2018 Ten-Word Summaries – Theatre By Numbers

HeLa (Sideshow Theatre) – What happens when Black Girl Magic meets Black Girl Science.
Small Mouth Sounds (A Red Orchid Theatre) – A symphony of silence asks us to examine our lives.
Neverland (Prop Thtr) – What if Peter Pan meant something completely different to us?
Hooded, Or Being Black for Dummies (First Floor Theater) – A timely and satirical script gamely directed and sharply performed.
Eclipsed (Pegasus Theatre Chicago) – A harrowing journey into wartime survival sears into one’s memory.
Les Innocents/The Innocents ((re)discover theatre) – Leave all of your questions and expectations outside these catacombs.
Grand Guignol: Bad Milk (The iO Theater) – Looking for laughs with your gore? This one’s for you!
Crumbs From the Table of Joy (Raven Theatre Company) – A humane and heartfelt memory play that features marvelous acting.
Scandalous: I Want a Banana & Other Desperate Love Stories (Prop Thtr) – Choose your own storytelling adventure (warning: most will contain penises).
Nightmares & Nightcaps: The Stories of John Collier (Black Button Eyes Productions) – Humor and spectacle entwine to create a lively narrative analysis.
The Harvest (Griffin Theatre Company) – Faith without works is dead, unless you’re waiting for signs
Neverwhere (Lifeline Theatre) – Even absent the usual creatures, the show must go on.
Tilikum (Sideshow Theatre) – Wait a minute — this isn’t strictly about whales, is it?
Hamlet (The Gift Theatre) – Hamlet startles in a production about oppression and contemporary troubles.
The Revolutionists (Organic Theater Company) – Women find and lose their purpose during the French Revolution.
Bull in a China Shop (About Face Theatre) – A love story. A profane, bustle-skirted, academic love story.
Damascus (Strawdog Theatre Company) – Two men confront their motivations on a tense road trip.
Birds of a Feather (Greenhouse Theater Center) – Give me all your jokes, romance, and existential angst, penguins!
L’Imitation of Life (Hell In a Handbag Productions) – Bring a gown or three for this woke camp showdown.
9 to 5 The Musical (Firebrand Theatre Company) – They are women; hear them roar in unique musical arrangement.
Through the Elevated Line (Silk Road Rising) – A chilling immigrant story filled out with all America’s flaws.
Merchant on Venice (Rasaka Theatre & Vitalist Theatre) – A revelatory and relevant take on an ancient cultural rift.
Kingdom (Broken Nose Theatre) – A queer, loving African American family faces an uncertain future.
Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner, A Sort of Love Story (Mercury Theater) – Cool memoir, bro, but Gilda Radner deserves so much better.
The Madwoman of Chaillot (Promethean Theatre Ensemble) – There’s something definitively French about the joy of fighting back.
Nice Girl (Raven Theatre) – A life put on hold gets a jumper cable blast.
Rose (Greenhouse Theater Center) – Kennedy clan matriarch has a whole lot to talk about.
Hatfield & McCoy (The House Theatre of Chicago) – Family feud, laced with spectacle, fails to land its tragedy.
We’re Gonna Be Okay (American Theater Company) – Annihilation is upon us; it is queer and hilariously energetic.
Yank! A World War II Love Story (Pride Films & Plays) – Beautiful music and heartfelt story make this show haunt you.
The Good Fight (Babes With Blades Theatre Company) – A thrilling examination of protest in regards to women’s rights.
The Light (The New Colony)– Bracing, beautiful examination of how we choose to love now.