Displaying items by tag: Theater

Last night, while waiting in the tranquil lounge of the Bramble Arts Loft, a familiar question floated around the theatergoers: Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? It’s a philosophical question that has been around for ages. It probably passed through the minds of those who first saw the play some 2,000 years ago. It’s a question I never tire of. The debates change based on the context of the time it is asked, and the mindset of the individual. For no matter how many times it is asked, no two answers are ever alike; life and the medium are inextricably linked. There’s no better example of this currently playing in Chicago than The Trojan Women, the inaugural production of Eos Theatre Company, now playing at the Bramble Arts Loft.

Ashway Lawver as Hecuba. Photos by Steven Townshend / Distant Era.

A blisteringly relevant modern-day version of Euripides' anti-war play, The Trojan Women, has been rewritten and is set in a mother-and-baby unit of a prison. The war is over. Beyond the prison walls, Troy and its people burn. Inside the prison, the city's captive women await their fate. Stalking the antiseptic confines of its mother and baby unit is Hecuba, the fallen Trojan queen, whilst the pregnant Chorus is shackled to her bed. But their grief at what has been before will soon be drowned out by the horror of what is to come, as the Greek lust for vengeance consumes everything – man, woman, and baby – in its path. This caustic and radical new version of Euripides' classic tragedy comes from one of the UK's most exciting young poets, Caroline Bird, and is directed by Rachel Sledd Iannantuoni. It is an intense, gripping look at what happens when the world collapses.

Photo by Steve Townshend | Distant Era

The Trojan War is ancient history, relegated to stories retold through modern media countless times over. Yet the story of the war and The Trojan Women remains as relevant today as it did thousands of years ago. Euripides’ The Trojan Women takes place at the end of the war. Troy is burning while the city's captive women wait to be told their fate by the victorious Greeks, who penetrated the city walls hiding inside the famous Trojan horse. Caroline Bird’s modern adaptation of Euripides' 415 BCE tale sets the play in a Trojan hospital turned prison by the Greek invaders. “Her work is a fierce exploration of the complex intersections of class, gender, patriarchy, and nationality,” says Iannantuoni. “It is timely and timeless. Sometimes comical. Often absurd. Ultimately heartbreaking.” Superbly acted by members of the Eos Theatre Company, The Trojan Women is a production that will stay with you long after you leave the theater.

Photo by Steve Townshend | Distant Era

War is hell. While many of us might not experience it firsthand, we can empathize with the horrors it leaves in its wake, for war is as timeless as the stories that come from them. Yet again, we’re faced with a meaningless war started by the few and fought by the many. Yet again, humans are faced with unfathomable choices. Yet again, we both come together and tear each other apart over claims of moral and ethical superiority. The Trojan Women could have easily been written today. The plight of women in a patriarchal world is reduced to little more than incubators and spoils of war. The question of the role men play in war: protectors or pillagers? The questions of gratitude and honor, dignity and demise. The Trojan Women beautifully – hauntingly -- explores all of this and inevitably leads us to ask ourselves a single question: Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? See this incredible and timeless production, and let’s get together at Simon’s Tavern to discuss.

Unlike the Trojan War, The Trojan Women only runs through April 18^th at Bramble Arts Loft (5545 N Clark St 2nd Floor, Chicago). Ferry your ships and set a course for Andersonville to get your tickets and a glimpse of this tragically timeless tale today.

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats remains one of musical theatre’s most distinctive creations - a sung‑through, dance‑driven spectacle that swaps traditional plot for atmosphere, character portraits, and pure theatrical immersion. Drawn from T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, the musical unfolds as a moonlit gathering of the Jellicle tribe, each feline stepping forward to claim the spotlight before the climactic “Jellicle Choice,” when one is chosen for rebirth into the Heaviside Layer – a new life. Its unconventional structure, eclectic score, and iconic choreography helped define the mega-musical era, earning Cats major awards and record‑breaking runs in both London and New York. And now it’s here!

To kick off their 2026 season, Music Theater Works brings Cats to the North Theatre in the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, offering Chicago audiences a fresh trip into the Jellicle universe. It’s the perfect time to pounce on this legendary musical - whether you’re drawn by its nostalgia, its high‑energy movement, or the simple delight of watching a community of cats chase belonging and second chances.

Cats has always been one of my very favorite Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, and revisiting it reminds me why. Its blend of atmosphere, movement, and character‑driven storytelling creates a world that feels both whimsical and strangely profound – a world that is so easy to get lost in.

What continues to give Cats its staying power is the blend of spectacle and emotional resonance. While much of the evening plays as a parade of emotionally grounded ensemble-anchored numbers - playful, mischievous, or grand - the heart of the piece rests with Grizabella (magnificently played in this production by Ava Lane Stovall), the faded glamour cat whose ballad “Memory” became a global standard. The production’s emphasis on movement, atmosphere, and immersive world‑building over traditional linear storytelling makes Cats both polarizing and unforgettable, and its decades‑long staying power proves just how deeply that approach resonates across generations. Music Theater Works captures that essence beautifully, channeling the show’s dreamlike logic and ritualistic energy in a way that feels both faithful and freshly imagined.

Astutely directed and choreographed by Mandy Modic, Music Theater Works makes inventive use of the North Shore Center’s intimate space, transforming nearly every nook and cranny into part of the Jellicle playground. The result is a production where activity seems to spark from every direction, creating a sense of constant motion that borders on ingenious. From the moment the show begins - after a playful prelude of cat videos on a large TV - the cast emerges in the dark, parading down the aisles with glowing cat‑eye glasses that immediately pull the audience into their world. Throughout the performance, strategically placed perches and platforms scattered around the theater keep the action mere inches away, giving some audience members the rare thrill of being fully surrounded by the Jellicle tribe. Though I’ve seen Cats countless times in both the Chicagoland area and New York, this production may well be the one that connected with me the most.

(Center) Ethan Lupp as “Rum Tum Tugger” and members of the cast of CATS in CATS from Music Theater Works, now playing through March 29 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie.

