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Home » House Theatre

Tag: House Theatre

A group of six Black actors (three women, three men) crouch in a circle, their arms stretched out and supporting each other.
Posted inGhost Light

Looking back at some of the best productions and biggest stories of 2022

by Kerry Reid December 13, 2022December 28, 2022

During 2020, my running joke was that, although there weren’t any plays happening, there was always plenty of drama to report on in Chicago theater. In fall of 2021, we started seeing some theater return, though the season was cut short by last December’s COVID surge. (Not to be confused with the one we’re currently […]

Audrey Francis, a white woman in blue jeans and a black jacket, is standing left, and Glenn Davis, a Black man in dark trousers and shirt, is standing right in front of the empty new theater at Steppenwolf.
Posted inPerforming Arts Feature

Plays in a pandemic

by Kerry Reid December 22, 2021January 6, 2022

By the time this year ends (it is gonna end, right?), Reader critics will, by my count, have reviewed 69 live theater and dance performances. That’s far less than in most years, but a veritable cornucopia after the onstage famine that began in March 2020.  But just when we think it’s safe to go back […]

Elsa in glittery dress and Anna in darker dress in front of ice-covered arches
Posted inTheater Review

Two ways of looking at ‘The Snow Queen’

by Kerry Reid November 24, 2021November 24, 2021

For all the gleeful gore of the Brothers Grimm, I’d have to say that Hans Christian Andersen was the more disturbing creator of childhood nightmares for me, because his stories seem just close enough to things that could actually—do actually—happen to kids. Especially if you’re an anxious kid who obsesses about the consequences of not […]

Posted inPerforming Arts Review

Chicago-style magic is ready for its close-up again

by Kerry Reid August 19, 2021August 23, 2021

Magical thinking is both bane and balm. Without a little bit of belief in the possibility of miraculous transformation, I’d probably never get out of bed (especially lately). Yet amid the toxic noise of resolute anti-vaxxers-and-maskers and QAnon, it’s obvious that obdurate faith in the impossible against the tide of science, facts, and reality carries […]

Posted inArts & Culture

Lanise Antoine Shelley is opening up the House

by Kerry Reid March 11, 2021September 22, 2021

The new artistic director wants to take ‘amazing feats of storytelling’ into more diverse realms; Rick Bayless wants to give more money to local theaters.

Posted inArts & Culture

The Nutcracker retains its hold on the heart

by Kerry Reid November 19, 2019August 18, 2021

The House Theatre’s annual tradition remains one of Chicago’s best seasonal offerings.

Posted inArts & Culture

House Theatre creates a Pinocchio for our time

by Catey Sullivan April 11, 2019August 18, 2021

And not just because the main character’s nose grows when he tells a lie.

Posted inArts & Culture

House Theatre’s no-dancing Nutcracker finds light in wartime darkness

by Kerry Reid December 19, 2018August 18, 2021

The show moves from holiday hijinks to deep sadness with plenty of sweetness throughout.

Posted inArts & Culture

Here are 19 shows to get you into the holiday spirit

by Julia Clausen November 29, 2018August 18, 2021

Christmas trains, elves, bingo, showgirls, and many, many carols, plus the Quranic perspective and Hanukkah goblins.

Posted inArts & Culture

A brief, wondrous history of Chicago magic

by David Witter October 26, 2016August 18, 2021

New York had Broadway. LA had Hollywood. Chicago had magic.

Exit Strategy
Posted inArts & Culture

The Three Oaks Theater Festival brings off-Loop shows to Harbor County

by Kerry Cardoza July 2, 2014August 18, 2021

Reprises of The Normal Heart and Exit Strategy are among the highlights at the second annual Three Oaks Theater Festival.

Girls vs. Boys
Posted inArts & Culture

Teens in Trouble

by Kerry Reid April 22, 2010August 19, 2021

Of two shows about kids, Spring Awakening and Girls vs. Boys, one’s juvenile

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