- The Christmas Schooner (Mercury Theater Chicago) – Some traditions are worth saving. Others are worth spreading everywhere.
- Robin Hood and Maid Marian (Strawdog Theatre Company) – A feast for eyes and ears on a shoestring budget.
- Animals Commit Suicide (First Floor Theater) – Visceral and vicious: a rough ride with a bug chaser.
- Palace of the Occult (Eclectic Full Contact Theatre) – What would a Jewish Nazi magician be like? See here.
- It’s a Wonderful Santaland Miracle, Nut Cracking Christmas Story…Jews Welcome (Stage 773) – High energy holiday revue comes with fresh cookie and eggnog.
- Ain’t Misbehavin‘ (Porchlight Music Theatre) – December is happy time to be in this Harlem bar.
- Fulfillment (American Theater Company) – Rated NC17 for adult content, but PG13 for emotional development.
- The Raid (Jackalope Theatre) – The talky tale of John Brown becoming John Brown’s body.
- The Long Christmas Ride Home (Strawdog Theatre Company) – Skillful puppetry doesn’t adequately compensate for production and script weaknesses
- The Thanksgiving Circumcision (MCL Chicago) – Not a series of bad dick jokes. Actually good musical!
- One Act, Primarily Nonsense, and Horror of Terror (Theatre Momentum) – Well executed improvisation doesn’t really replace the act of writing.
- Holmes vs. Holmes (E.D.G.E. Theatre) – Doyle’s detective takes on Chicago’s serial killer in speculative case.
- The Play About My Dad (Raven Theatre) – Katrina’s true human impact is finally captured in these stories.
- Gone Dark (Otherworld Theatre) – One man struggles with his inner demons and outer vampires.
- Chapter Two (Windy City Playhouse) – Seventies romantic comedy has many laughs and phones with cords.
- belladonna luna sonata (The Plagiarists) – Theatre as it is supposed to be: intimate and adventurous!
- Marvin’s Room (Shattered Globe Theatre) – Nostalgia and stout Midwestern optimism fuel a family to reconnect.
- Design for Living (Pride Films & Plays) – Noël Coward’s smart and sassy threesome is hilarious and relevant.
- The Terrible (The New Colony) – Hell isn’t other people. It’s one person. It’s your therapist.
- The Beecher Sisters (Awkward Pause Theatre) – An unsolved mystery remains unsolved. Intriguing discoveries along the way.
- Unspeakable (Broadway In Chicago) – Richard Pryor was a genius. This show doesn’t reflect that.
- Good for Otto (The Gift Theatre) – Dead woman embodies depression within mind of dull, offbeat psychologist.
- H.M.S. Pinafore (The Savoyaires) – The lass and her sailor shine in this traditional production.
- Act Accordingly (Brand New Toys) – Six guys jerk around on stage for about an hour.
- The Black White Love Play (Black Ensemble Theatre) – Jukebox musical masquerades as epic love story between Chicago celebrities.
- A Strange Disappearance of Bees (Forget Me Not Theatre Company) – A beekeeper and a baker have sex and raise child.
- Delicious Night: Baudelaire in a Box (Theatre Oobleck) – Obscure dramatic form makes appropriate focus for dark French poetry.
- Scream, Queen, Scream! (Hell In A Handbag) – Three horror sketches in drag with subversive humor between? Yes!
- Direct from Death Row: The Scottsboro Boys (Raven Theatre) – Beautiful, disturbing, funny, and moving. This show is beyond good.
- Miss Buncle’s Book (LifeLine Theatre) – Terrible people make wonderful subjects when Buncle writes about them.
- Spamalot (Theatre at the Center) – Show’s jokes are decades old, yet it is comfortably fun.
- Merchild (16th Street Theater) – Raising transgender children is hard. So is raising any kid.
- With Love and a Major Organ (Strawdog Theatre Company) – Train love. Quirky and weird in the best possible way.
- End Days (Windy City Playhouse) – Sweet and funny, End Days celebrates our need for family.
-
La Bête (Trap Door Theatre) – Kevin Cox is a whirlwind of talent. A wild ride.