Sam Nachison brings a commanding warmth to Old Deuteronomy, balancing authority with compassion and grounding the production with a rich, resonant baritone in his self‑titled number. Stovall, meanwhile, delivers a vocally commanding, show‑stopping “Memory” in Act II - an emotional high point that pierced my heart and gave me chills. But what truly elevates this production is how deep the talent runs throughout the ensemble. Whether it’s the big, full‑company showstoppers, the sly, feline physicality woven into every corner of the stage, or the sheer joy of numbers like “Magical Mister Mistoffelees,” the cast proves endlessly engaging. Group sequences such as “Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats” and “Journey to the Heaviside Layer” showcase a company working in complete synchronicity, creating moment after moment that dazzles. The memorable beats are as abundant as the cats roaming the theater, each one adding to a production overflowing with energy, precision, and charm.

Throughout the performance, I found myself drawn to different performers at different moments, captivated by their vocals, their movement, and the sheer feline energy they brought to the stage. The ensemble’s commitment was so complete that no matter where I looked, someone was doing something compelling, clever, or beautifully in character. That sense of constant discovery carried straight into the show’s physical feats - from aerial acrobatics to Morgan Schoenecker’s crisp tap breaks as Jennyanydots and even the unexpected skating sequences led by Danny Spagnuolo as Skimbleshanks - making the production a steady stream of surprises. Add in the constant, playful eye contact from cats prancing through the aisles, and every moment feels enchanting - alive with movement, mischief, and immersive detail.

Nick Johnson’s Munkustrap grounds the entire production with a steady, commanding presence, guiding the ensemble and shaping the rhythm of the evening. He moves through the show with an effortless authority - part narrator, part guardian - setting both the emotional and musical pace while keeping the Jellicle world anchored. In doing so, he opens the door for the production’s standout moments to land with even greater impact - and never far from that spotlight is Emma Jean Eastlund’s Bombalurina, slipping in with charisma and precision alongside the rest of the talented ensemble.

Ava Lane Stovall as “Grizabella” in CATS from Music Theater Works. Phots by Brett Beiner.

Another moment that stayed with me was John Cardone’s moving rendition of “Gus: The Theatre Cat.” As Asparagus, he delivers this bittersweet, nostalgic reflection of an aging performer looking back on the glory days of his career. The ache of the number comes from the gap between who Gus once was and who he has become - an actor with a shabby coat, trembling paws, and memories of a time when he was the “terror to mice.” Cardone leans into that fragility with such sincerity that the song lands as both a tribute and a quiet heartbreak.

And from that intimate moment, the production expands back into the vibrant world of the Jellicles. The cats themselves are incredible - brought to life with remarkable clarity thanks to the production’s outstanding creative team. Much of that magic stems from the meticulous work of hair, wig, and makeup designers Megan E. Pirtle and Melanie Saso, whose transformations give each performer a distinct feline identity, and from the richly textured costumes crafted by kClare McKellaston and wardrobe head Kristen Brinati, which add depth, personality, and visual cohesion to the entire tribe. Together, their contributions shape a world so vivid and fully realized that the characters feel as if they’ve stepped straight out of Eliot’s imagination and into the audience’s laps. Credit belongs to every corner of the creative team, from scenic design to sound to lighting, all working together to shape an atmosphere that feels nothing short of Jellicle heaven. Their combined artistry turns the space into a fully realized world - mystical, inviting, and alive with detail - so the audience is immersed from the moment the first cat appears. Every technical element works in harmony to envelop the audience in this moonlit world - sets that invite exploration, sound that wraps around the room, and lighting that shifts the space from mystical to electric in an instant. The result is a production that manages to be both haunting and joyfully alive, lingering in the imagination long after the final note.

What I appreciated most about this rich and colorful production is how it reflects the moment we’re living in. At a time when the world feels unsteady, we’re each our own special kind of “cat,” carrying unique talents and flaws, and offering up our personal histories - our triumphs and our losses to each other our fellow "cats" - as the curtain of world seems to be falling around us. Yet, in that shared vulnerability, we find the strength to realize that as long as we keep supporting one another, the light never truly goes out.

Purr‑fect, meow‑velous, pawsitively delightful, downright meow‑gical - take your pick! Every one of them fits this production like a cat in a sunbeam.

Music Theatre Works’ Cats is being performed at the North Theatre in the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts through March 29^th. For tickets and/or more show information visit https://www.musictheaterworks.com/2026-season/cats/.

Highly Recommended.

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com.

Tin Drum Theatre Company is proud to announce the cast and creative team for the Chicago premiere of Southern Rapture at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., June 11 - 28, written by Eric Coble and directed by Jason Palmer. The preview for Southern Rapture is Thursday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m. and the opening night performance is Friday, June 12 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $30 with $15 student tickets and may be purchased at TinDrumTheatre.com. 

In the heart of the Bible Belt, a local theatre company announces it will stage a play called Rapture in America—complete with seven seconds of male nudity—sending the city into a frenzy. Based on actual events, Eric Coble's Southern Rapture turns this civic eruption into a wickedly funny satire about artistic freedom, arts funding, the weaponization of civic institutions and what happens when conviction outruns common sense.

Originally commissioned by Actor's Theatre of Charlotte, Southern Rapture draws directly from one of the city’s most explosive cultural battles. In 1996, Charlotte Repertory Theatre announced a production of Angels in America.. The district attorney attempted to bring criminal charges, however, emergency court injunctions required the show to open. “Good Morning America” broadcast a train-wreck debate, turning a local arts dispute into a national spectacle.

Eighteen months later, county commissioners retaliated by slashing $2.5 million in arts funding, destabilizing organizations across the city. Although much of that funding was later restored, the interruption sent lasting ripples through Charlotte’s artistic landscape. Charlotte Rep won the Angels battle, but the controversy produced long-term consequences that cost it the war. Amid donor fatigue, mounting financial strain and leadership turnover, the company closed permanently in 2005.

The Southern Rapture ensemble cast includes Teddy Boone (he/him, Mayor Winston Paxton), Shannon Leigh Webber (she/her, Marjorie Winthrop), Michael Stejskal (he/him, Donald Sherman), Mary Anne Bowman (she/her, Allissa Marquand, Nyla-Jean Geisy, Julia Overmyer), Jenny Hoppes (she/her, Laverne Jackson, Pam, Clarice Paxton, Tina), Jordan Gleaves (he/him, Simon Larisher, Emmett Whipple, Nightline Host, Franklin McManus) and Andrew Bosworth (he/him, Mickey Stedman, Reverend Dupree, Anton Finewitz). 

