Pop culture writer, theater critic, publisher @thirdcoastrvw. Author of Chicago Girl essays. Mizzou grad, Springsteen fan, proud liberal. Always curious.
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Articles by Nancy Bishop
Review: The Impostors Theatre Stages The Snow Queen , a Fairy Tale of Shattered Mirrors and Broken (and Healed) Hearts
The Snow Queen, the new play by Chicago playwright Mallory Swisher, is a graceful and poetic adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, the story of Gerda and Kay, two friends who tell stories and tend their garden in a country that can be cold and unforgiving. Stefan Roseen and Anna Roemer direct this visually playful production by the Impostors Theatre Company.
Review: At Chicago Children’s Theatre, Carmela, Full of Wishes Shows the Tender Heart Within the Bubbly Girl Who Misses Her Papi
It’s Carmela’s seventh birthday and she receives gifts, fulfills a wish she’s been waiting to come true, and makes many more wishes. Carmela (Isadora Coco Gonzalez) gets up on her special day to find Mami (Claudia Quesada) has made chocolate-chip pancakes with a candle for her birthday. Mami gives her jingly bracelets as a present and then—hurray! Carmela gets to go to the lavanderia (laundromat) with her big brother Miguel (Jose Cervantes).
Review: Babes With Blades’ King Lear Provides Great Sword-Fighting But Lacks the Gravitas for a Real Tragedy
Shakespeare’s King Lear is not an easy play to stage and it requires work by its audience members too. All those dukes and earls to keep straight and remember which one is married to which daughter. Babes With Blades’ new modern-dress production of King Lear gets off to a good start as the king (a smartly costumed Lynne Baker) arrives to greet his daughters and holds a brief press conference for print, radio and TV. Alison Dornheggen directs King Lear with Jenn Pennachio as fight director.
Review: Gift Theatre’s Hayward Explores Family Trauma After the Patriarch’s Death, With a H/T to Shakespeare
Hayward, Gift Theatre’s world premiere play, begins during a funeral. The widow sits, veiled and clad in white, in the front row with the audience. Her four children are on the funeral stage and the youngest, Luna (Ireon Roach), is talking about her late father, Tony Hayward, and how special he was. Near the end of her lengthy eulogy, the late Mr. Hayward himself appears (played by Watson Swift), in full Navy uniform, and smiles at his favorite daughter. Only Luna sees him.
Review: A Dark Wood by Tin Drum Theatre Traces the Decline of a Society and Its Devastating Impact on People
A Dark Wood is a dark story. Set in some near-distant dystopia, it introduces three family members, subsisting in different parts of their world, and their colleagues/mates, all living in somber circumstances and dealing with government overreach and failure. Eric Coble’s play, directed by Steve Needham, is being staged by Tin Drum Theatre, a small company that excels in making us think about unpleasant possibilities. For instance, is there a Dark Wood in our future?
Review: David Byrne Talks About Ideas, Dormant and Rediscovered, and His Book, Sleeping Beauties
A rain-drenched but enthusiastic audience of David Byrne and Talking Heads fans greeted the artistic polymath Thursday night at the Athenaeum Center. There was no music from the new wave musician and Byrne also broke the mold of Chicago Humanities events by taking the stage alone. He was there to talk about his new book, Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up. The typical CHF format is the guest and a local/celebrity interviewer in two armchairs, center stage.
Review: He Looms, Ever Present But Never Visible, in Shattered Globe’s Political Thriller, Vladimir
He’s not listed among the characters and he never appears. He’s a small man in stature but stares down taller opponents. He holds power through fear and brutality. The play named for him illustrates how he and his regime control his opposition. Vladimir by Erika Sheffer is the story of how that small man rules the lives of journalists in his country, a place where telling the truth can result in a death sentence.
Preview: Open House Chicago Returns With 20 New Sites to Visit, Including the Fabled Uptown Theatre
Open House Chicago is 10 days away! The 16th annual Chicago Architecture Center event that allows you access to dozens of Chicago cultural, architectural and historical treasures will be Saturday and Sunday, October 17-18. A highlight of this year’s event is the addition of the long dormant Uptown Theatre to the list of 200 venues. Open House Chicago is one of the largest of its kind in the world.
Review: Hot Type: The Magnificent Machine that Gave Birth to Mass Media , by Jeff Jarvis
Hot Type is a fascinating history of the invention and acceptance of the linotype machine, which revolutionized all forms of publishing in the late 19th century. Unless you were a journalism major or a printer’s kid (I’m both), chances are you’ve never heard of the linotype machine. It was a large, heavy, complex machine that enabled automatic typesetting line by line rather than setting it by hand, letter by letter.
Review: Chopin in Winter at Chopin Theatre—A Stuart Dybek Story Comes to Life Accompanied by Chopin’s Music
You might say it was a staged reading, but it was so much more. Yes, the actor was “on book,” reading and talking to us, as he tells the story of “Chopin in Winter” by Stuart Dybek. The play is Chopin in Winter, appropriately staged at the Chopin Theatre during Polish Heritage Month, and directed by Dexter Bullard. Dybek is an award-winning Chicago author, known for his short stories and poetry with their vivid Chicago settings.