- Outside Mullingar (Northlight Theatre) – A man struggles with inner demons, or insects, in Ireland.
- Today We Escape (Tympanic Theater Company) – Radiohead songs inspire variety of plays that run the gamut.
- Picture Imperfect (Bread & Roses Productions) – Woman struggles to hold onto child. We struggle to care.
- Tomato Queen (Quest Theatre Ensemble) – Sprightly music and clever design can’t make up for messy script.
- Yankee Tavern (American Blues Theatre) – 9/11 conspiracies trump couple’s pre-wedding jitters. Coincidence? I think not.
- The Sweeter Option (Strawdog Theatre) – Clever homage to noir, with complex anti-heroine and conflicted anti-hero.
- Edgar & Annabel (The Poor Theatre) – Political operatives live fake lives, performing for anyone who’s listening.
- Next Thing You Know (Refuge Theatre Project) – Couple breaks up over nothing. Nothing happens. There is singing.
- A Nice Indian Boy (Rasaka Theatre Company) – Tradition and youth collide in light romance with surprising depth.
- A Kid Like Jake (About Face Theatre) – Token LGBTQ issue sets up drama for contemptible Mama. Unworthy.
- Really, Really (Interrobang Theatre Project) – I’m with Liz Lemon; always be mistrustful of today’s youths.
- Circuscope (The Actors Gymnasium) – A microbe circus is far better than a flea circus.
- Blue Planet (Akvavit Theatre) – Idyllic world is ruined by arrival of capitalism and verbosity.
- First Date (Royal George Theatre) – Vignettes about pressures of dating tied together by clunky writing.
- Music Hall (TUTA Theatre Chicago) – Subtle, moving meditation on the vulnerability of the performing life.
- The Addams Family (Mercury Theater) – Gifted Gomez leads family through hilarious attempts at being normal.
- Dividing the Estate (Raven Theatre) – Frustratingly mediocre play about a family of money-grubbing jerks.
- Bawdy Bedtime Stories (Plan 9 Burlesque) – Twisted fairy tales really come alive and bare it all.
- Laughter on the 23rd Floor (First Folio Theatre) – In the right hands, this should could have been brilliant.
- Trigger Happy (The Annoyance Theatre) – Silent cues amongst improv-ers give show a more rehearsed feel.
- The Adventures of Tapman (Tapman Productions) – Rhythmic hero defeats villains through fancy footwork. Sand dance rocks!
- The Rose Tattoo (Shattered Globe Theatre Company) – Richly told, wonderfully inhabited – all the drama with laughter besides!
- Book of Merman (Pride Films & Plays) – Who ordered the Book of Mormon/Ethel Merman mash up?
- Red Bud (Signal Ensemble Theatre) – Naturalistic campout makes silence meaningful. Traditions don’t always stay meaningful.
- The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle (Steep Theatre Company) – Man watches painful memories from his life. So do we.
- Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play (Theater Wit) – A dark, funny, moving, scary, tremendously weird end of days.
- Plastic Revolution (The New Colony) – A sales pitch for Tupperware. Nothing but song and dance.
- Accidentally, Like a Martyr (A Red Orchid Theatre) – Witty repartee and stinging regret fuel old men’s evenings out.
- Top Girls (The Arc Theatre) – A complex, dated script about women’s challenges hinders solid performances.
- Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them (First Floor Theatre) – Brother and sister, cobbling a family together from broken pieces.
- The Revenants (WildClaw Theatre) – These two survivors of a zombie apocalypse struggle to cope.
- Lions in Illyria (Lifeline Theatre) – There is nothing quite like Shakespeare told by a monkey.
- Cookie Play (Trap Door Theatre) – Not-quite-absurdist-enough Cookie Play crumbles in the end.
- Push Button Murder (The Side Project) – Trigger-happy cynics rule the skies from underground lairs. Boom!
- Airline Highway (Steppenwolf Theatre Company) – Last day in the life of a crumbling motel queen.
- Penny the F*ckable Dolphin: A Love Story (The Annoyance Theatre) – Hot porpoise action on stage. Can this be called acting?
- H.M.S. Pinafore (The Hypocrites) – A thought: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.