The creative team includes Steve Needham (he/him, producer), Jason Palmer (he/him, director), Teddy Boone (he/him, casting director), Emily Nicholas (she/her, stage manager), Sil Rivera (they/them, asst. stage manager/scenic asst.), Kaitlyn Hettinger (she/her, technical director/scenic designer), Kasey Wolfgang (she/her, costume designer), Ellie Fey (she/her, lighting designer/master electrician), Zach Stinnett (he/him, sound designer) and Erin Alys (she/her, intimacy/movement director).

Content notice: Southern Rapture includes a brief nude scene.

ABOUT ERIC COBLE, playwright

Eric Coble is an award-winning American playwright whose work spans sharply drawn dramas, audacious comedies, and incisive social satire. Born in Edinburgh and raised on the Navajo and Ute reservations of the American Southwest, Coble brings a distinctive blend of wit, empathy and theatrical boldness to the stage.

His plays have been produced across the United States and internationally, including on Broadway, Off-Broadway and at major regional theatres. His Broadway debut—The Velocity of Autumn, starring Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella—earned Parsons a Tony Award nomination. Other widely produced works include The Giver (stage adaptation), Bright Ideas, My Barking Dog, Fairfield, The Dead Guy, Natural Selection and Southern Rapture, among many others.

Coble’s scripts have received a Jeff Award, the ATCA Steinberg New Play Award citation, the Governor’s Award for the Arts (Ohio) and multiple Edgerton New Play Awards. His work has been developed or produced by The Kennedy Center, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Class Company, Denver Center Theatre Company, Cleveland Play House, Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage and Actors Theatre of Louisville, among others.

Known for his sharp comic voice and his ability to illuminate the tensions and absurdities of contemporary American life, Coble continues to be a vital and provocative presence in the new-play landscape. He is a member of the Playwrights’ Center and a graduate of Ohio University’s MFA program.

ABOUT JASON PALMER, director

Jason Palmer is the co-founder and co–artistic director of Tin Drum Theatre Company, where he helps shape bold, conversation-driven work in Chicago’s storefront scene. He recently directed the 2024 world premiere of Winter Garden by Steve Needham and the 2025 Chicago premiere of Nick Payne’s Incognito.

A multi-disciplinary theatre-maker with over 30 years of experience, Palmer’s work spans directing, producing, performance, dramaturgy and design across New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Ireland. Early in his career he served as literary manager and assistant director at Gilgamesh Theater Group and assistant directed Keith Reddin’s Off-Broadway premiere of Black Snow. In Chicago, his long association with the erstwhile Bailiwick Repertory Theatre included performing, stage management and coordinating several seasons of the Bailiwick Directors’ Festival. His performance in Nicholas Patricca’s Oh Holy Allen Ginsberg at the 2006 International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival earned a Best Actor nomination and an Honorable Mention.

Palmer has also worked with the Western Region of Actors’ Equity Association and the Directors Guild of America, giving him a strong grounding in theatrical and labor structures. His technical experience includes lighting design, set construction and stage management, and he is a multiple-time Irene Ryan nominee.

As co–artistic director of Tin Drum Theatre Company, Palmer is committed to developing new work and supporting Chicago’s next generation of storefront artists.

ABOUT TIN DRUM THEATRE COMPANY

Tin Drum Theatre Company exists to disrupt complacency and reassert theatre’s civic purpose. Creating theatre that asks something of its audience, moving beyond comfort to provoke conversation and critical engagement. Tin Drum believes community begins where audiences and ideas collide, and where dramatic disturbances are created.

With spot-on performances across a large cast, William Inge’s 1949 script for “Come Back, Little Sheba” is receiving a definitive production at American Blues Theater’s intimate Studio Theater. Those of us of a certain age had this work buried deep into our cultural formation by the searing film version starring Shirley Booth, who won the 1952 Oscar and a Tony for her earlier Broadway performance as Lola. 

This was my first time to see the stage version, and director Elyse Dolan goes back to Inge’s original script, which fits beautifully into this captivating 90 minute show (no intermission). The set by Shayna Patel closely tracks Inge’s intentions, right down to the telephone at the base of the stairs. Lighting by Brendan Marble and Sound Design by Thomas Dixon couple especially well in high throttle jazz interludes signaling scene changes or turning points in the plot. And those costumes (Lily Walls) were just what the playwright envisioned, right out of the end of the 1940s.

Cisco Lopez as the Milkman with Gwendolyn Whiteside as Lola.

Contemporary audiences may see ‘Come Back, Little Sheba” as a showcase of the reduced role of women in post-WWII society, their lives centered on homemaking and “keeping their man happy.” But it is something more, too - a portrait of two diametrically opposite personalities - Lola (Gwendolyn Whiteside is remarkable) and her husband Doc (Philip Earl Johnson is a portrait of seething restraint) - locked together in an unbalanced relationship. Inge subtly laces in the clues to their unhappiness. Doc’s ambition to complete medical school was cut short when he felt compelled to marry Lola at 18 after getting her pregnant. Her pregnancy didn’t come to term, and he quit his medical studies. Instead of a doctor he became a chiropractor, and took to the bottle.

Lola, who was a high school beauty queen, has given up caring about her looks under the withering abuse she suffered during his drinking days. But he joined AA, and has eleven months sober - but lives with an internalized rigidity while presenting a caring face to the world around him. Underneath it all, he is filled with resentment.

On the couch, Ethan Surpan as Turk and Maya Lou Hlava as Marie.

A shift has entered this couple's fragile homelife with the arrival of the sprightly Marie (Maya Lou Hlava is perfect in the role). This comely coed is boarding with them, studying art at the university. She has a hot jock boyfriend, Turk (Ethan Surpan is a study in self-assured youthful machismo). Marie also has another boyfriend back home, Bruce (Justin Banks), a well-paid young businessman on his way up.

Inge sends the clues through the behavior of Johnson’s Doc that he is crushing on Marie, and quite jealous of Turk. Eventually his sober resolve crumbles under his longstanding unresolved resentment - that he is not an MD, this new jealousy, and that he is stuck with Lola, who smothers him with attention and coaches him somewhat intrusively on his AA practices. It is also an early serious treatment of the AA 12-step recovery program, founded ion the 1930s. Doc's involvement in it is core the the plot and character motivation. 

