A good play, suggests Tony Kushner in his 1995 anthology Thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue, “should be overstuffed.” Memorably comparing well-constructed theater to lasagna, he writes that a work of theater “should have barely been rescued from the mess it might just as easily have been” and, at its best, “has a bursting […]
Tag: Wardell Julius Clark
Posted inTheater Review
The chill of other suns
Before it was retrofitted into an upscale wedding and corporate events hall, the landmark Motor Row building at 2400 South Michigan was home to the Chicago Defender, the iconic Black newspaper of record that in no small part empowered and facilitated the Great Migration of Black southerners to northern cities during the early 20th century. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
COVID-19 has Chicago theater down, but not out
Here’s a reminder of what the theater community has done in the last five years.
Posted inArts & Culture
Kill Move Paradise imagines an afterlife for victims of police killings
James Ijames puts the audience on trial in this TimeLine production.
Posted inArts & Culture
A police killing takes us through mental jujitsu in Sheepdog
Kevin Artigue’s fraught story is one helluva play for Shattered Globe.
Posted inArts & Culture
Magic and music combine in the Memphis-set Hoodoo Love
Katori Hall’s play takes its time but weaves a spell.
Posted inColumns & Opinion
Fall awakening?
Complaints from the production team of His Shadow have opened a painful discussion for Berwyn’s 16th Street Theater and head Ann Filmer.
Posted inArts & Culture
In His Shadow, a college football player tackles racism and sibling jealousy
Loy Webb’s parable occasionally uses a heavy hand, but lands an emotional gut punch.
Posted inArts & Culture
Loy Webb’s plays create a neon sign in the darkness
In His Shadow, an aspiring football player confronts his brother’s legacy and the price of protesting.
Posted inArts & Culture
Jackalope and Raven Theatres take audiences on a trip back to 1992
Dutch Masters and The Undeniable Sound of Right Now ask how much has really changed in politics and music.
Posted inArts & Culture
The final 15 minutes of Dutch Masters are devastating
But Greg Keller’s script takes way too long to get there.
Posted inArts & Culture
Raven Theatre can’t deliver on Suddenly Last Summer’s mythic, monstrous potential
Its production of Tennessee Williams’s great lurid story falls flat.