman on the right has her eyes closed and one hand shields the lighter flame.

Theater Review

Baby blues

by Amanda Finn March 15, 2023March 15, 2023

When I read Molly Smith Metzler’s now award-winning Cry It Out in 2018, I knew it was something special. I am still not a parent myself nor (at that point) were any of my closest friends. Fast-forward five years and a lot has changed, but Metzler’s poignant portrayal of parenthood still resonates stronger than ever. […]

Kayla Franklin as Mamie Till Bradley stands left in a teal dress and hat. The trial judge is visible in the background behind her.

Theater Review

Trial in the Delta revisits the murder of Emmett Till

by Amanda Finn February 15, 2023February 15, 2023

A murder trial transcript that went missing, not to be found until 2004—decades after the murder of Emmett Till. The Black Chicago teen whose unfathomable death in 1955 sparked the Civil Rights Movement didn’t get justice through a broken court system. Now, decades later, audiences can witness scenes from the murder trial of Till’s killers […]

Hershel, wearing striped pants, a white shirt, a beige vest, and a cap, sits on the ground, with a menorah behind him. A large goblin creature with a guitar for a face looms over him, draped in a red quilted robe. Three other performers are visible behind them, with two standing behind a makeshift puppet theater stage.

Theater Review

Saving Hanukkah

by Amanda Finn December 15, 2022December 15, 2022

During the holiday season there are traditions all over the world. I hope that Strawdog’s Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins maintains its place as a Chicago seasonal perennial. Now in its fifth year, the show (an adaptation by ensemble member Michael Dailey of the beloved children’s book by Eric Kimmel) centers a ragtag troupe of […]

A white woman with blonde hair pulled back in a pony tail stands in front of an office desk. She is wearing a purple turtleneck sweater and a long beige skirt, holding a sign that reads "It's a child, not a choice."

Theater Review

Monologuing: Title Ten at Artemisia Theatre

by Amanda Finn November 30, 2022November 30, 2022

Int. messy Chicago apartment, unseasonably hot end of November. Being a theater critic can be so isolating when you don’t fit the story being told. Most of the time, I sit through shows that center on the cishet male experience or at the very least shows that don’t pass the Bechdel Test. I am not […]

Two young white women sit at a dimly lit kitchen table. They are holding beer bottles.

Theater Review

A death in the family

by Amanda Finn November 17, 2022November 18, 2022

Death is an often unwelcome teacher. It descends into our lives suddenly, without warning, or takes its sweet time. No matter when it finds us, Grief is right behind Death, bringing myriad reactions that we do not always see coming. Such is life for Jess in Emily Schwend’s A Mile in the Dark, when Jess […]

A kitchen set. An older Puerto Rican woman in a flowered blouse and black pants, wearing a headscarf, stands in the back corner near the stove. In the foreground, a younger woman in a dark print dress and cardigan is seated at a counter, grinding something with a mortar and pestle.

Theater Review

Rich family fare

by Amanda Finn October 13, 2022October 14, 2022

As someone whose older sisters are over a dozen years her senior, Sancocho (presented by Visión Latino Theatre Company as part of the fifth Destinos: Chicago International Latino Theater Festival) spoke directly to mi alma. Named for a type of beef stew, this show highlights the significance of familia for the best or otherwise. Peppered […]

Five white people in 1960s cocktail attire stand around a dining room table filled with appetizers. They are toasting with champagne.

Theater Review

Crowded house

by Amanda Finn September 22, 2022November 3, 2022

Chicago doesn’t have much in the way of immersive theater experiences like Sleep No More in NYC. So when Windy City Playhouse debuted Leslie Liautaud’s Southern Gothic in 2018 it took the scene by storm. Folks were clamoring to get inside the Coutier home to be one of the two dozen houseguests for Suzanne’s 40th […]

A white man stands left, wearing jeans and a flannel shirt. A younger Black man sits on a bench on the right, wearing black shorts and a light T-shirt. There is fencing around them, and a vine growing up on a post between them.

Theater Review

Slings and arrows

by Amanda Finn September 22, 2022September 22, 2022

Never before has my Catholic upbringing been helpful in seeing theater. And yet, my mind couldn’t help but wander back to catechism class during Refracted Theatre Company’s inaugural production, St. Sebastian. Not because I was waxing nostalgic for dry wafers or bitter pinot noir, but because the text of this new work is so mind-bogglingly […]

On the left at a slight distance, a group of actors crouch with their arms outstretched. A Black man with his arms stretched to the side stands before them. On the right front, another Black man gestures with his arms in front of him toward the group. They are wearing bright clothes reminiscent of the 1960s.

Theater Review

The magic is gone

by Amanda Finn June 24, 2022June 24, 2022

Every piece of art has a timeliness. When it is born and put into the world, it becomes part of its identity for better or worse. For Godspell, that time has come and gone. First staged in 1971, this musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak is painfully dated. That cannot be fixed no matter […]

A Black woman in a black-and-white patterned top and black medical scrubs stands in an office filled with white desks and chairs. She is standing next to a white woman in blue scrubs who is seated at her desk.

Theater Review

Check yourself

by Amanda Finn April 28, 2022April 27, 2022

Every once in a while you encounter a show that makes you laugh so much it hurts. But rarely do you get a show that, sometimes seconds later, causes painful silence in the crowd. The fact that the late Joel Drake Johnson’s Rasheeda Speaking first premiered in 2014 (at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble) is an all-too-pointed […]

Arts & Culture

The drama of addiction

by Amanda Finn April 14, 2022April 14, 2022

There are currently two plays running in Chicago that talk about self-medicating, addiction, and how one’s actions impact those around them. One involves working-class people, a snapshot of reality for many across the country, and the other a figure in popular culture, a wealthy man whose lived experience is far from the reality for most. […]

an artist's rendering of a building that the Nito Cafe would possibly be sited in; chicago at night

City Life

Nito Café seeks to create community for local anime lovers

by Amanda Finn March 16, 2022March 16, 2022

In Japan, manga cafes are innumerous. They are places where manga or anime fans can enjoy snacks and refreshments while reading or spending time together. Somehow, despite the culture’s popularity in the United States, there are none of these types of cafes around—until now. Chicagoan Tayler Tillman wants to bring these Japanese mainstays stateside with […]