Lola, for her part, expresses her longing for better days gone by with a fixation on her runaway pup Sheba. Though Sheba went missing quite a while back, Lola still dreams of her return, and periodically calls for her puppy from the porch. An eternal optimist, she is ultimately the likeable center of the action. Marie and Turk love her. To show Lola through others’ eyes, Inge gives us two other characters, Elmo the Postman (William Anthony Sebastian Rose) and Milkman (Cisco Lopez). Whiteside’s Lola is so lonely she tries almost too hard to engage them, but nevertheless, her open heart compels their empathy and she wins them over. Everyone seems to love Lola except the next door neighbor Mrs. Coffman (Joslyn Jones), who derides Lola over her unkempt house.

In the last third of the play, mayhem breaks loose, and you will be stunned, shocked and glued to your seat by the culmination of this stunning drama. As Tolstoy put it, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” And “Come Back, Little Sheba” shows how true this is. Highly recommended. 

“Come Back, Little Sheba” runs through March 22 at American Blues Theater in Chicago.

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com.

The Story Theatre’s world‑premiere staging of Paul Michael Thomson’s Pot Girls bursts to life in a vivid, full‑throttle production at Raven Theatre. Pot Girls is a sharp, funny, and thought‑provoking new play that fuses feminist history, artistic accountability, and a rainbow haze of 1980s, weed‑soaked poetry and art.

Inspired as a thematic counterpart to Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls, Pot Girls - directed by Ayanna Bria Bakari - leans into humor, theatricality, and a cloud of intoxication to explore how women create, collaborate, and collide both onstage and off. And in a bit of theatrical serendipity, both productions are currently running simultaneously at Raven Theatre. In fact, Raven Theatre and The Story Theatre are even offering special marathon days, giving audiences the chance to catch a matinee of Lucky Stiff’s directed Top Girls, stick around for some conversation with the creative team, then return in the evening for Pot Girls - all at a discounted rate (click here for details).

The story follows Caryl herself, a playwright on the cusp of her first major, Olivier‑eligible production - a show designed to spotlight women in the workplace. The year is 1982 and as she toasts the achievement with friends, her colorful London flat transforms into an impromptu hub where a lively, time‑spanning cohort of feminist writers drop in to drink, smoke, debate, and probe the ideas she’s celebrating.

The haze of a jubilant night eventually clears, and what remains is a sharper truth: this play lays bare the exhausting contortions women are expected to perform just to gain a foothold as authors and playwrights. It highlights not only the uphill battle of competing in a landscape where men still discriminate against women in their productions regarding creative authority, but also the added burden of being scrutinized for perfect political correctness the moment a woman-led production finally reaches the stage.

The many ways that women as authors have been discriminated against and unfairly censored or even hunted over the centuries is thoroughly laid out in a fantastic cast of intelligent expressive women.

The period feels fully realized, aided by Katelyn Montgomery’s evocative scenic work and Racquel Postilgione’s sharp costume design.

As the play unfolds, Caryl is pulled through a tangle of personal and professional upheaval - romantic tension with her partner Edith, pointed accusations about her racial blind spots, and the mounting pressure to tell women’s stories with integrity. Around her, the ensemble slips effortlessly between roles, embodying historical figures, colleagues, and critics who collectively push her toward an uncomfortable, necessary self‑examination.

In Pot Girls, Brenna DiStasio centers the production as Caryl, offering a steady emotional clarity that grounds the play’s wilder turns and quietly establishes her as its moral anchor. Ireon Roach, as Edith, wields her well-rolled blunt with sharp wit and charismatic intelligence, building a lively, charged dynamic with DiStasio that keeps the energy flowing like a river.

Peter Ferneding lends understated but essential texture as he shifts through historical and contemporary figures, his easy timing playing neatly against Tamsen Glaser’s agile, precise turns as multiple feminist icons, which bring warmth, wit, and tonal delicacy.

Vibrant, expressive energy radiates through each of Emily Marso’s roles, elevating every moment and sparking electric interplay with Glaser and Maya Bridgewater. Glaser and Bridgewater, in turn, deliver a fierce yet deep human presence across their characters, adding tension and charge to the ensemble’s debates. One of Bridgewater’s characters delivers a beautifully crafted, cathartic reflection on a young girl’s kidnapping and rape - written with such grace and restraint that it resonates powerfully with the conversations society is having today about trafficking and vulnerability.

Rounding out the cast, Laney Rodriguez displays a great sense of humor and threads emotional nuance through each character she inhabits, serving as a subtle connective force while carving out memorable moments opposite DiStasio and Roach. As a unit, the ensemble stays quick, engaged, and combustible, amplifying the play’s ideas with palpable charge.

Ultimately, Pot Girls crackles with ensemble energy and sharp ideas, offering an engaging, thought‑rich night of theatre for anyone drawn to fresh feminist work.

Highly recommended.

Pot Girls has been extended through March 8^th. For tickets and/or more show information, click here.

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

Kirsten Greenidge’s Morning, Noon & Night, currently receiving its Midwestern premiere at Shattered Globe Theatre, is an ambitious, mind-bending exploration of the “new normal” in post-pandemic America. Greenidge, a playwright unafraid of tonal hybridity, situates her story at the uneasy intersection of middle-class and magical realism. Under AmBer Montgomery’s direction, the production attempts to navigate the landscape of family connection, digital surveillance, and the psychic fragmentation wrought by living life through digital screens.

The play unfolds over the course of a single day in the life of Mia, a work-from-home mother teetering on the edge of burnout. Kristin E. Ellis anchors the production with a performance that captures both the brittle humor and simmering desperation of a woman expected to hold everything together. Her Mia is perpetually toggling—between Zoom meetings and grocery lists, between maternal patience and private panic. Ellis embodies the quiet terror of a generation of women asked to endure the unendurable with a smile.

Opposite her, Emefa Dzodzomenyo gives Dailyn a restless, electric presence. As the hyper-aware Gen Z daughter oscillating between existential dread and a yearning for authentic connection, Dzodzomenyo resists caricature. Her Dailyn is sharp, wounded, and achingly perceptive—someone who has inherited not only climate anxiety and algorithmic pressure but also the emotional residue of her mother’s exhaustion.

