I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that Theater Wit’s local premiere of 2019’s The Whistleblower by Itamar Moses is opening in the midst of the WGA strike. Certainly Eli (Ben Faigus), the insufferable screenwriter-manchild at the center of the show, won’t win the hearts and minds of anyone who […]
Tag: Theater Wit
Posted inTheater Review
Season of the Grinch
After earning rave reviews during its Chicago premiere last year, Matthew Lombardo’s provocative take on a holiday classic makes a triumphant return to Theater Wit. Who’s Holiday follows a now 40-year-old Cindy Lou Who (Veronica Garza) as she tells the story of the infamous night she met The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and the not-so-heartwarming […]
Posted inAgenda
TheMIND at Schubas, Title Ten at Theater Wit, and more
Some concert options for tonight, if you’re looking to listen to something other than your digestion: Even though the midterm results earlier this month offered a few bright spots for pro-choice advocates, there’s no denying that the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs decision earlier this year fits a pattern of attacks on […]
Posted inAgenda
Last Call Chicago, midwest graffiti, Routes, Braided
If you’re interested in queer Chicago history, you’ll definitely want to check this out: At 6 PM, Sidetrack (3349 N. Halsted) is celebrating the release of Last Call Chicago: A History of 1001 LGBTQ Friendly Taverns, Haunts & Hangouts. Renowned writers and activists Rick Karlin and St. Sukie de la Croix will share some of […]
Posted inAgenda
Dreary North, Selena tribute, All That Light, Code of the Freaks, and Stew
If you’re looking for music that pulls no punches, head over to Subterranean (2011 W. North) this weekend for Dreary North Fest, three nights of extreme music running the gamut from difficult noise and grindcore to experimental hip-hop and “postapocalyptic metal” (as Reader senior writer Leor Galil describes the wonderfully named band Urine Hell in […]
Posted inTheater Review
Teaching to the test
If National Merit had to be pitched as a movie, it would be “The Breakfast Club in a test prep class.” Competing for high scores and the scholarship that goes with them—and, perhaps more important, the accolade of National Merit Scholar—are The Privileged Jerk, The Sidekick, The Striver, The Weird Girl . . . . […]
Posted inTheater Review
The real Maenads of Monmouth
Back in 2014, Theater Wit presented Madeleine George’s acerbic but aching comedy, Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England, in which the denizens of a small New England college town wrestle with the dusty past, as represented by the display of the title creatures in the campus museum—which no one ever visits. George’s play wove in […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Ana Silva’s ready to cast a big shadow
Ana Silva is the type to celebrate Groundhog Day. On a January morning, over Zoom, Silva recounts how she “asked off work” for the woodchuck festivities. She and her boyfriend, actor Andrew Jessop, are driving to Woodstock, where the 1993 classic Groundhog Day was filmed. Next on the list is a groundhog-themed pub crawl followed […]
Posted inTheater Review
Solo guru, collective experience
In the longstanding tradition of solo performers benevolently fucking with their audiences, Dean Evans’s masterful 2012 Honeybuns holds a special place in Chicago storefront history as a sweet spot between gently antagonistic and subtly profound crowd work. I was warmly reminded of it at key points throughout writer-director John Kolvenbach’s new hour-long piece, which takes […]
Posted inTheater Review
The art of the steal
When their brother Arthur dies, leaving behind to the world a lone splatter canvas from the heady foray into abstract expressionism that preceded his embittered art teacher years, Alex (Michael Appelbaum) and Andy (Rick Yaconis) decide to right fate’s wrongs and get the—to their minds—worthless and incomprehensible painting accepted to a prestigious gallery. This turns […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Drinks with drama, cocktails for comedy
There was a time when concessions at Chicago live theaters were pretty basic: water, soda, candy, coffee, tea, and maybe some beer in a can or wine in a box (depending on whether or not the venue had a liquor license). But as theater bars have expanded their range of legal booze options (or in […]
Posted inCity Life
Successful Failures, Destinos, Big Chill, and more
We’re in the middle of Hanukkah now and the post-Thanksgiving holiday melee of holiday shopping pop-ups and light festivals is underway, but there’s still a few non-holiday-themed activities out there. Here’s a few things to do in the next seven days that will help you embrace the season (or just plain enjoy December in Chicago). […]
Posted inTheater Review
Cindy Lou Who is all grown up
Christopher Pazdernik directs Matthew Lombardo’s 2017 grown-ups-only update of Dr. Seuss’s yuletide classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. On the outskirts of Whoville, in a modest but homey trailer, a very adult Cindy Lou Who recounts her meet-cute with the Grinch and the resulting fallout. Who’s Holiday! Through 12/26: see website for full schedule, Theater […]
Posted inPublic Service Announcement
Festivals, fun, Foodball? Bingo!
Another few days of summer weather for the next week will surely bring Chicagoans out and about! Be safe, have fun, and consider one of these options as you make your plans. Fri 9/10 (open run): Theater Wit had a huge hit in 2015 with Anne Washburn’s apocalyptic black comedy, Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, […]
Posted inTheater Review
Back to the future with Mr. Burns
Midway through the first act of Anne Washburn’s Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, one of the characters observes, “People are not competent. Can I just say that? People are not competent.” Given that the character is one of a handful of survivors of a massive string of nuclear meltdowns that have completely shut down America’s […]