Spring theater season is in full bloom. Theater critic Hedy Weiss joins us with her take on five shows currently on Chicago-area stages.
You can read each of Weiss’ full reviews on our website by clicking the links below.
‘Smart People’ a Searing, Steroid-Fueled Riff on Race, Sex and Super-Achievers
In her brilliant play “Smart People,” Lydia R. Diamond creates an impossibly thorny and twisted verbal, emotional and intellectual maze of race, sex and “super-achieverdom.”
‘Pretty Woman: The Musical’ Puts High-Gloss Spin on a Prostitute’s Life
Can a story that feeds on the decades-old roots of the #MeToo movement serve as a deftly massaged corrective?
‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ Sets the Table for Truths About Love and Race
I confess I was wary about how this story would hold up a full half-century after the film dealt with some very uncomfortable truths. But the more things have changed, the more things have remained (almost) the same.
‘An Enemy of the People’ a Tragic, Comical Political Farce of Our Times
Corrupt and greedy politicians, a poorly educated citizenry skeptical of science and “facts,” and short-term thinking about the impact of pollution on health were all issues in 1882 when the play debuted and still resonate today.
Blistering Grand Opera ‘Sweeney Todd’ at Theo Ubique’s Tiny Storefront
This is a scorching production that is all the more potent for its extreme, immersive intimacy.
Follow Hedy Weiss on Twitter: @HedyWeissCritic