The supporting cast deepens the sense of a household under strain. Christina Gorman’s Heather, Mia’s friend and confidant, functions as both comic relief and quiet warning sign—her lingering pandemic anxieties and conspiratorial asides suggest how prolonged fear can harden into identity. Hannah Antman and Soren Jimmie Williams lend a jittery immediacy to Nat and Chloe, capturing the skittish vulnerability of teens shaped by social media’s relentless gaze. That said, both performers read slightly younger than I imagined the characters to be, which subtly shifts the dynamic; their portrayals emphasize innocence and volatility over the more self-aware cynicism often associated with girls of that age.

The production’s most striking presence is Leslie Ann Sheppard as Miss Candice, a “Donna Reed  - Father Knows Best” AI-generated avatar of curated perfection who steps out of the algorithm and into the family’s living room. Sheppard’s performance is chilling in its serenity. With a voice that soothes and a gaze that scans, Miss Candice represents not simply technology but the seductive promise of optimized living—an influencer deity promising order amid chaos. Her presence pushes the play from realism into something more speculative, even dystopian.

Jackie Fox’s set and lighting design effectively ground the story in its post-pandemic malaise. The living room, cluttered yet aspirational, feels very lived-in and slightly unraveling. The use of projections is particularly striking; at times the audience feels as though it is peering through a phone screen. Notifications flicker, curated images intrude, and the boundary between the digital and the tangible dissolves. The design serves as a digital mirror—reflecting how social media refracts reality rather than simply documenting it.

Yet for all its thematic ambition, the production occasionally exposes a disconnect between script and staging. Greenidge clearly has much to say about female rage, consumerism, intergenerational trauma, and the violence of constant connectivity. However, Montgomery’s direction seems to engage these ideas primarily at a surface level, with moments of genuine thematic revelation passing too quickly to fully resonate. The result can feel unintentionally algorithmic—significant insights obscured beneath repetitive beats.

Moreover, despite the performances and the evocative design, the stakes never quite rise to meet the play’s expansive conceptual ambitions. Whether this disconnect stems from the script, or the direction is difficult to determine, but the result is the same: the looming threat of digital colonization and familial fracture hover suggestively rather than landing with decisive impact. The danger feels atmospheric instead of urgent, diffuse rather than devastating.

Morning, Noon & Night offers a portrait of contemporary anxiety, capturing the low-grade dread of a culture caught between the longing for authentic connections and the seductive pull of curated isolation. Like the screens it interrogates, the play pulses and glitches—at times mesmerizing, at times disquieting—but always insistently present, morning, noon & night.

RECOMMENDED

When: through March 28th

Where: Theater Wit, 1229 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL 60657

Running Time: 90 minutes no intermission

Tickets:  $20  -  $60

773-770-0333

www.sgtheatre.org/season-35/morning-noon-night

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

The Chicago Metropolitan area has a soft spot for a beautiful disaster, and The Play That Goes Wrong delivers the kind of exquisitely engineered chaos that feels tailor‑made for this theater‑loving region. What begins as a straightforward 1920s whodunit quickly mutates into a full‑throttle demolition derby of missed cues, mutinous props, collapsing scenery, and actors clinging to their dignity by the frayed edges of their costumes. Still, this play-within-a-play has the Cornley Drama Society charging through their staging of Murder at Haversham Manor with heroic - if spectacularly misguided - determination, clinging to the illusion of control even as the entire production disintegrates with spectacular enthusiasm.

That staunch commitment - part boldness, part sheer delusion - is exactly where the comedy ignites. Each disaster tops the last, creating a giddy, snowballing momentum that captures the thrill of live theater at its most unpredictable: anything can happen, and in this gloriously unhinged production, absolutely everything does.

Now this wonderful wreckage has landed in the northwest suburbs, with Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in downtown Arlington Heights offering Chicago‑area audiences a prime view of just how fabulously wrong things can go - and how deliriously right it all becomes.

Adeptly directed by Jahanna McKenzie Miller, the production becomes a finely tuned symphony of disarray - each mishap landing with surgical precision, each failing set piece detonating like a perfectly timed punchline. What unfolds is a relentless cascade of comic disaster, the kind that sends laughter rolling through the audience in unstoppable waves and showcases just how artful a well‑executed trainwreck can be.

Ryan Armstrong (left) as Chris Bean / Inspector Carter and Ryan Michael Hamman as Max Bennett in The Play THat Goes Wrong at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre.

To pull off such a bang-bang comedy, it all starts with the cast - and we’ve got a good one here.

Ryan Armstrong leads the beautifully controlled bedlam with a performance steeped in delicious self‑importance, giving Chris Bean - director, actor, and self‑appointed guardian of “proper theatre” - a pompous grandeur that’s as funny as it is precise, while his turn as Inspector Carter unravels in a perfectly paced crescendo of exasperation. Eric Amundson’s Charles Haversham is a riot of physical comedy, playing a corpse who refuses to stay still (hilarious!), and Casey Ross leans into Thomas Colleymoore’s melodrama with booming gusto, turning every line into a wonderfully overwrought declaration.

David Blakeman’s Perkins is a standout of earnest incompetence, mangling lines and props with lovable sincerity, while Ryan Michael Hamman’s Max Bennett steals scenes with wide‑eyed enthusiasm, overacting and shameless audience‑wooing as Cecil Haversham and Arthur the Gardener.

Even the sound and light operator becomes a crucial player in the unfolding disorder. Richaun Stewart turns Trevor Watson into a wonderfully frayed bundle of barely contained madness, playing the chronically overtaxed tech operator whose deadpan, slow‑burn panic becomes one of the evening’s most dependable laugh generators. Teah Kiang Mirabelli dazzles as Florence Colleymoore, embodying Sandra Wilkinson’s diva bravado with such gleeful abandon that each unhinged beat lands bigger than the last.

Rounding out the cast, Natalie Henry turns Annie Twilloil into the production’s unlikely center of gravity in the second act, charting a sharp, hilarious rise from hesitant stagehand to full‑blown spotlight thief.

Together, this ensemble builds a beautifully calibrated disaster - each actor contributing a distinct flavor of chaos that makes the entire production detonate with joy.

