Changing culture requires shifts in thinking as radical as adapting to virtual reality.
Author Archives: Sheri Flanders
Posted inFilm
Something’s here: A West Side Story for a new generation
The film isn’t perfect by any means, but the new version rights many of the most egregious wrongs of the original.
Posted inFilm
The Harder They Fall
Leave your saddlebags at the door and mount up for one hell of a ride!
Posted inTheater Review
Fannie Lou Hamer takes us to church
Fannie (The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer) by Cheryl L. West, now onstage at the Goodman Theatre, delivers a sorely needed injection of patriotism into our cynical electorate. But don’t balk at the word “patriotism”—this show is a far departure from your high school assembly. Fannie was presented abridged last fall in public […]
Posted inTheater Review
Less is Moor in Court Theatre’s stripped-down Othello
Othello is usually viewed as “Shakespeare’s Race Play” and somewhat rightfully so—after all, the Bard almost never wrote Black characters. In our society race overshadows everything, so much so that much discourse around Othello tends to obstinately revolve around whether or not the play is “racist”—as if an inanimate object were able to take offense […]
Posted inFilm
Nia DaCosta’s Candyman hooks into something new
The new Candyman film draws inspiration from the original from the very first scene of the opening credits. Just as the 1992 version began with a slow crawl along the highway, the 2021 version follows the path of the el tracks, then flips, traveling skyward and westward through downtown in a stunning, upside-down shot of […]
Posted inFilm
Zola challenges mainstream thinking about sex work
And on top of that, it’s a perfect summer romp.
Posted inArts & Culture
Pivot Arts Festival offers reflection after a year of upheaval
“Reimagining Utopia” focuses on multidisciplinary artists and visions of a better future.
Posted inBest of Chicago
A non-obituary for Chicago improv
Venues were in flux, but Chicago improv pushed back against racism and harassment in 2020.
Posted inFilm
A new perspective at Sundance with virtual reality
The New Frontier program introduced groundbreaking multimedia series watched through a pair of VR goggles.
Posted inFilm
What we loved at Sundance 2021 . . . from our couch
The best of the virtual fest is coming to you soon.