And then there’s the set, an impressive spectacle in its own right. Scenic designer Angela Weber Miller, properties designer Gigi Wendt, and technical director David Moreland push the production well beyond a typical farce, each adding a distinct layer of precision and controlled mishaps. The set functions as a full-fledged character, engineered to collapse, misfire, and betray the actors with such precision that its breakdowns become part of the comedy’s rhythm. Each wobbling wall, treacherous platform, and ill-timed malfunction gives the performers a fresh obstacle to hurl themselves against, turning physical comedy into a kind of athletic endurance test. The design doesn’t just support the charade - it actively conspires in it, creating a living, booby‑trapped environment that amplifies every pratfall and heightens the sense that the entire world of the play is gleefully turning against its inhabitants.

Written by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields and Jonathan Sayer, the Olivier Award-winning The Play That Goes Wrong is the kind of theatrical joyride that reminds audiences why live performance is irresistible: it’s unpredictable, it’s explosive, and it’s crafted with such precision that the turmoil becomes its own kind of art. This production delivers laugh after laugh through fearless physical comedy, razor‑sharp timing, and a cast fully committed to the magnificent meltdown unfolding around them. It’s the rare show that guarantees a good time - whether you’re a seasoned theatre goer or someone who just needs a night of pure, cathartic laughter.

For tickets and/or more show information, visit https://www.metropolisarts.com/event/the-play-that-goes-wrong/. Through March 29^th.

Recommended.

Tickets: Regular $49, Preview $35, Students $25
Pay What You Can: February 25, 7:30 pm
Previews: Evenings, February 25 – February 27. Matinee, February 28.
Opening: February 28, 7:30 pm

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com.

The Gift Theatre, led by Artistic Directors Brittany Burch and Jennifer Glasse, announces its 25^th Anniversary "Homecoming" Season. The landmark 2026 season features the return of the company's signature short play festival, a major Chicago premiere, and a new work by ensemble member Netta Walker, staged at iconic venues across the city including A Red Orchid Theatre, Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater, and a return to Jefferson Park at the Copernicus Center.

The 25^th Season includes the annual short play festival TEN 25^th, March 25-April 4, 2026, to take place at A Red Orchid Theatre. The Chicago Premiere of Marble by Marina Carr, August 2-30, 2026, will mark a return to the company's home neighborhood. Hayward, a world premiere by new ensemble member Netta Walker, October 14-November 22, will be presented at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater. The season will close with a one-night event in December, the 25th Anniversary Benefête Performance at Jefferson Park's Copernicus Center.

Artistic Directors Brittany Burch and Jennifer Glasse comment, "As we look ahead, we're recommitting to our origins in Jefferson Park and actively exploring pathways to bring The Gift home again. Our 25th Anniversary 'Homecoming' season reflects that spirit—beginning with a winter gala and continuing this spring with TEN 25th at A Red Orchid Theatre and continuing with Marina Carr's captivating drama Marble, and Hayward, a new play by one of The Gift's newest ensemble members Netta Walker. We celebrate 25 years of intimate, ensemble-driven work by coming home—to our artists, audiences, and the neighborhoods that shaped the company."

Subscription packages are now on sale at thegifttheatre.org or by calling 773-283-7071. The Homecoming Subscription Package, $105, includes TEN 25^th, Marble and Hayward. The Homecoming Subscription Package+ Subscription Package, $170, includes TEN 25^th, Marble, Hayward and the 25th Anniversary Benefête Performance.  Subscribers save up to 15% off regular ticket prices, priority seating, free ticket exchanges and guaranteed seating to limited-run productions.

The 25^th Anniversary Homecoming Season is:

TEN 25^th

The Gift's Ten-Minute Play Festival of New Work

at A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N Wells St. in Chicago

March 25 – April 4, 2026

Tickets, $25, thegifttheatre.org and (773) 283-7071

TEN 25th features the work of Gift ensemble members Cyd Blakewell, Erica Weiss, Gregory Fenner, Jennifer Glasse, Jennifer Rumberger, John Gawlik, Kenny Mihlfried, Pat Weber, Paul D'Addario and Shanésia Davis.

TEN 25th features 10-minute world premiere plays from Chicago playwrights John Gawlik, Jennifer Rumberger, Gregory Fenner, Kimberly Dixon-Mays, Dolores Diaz, Stephanie Alison Walker, Emilio Williams, Jermaine Jenkins, and Brett Neveu.

MARBLE
Chicago Premiere by Marina Carr

at Copernicus Center – Kings Hall, 5216 W Lawrence Ave in Chicago

August 2 – August 30, 2026

Tickets, $45-$50, thegifttheatre.org and (773) 283-7071

individual tickets will be on sale this spring

Marble follows two married couples, Ben and Catherine, and their friends Art and Anne, whose comfortable lives begin to splinter after a shared dream triggers suspicion and desire.

A surreal and haunting exploration of two couples whose lives collide through shared dreams, this production anchors the company's homecoming to the neighborhood where it was founded.

HAYWARD

World Premiere by ensemble member Netta Walker

Directed by AmBer Montgomery

featuring ensemble members Shanesia Davis and Gregory Fenner

at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater, 1700 N. Halsted St in Chicago

October 14 – November 22

Tickets, $45-$50, will be available this summer through the Steppenwolf box office.

A reimagining of the classics Hamlet and Electra. The play follows the main character Luna, who on the day of her father's funeral, confesses to her siblings that she has seen her father's ghost. Staged in Steppenwolf's intimate 1700 Theater, this production continues The Gift's commitment to ensemble talent and bold new narratives.

25th ANNIVERSARY BENEFÊTE PERFORMANCE

at Copernicus Center — Gateway Theatre 5216 W. Lawrence, Chicago, IL

December 7th 2026

Tickets $75, thegifttheatre.org and (773) 283-7071 tickets will be available this spring

The season will close out with a spectacular, one-night-only celebration honoring a quarter century of The Gift Theatre. This 25th Anniversary Benefête Performance, will be a night featuring our favorite scenes from over the years performed by ensemble members —the artists who have shaped this theatre across generations.

About The Gift Theatre
The Gift Theatre is a storefront nonprofit founded in Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood, committed to creating accessible, inclusive, and impactful theatrical experiences. Our identity is defined by intimacy, collaboration, and a belief that live storytelling can inspire and transform both artist and audience. Our programming isn't bound by genre but guided by character-driven, emotionally rich storytelling rooted in truth. Whether surreal or starkly naturalistic, each play we share reflects our commitment to creating spaces of deep connection—among artists, between artist and audience, and within our community.

The Gift Theatre ensemble includes its newest members Jennifer Aparicio, Shanésia Davis, Angela Morris, Jennifer Rumberger, Netta Walker and Patrick Weber. They join fellow ensemble members Daniel Ahlfeld, Cyd Blakewell, Brittany Burch, Hillary Clemens Harbor, Jenny Connell Davis, John Kelly Connolly (in memoriam), Paul D'Addario, Brendan Donaldson, Will Eno,

James D. Farruggio, Gregory Fenner, Ed Flynn, Gabriel Franken, John Gawlik, Maggie Andersen Gawlik, Emjoy Gavino, Jennifer Glasse, Andrew Hinderaker, Chika Ike, Evan Michael Lee, Sarah Luse, Marti Lyons, Alexandra Main, Martel Manning, Laura Marks,Kenny Mihlfried, Benjamin Montague, William Nedved, Darci Nalepa, Keith Neagle, Lynda Newton, Sheldon Patinkin (in memoriam), Maureen Payne-Hahner, David Preis, David  Rabe, Mary Ann Thebus (in memoriam), Michael Patrick Thornton, Hannah Toriumi, Erica Weiss, Jay Worthington, and Kyle Zornes.

Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, the Evanston theatre company that has been thrilling audiences with stories of the Black American and African diaspora experience since 1979, today announced its programming for the 2026 season. Tim Rhoze, the company's Producing Artistic Director since 2010, unveiled the slate of three plays, all of which were written by women and premiered in the 21^st Century. 
 
The season will open in May with GEE'S BEND, the 2008 play by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder, which follows a family —Alice, her daughters Sadie and Nella, and Sadie's husband, Macon — from 1939 to 2000 as they experience segregation, family strife, and the Civil Rights movement. The play is set in the real-life community of Gee's Bend – an isolated community in central Alabama which has become known for the hand-stitched quilts made by generations of its women. DC Theater Arts said, "GEE'S BEND weaves the essence of the quilt into a theatrical experience that exalts universal themes of family, faith, and overcoming adversity in a deeply moving way. " GEE'S BEND was commissioned and produced by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and has been performed at Denver Center, Cleveland Playhouse, Kansas City Rep, Northlight Theatre, Philadelphia's Arden Theatre, and Hartford Stage, among others. The FJT production will play from May 23 through June 7. 
 
The season will continue in July with the Pulitzer Prize-nominated IN THE CONTINUUM —  a play that tells the parallel stories of two Black women, one in Los Angeles and one in Zimbabwe, who discover they are pregnant and HIV positive. It was written by the playwright and actress Danai Gurira (author of Broadway's ECLIPSED and cast member of HBO's THE WALKING DEAD) and the OBIE Award-winning actress and writer Nikkole Salter. It premiered at New York's Primary Stages in 2005 and was later produced at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, Washington D.C.'s Woolly Mammoth Theatre, and in Zimbabwe and South Africa. THE NEW YORK TIMES called it "A moving, smart, spirited and powerfully funny production."  It will be performed by Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre from July 25 through August 9. 
 
The season closer will be THE NICETIES, by Eleanor Burgess. This two-character play follows a 20-year-old Black college student meeting with her white professor to discuss the student's term paper about slavery's effect on the American Revolution. The paper's thesis is that the revolution would not have succeeded without the contributions of black slaves. The professor disagrees, and what begins as a polite clash in perspectives explodes into an urgent debate about race, history, and power. The world premiere of THE NICETIES, directed by Chicago's Kimberly Senior, was co-produced during the 2018-2019 season by the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, Massachusetts; Manhattan Theatre Club in New York, New York; and McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, New Jersey. THE NEW YORK TIMES said it was "a bristling, provocative debate play about race and privilege in the United States, and it begs to be argued with." DC THEATER ARTS called it "a brilliant and important play." It will be performed by Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre from October 31 through November 15. 
 
Fleetwood–Jourdain Theatre will also produce the third annual Gloria Bond Clunie Playwright's Festival on July 18 and 19. The festival, named for the founder of Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre and acclaimed playwright Gloria Bond Clunie, will present professional staged readings of three new plays. Titles and playwrights to be announced.
 
Premium Gold Membership cards, priced at $90.00 and including four reserved seats that can be used in any combination throughout the season, are on sale now at https://app.amilia.com/store/en/cityofevanston/shop/memberships/70643 . The card also includes the added benefit of an automatic bonus seat, along with access to other exclusive specials during the season. Tickets to individual plays will be offered later in the year.
 
LISTING INFORMATION
 
GEE'S BEND
by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder
Directed by Tim Rhoze
May 23 – June 7, 2026
Saturdays at 7 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets $32.00, Students $10.00. On sale later this year at www.fjtheatre.com
Phone 847-866-5914
 
GEE'S BEND is the story of the Pettway women, quilters from the isolated community of Gee's Bend, Alabama. Beginning in 1939, the play follows Alice, her daughters Sadie and Nella, and Sadie's husband, Macon, through segregation, family strife, and the Civil Rights movement. Throughout their lives, the women's extraordinary quilts provide a respite from the turmoil around them. In the last act of the play, it is the year 2000; the quilts have been discovered as folk art and have become very valuable. Sadie is pleased with the recognition, but despite the lure of the big city, she returns to Gee's Bend and continues to quilt. Wilder's play explores the resilience of the human spirit, especially as it is expressed in art. 
 
IN THE CONTINUUM 
by Danai Gurira & Nikkole Salter
Directed by Tim Rhoze
July 25 – August 9, 2026
Saturdays at 7 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets $32.00, Students $10.00. On sale later this year at www.fjtheatre.com
Phone 847-866-5914
 
IN THE CONTINUUM puts a human face on the devastating impact of AIDS in Africa and America through the lives of two unforgettably courageous women. Living worlds apart, one in South Central LA and the other in Zimbabwe, each experiences a kaleidoscopic weekend of life-changing revelations in this story of parallel denials and self-discoveries.
 
THE NICETIES
by Eleanor Burgess 
Directed by Tim Rhoze
October 31 – November 15, 2026
Saturdays at 7 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets $32.00, Students $10.00. On sale later this year at www.fjtheatre.com
Phone 847-866-5914
 
Zoe, a Black student at a liberal arts college, is called into her white professor's office to discuss her paper about slavery's effect on the American Revolution. What begins as a polite clash in perspectives explodes into an urgent debate about race, history and power.
 
BIOS

Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder (Writer, GEE'S BEND) has written THE FURNITURE OF HOME, which deals with the Gulf Coast recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and premiered at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in 2009. Her play THE FLAG MAKER OF MARKET STREET followed at ASF in 2011. THE BONE ORCHARD was commissioned by the Denver Center Theatre and workshopped at the Perry Mansfield New Works Festival. Other plays include FRESH KILLS (Royal Court/London), THE FIRST DAY OF HUNTING SEASON (EST), and THE SPIRIT OF ECSTASY. 
 
Danai Gurira (Co-playwright, IN THE CONTINUUM) Is an award-winning playwright and actress. As a playwright, her works include Broadway's ECLIPSED (NAACP Award; Helen Hayes Award: Best New Play; Connecticut Critics Circle Award: Outstanding Production of a Play), IN THE CONTINUUM (OBIE Award, Outer Critics Award, Helen Hayes Award), and THE CONVERT (six Ovation Awards, Los Angeles Outer Critics Award). Danai's play FAMILIAR received its world premiere at Yale Rep in 2015. She is a recipient of the Whiting Award, a Hodder Fellow, and has been commissioned by Yale Rep, Center Theatre Group, Playwrights Horizons, and the Royal Court. She is currently developing a pilot for HBO. As an actor, she has appeared in the films THE VISITOR, and MOTHER OF GEORGE. She also played Isabella in NYSF's MEASURE FOR MEASURE (Equity Callaway Award) and currently plays Michonne on AMC's THE WALKING DEAD. She holds an MFA from Tisch, NYU. She was born in the US to Zimbabwean parents and raised in Zimbabwe. She is the co-founder of Almasi Arts, which works to give access and opportunity to the African Dramatic Artist.
 
Nikkole Salter (co-playwright, IN THE CONTINUUM). This Los Angeles-born, OBIE Award-winning actress and writer arrived on the professional scene with her co-authorship and co-performance (with Danai Gurira) of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, IN THE CONTINUUM. As a dramatist, Ms. Salter has written eight full-length plays, been commissioned for full-length work by six institutions, been produced on three continents in five countries, and has been published in 12 international publications. Her work has appeared in over 20 Off-Broadway, regional, and international theatres. Ms. Salter is also the co-librettist with composer/lyricist Nolan Williams Jr. of the musical GRACE and made her directorial debut opening the 2023/24 season of Baltimore Center Stage with a production of LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL. 
 
Eleanor Burgess (playwright, THE NICETIES). In addition to THE NICETIES, Eleanor Burgess's plays include WIFE OF A SALESMAN, START DOWN, CHILL, SPARKS FLY UPWARD, and GALILEE, 34.  Her work has been produced at theaters across the United States, including Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Rep, Geffen Playhouse, McCarter Theatre Center, Huntington Theatre Company, Writers Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, InterAct Theatre, Portland Stage, the Alliance Theatre and the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, as well as the Finborough Theatre in London. She has also written for film and television, including work on PERRY MASON for HBO, WE CRASHED for Apple TV+, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE for AMC, and screenplays for Bad Robot, Amblin, and Anonymous Content. Originally from Massachusetts, she studied history at Yale College and Dramatic Writing at NYU/Tisch.
  
Tim Rhoze (Director, Producing Artistic Director) Tim Rhoze has been the Producing Artistic Director of Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre since 2010. His directing credits include: THE BALDWIN | GIOVANNI EXPERIENCE, PASS OVER, HONEYPOT: BLACK WOMEN WHO LOVE WOMEN, UNTIL THE FLOOD, FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/ WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, 1619: THE JOURNEY OF A PEOPLE, THIS BITTER EARTH, THE LIGHT, AMERICAN SON, HOME, TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES 1992, THE MEETING, FIRES IN THE MIRROR, BLACK BALLERINA (co-writer),  NUTCRACKER(ISH), CROWNS, HAVING OUR SAY, FROM THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA, WOZA ALBERT!, GOING TO ST. IVES, SINGLE BLACK FEMALE, A SONG FOR CORETTA, YELLOWMAN, SWEET, LADY DAY AT EMERSON BAR & GRILL, BEAR COUNTRY, NOBODY, FENCES, PIANO LESSON, AIN'T MISBEHAVIN, K2, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, and others. Tim is also the writer/director of WHY NOT ME? A SAMMY DAVIS JR. STORY, and MAYA'S LAST POEM, both produced at FJT; and BLACK BALLERINA, produced at FJT and Pittsburgh Public Theatre. He was also co-writer and director of THE BALDWIN | GIOVANNI EXPERIENCE and A HOME ON THE LAKE. His performances in August Wilson's PIANO LESSON (1997) and JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE (2024) at the Goodman Theatre were nominated for Jeff Awards.
 
ABOUT FLEETWOOD-JOURDAIN THEATRE 

Founded in 1979, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre is a professional, award-winning theatre company that has been thrilling audiences with over four decades of unique, inspirational, and invigorating Black American and African Diaspora-centered storytelling. The company has been honored by the Black Theatre Alliance/Ira Aldridge Awards and is frequently listed as a top-rated Chicago theatre company. From original plays to the best of Broadway, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre has remained committed to supplying the very best in theatre. "Umoja!! ....Working Together in Unity" is the foundation from which FJT began and continues to thrive!
 
It is our mission to present powerful, thought-provoking, Theater Arts programming with a commitment to diversity and creative excellence. We are dedicated to providing a nurturing and creative environment for directors, playwrights, actors, designers, and stage managers. In this positive environment, they can further develop their creative skills and share their artistic expressions. The Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre is funded by the City of Evanston and in part by the Illinois Arts Council, A State Agency.