Review: Muses by Water People Theater Tells a Poetic But Disjointed Story About Two Iconic Artists
Two celebrated female artists who never met tell us about their loves, their children, their art, and their lives of pain. Venezuelan playwright Nestor Caballero imagines the intertwined stories and sorrows of Frida Kahlo and Sylvia Plath in Muses, now being staged by Water People Theater. Iraida Tapias directs this theatrical musing on art, identity and women’s freedom.
Review: In Kowalski , Lookingglass Theatre Imagines a First Meeting Between Two Soon-to-Be Dramatic Titans
It’s summer 1947 and Tennessee Williams is looking forward to the world premiere of his new play, A Streetcar Named Desire. Elia Kazan is on board to direct and John Garfield may play the lead role of Stanley Kowalski. TW (Johnny Galecki) is staying at his home on Cape Cod with his companion Pancho (Reece Dos Santos). Kowalski by Gregg Ostrin, is a charming production, full of Williams’ wit and bombast, and smartly directed by Colin Hanlon.
Review: Return to the Grand Old Days of Chicago Journalism With Northlight’s The Front Page
"Get me rewrite!" “Who the hell’s gonna read the second paragraph?” “Leave the rooster story alone, that’s human interest!” “It’s the biggest story in the world!” Those timeless bits of journalist gab continue to be highlights of the century-old story, The Front Page, set in the press room of Chicago’s old Criminal Courts Building (the building still stands at 54 W. Hubbard St.).
Review: Victory Gardens Is on Stage Again with The Humanities , a Play That Feels Unfinished
The Humanities, as its title suggests, is a play about events on a university campus. Playwright Zayd Ayers Dohrn writes about a fictional Lincoln University and a free speech controversy that tears the campus, faculty and student body apart. The world premiere drama, which needs some work before its next production, is directed by Edward Torres.
Review: Red Orchid Brings Back Its Perfect Small Play, Birds of North America , With a Masterful Performance by John Judd
Birds of North America, now remounted by A Red Orchid Theatre, could be described as a perfect small play. Two characters, one set and a story that covers a multitude of topics. A father-daughter relationship, marriage, aging, climate change and our natural ecosystem, and birds, always birds. The world changes in simple and complex ways over a decade as two people scan the horizon for birds from a suburban Baltimore, Maryland, backyard.
Review: The Man Who Fell With the Rain at Trap Door Theatre Tells a Story of Magical Realism Inspired by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Man Who Fell With the Rain at Trap Door Theatre is a story told by an exiled Belarusian playwright, adapted from a short story by a famous Colombian author about an event taking place in a village by the sea. It’s tinted by magical realism, of course, since the author is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. And it’s amusing and delightfully weird because it’s being staged by Trap Door Theatre, directed by Kay Martinovich. The playwright is Andrei Kureichik, currently at the University of Chicago.
Review: Adolescent Salvation at Theater Wit Swings from Laughter to Tragedy as Teens Face Adult Problems
Theater Wit’s production of Adolescent Salvation is set in Natasha’s bedroom, cluttered with the detritus of female teenhood. Three teens are sprawled in various places around the room, entranced by their phones. Playwright Tim Venable brings us a moment in the life of these teens, a time laced with laughter, some tears and tragedy. The play begins in a lighthearted way and, before you notice, moves into heartache.
Review: Good People by 4 Chairs Theatre Asks What It Means to Be “Good People”
The setting of David Lindsay-Abaire’s play, Good People, is a small community in South Boston, where a group of old friends lives and works. The play, now being staged by 4 Chairs Theatre, is directed by artistic director Lauren Berman. Good People is a story of income disparity, class differences and how people get ahead—or don’t. It's a humorous and poignant story of very real people, caught in an all-too-common financial quagmire. First produced in 2011, Good People is oh-so relevant today.
Review: Gwydion Theatre’s Dry Powder Tells a Satirical Story of How a Private Equity Firm Gobbles Up a US Company
Smart dialogue delivered at a brisk clip makes Dry Powder fit right into its Manhattan business office setting. The four-character play, now being staged by Gwydion Theatre, is the story of a private equity firm intent on buying a small west coast manufacturer. The 2016 satire by Sarah Burgess is directed by Ellie Thomson. The script tells what might be considered a complex story, but the dialogue is well written and the play offers humor as well as drama.
Review: Black Button Eyes’ St. Nicholas Succeeds With Kevin Webb’s Portrayal of Theater Critic and Vampire Pimp
Black Button Eyes’ new solo show, St. Nicholas, gives us a look at the life of a jaded theater critic, who may also become a vampire. (I’m sure there are plenty of theater people who would applaud this analogy, present writer excluded, of course.) Kevin Webb is a Chicago theater veteran who dependably captures the magic of a stage production. Webb plays a man, a fine storyteller, who describes for us how he deserts job, family and Dublin to follow an ingenue and her theater company to London.
Dialogs: Ann Patchett Talks About Whistler and Her Other Books—She Doesn’t Want to Write Books That Will Crush Your Soul
A sold-out assemblage of Ann Patchett fans, most of them women, attended her book launch event Sunday at the Athenaeum Center. Patchett discussed her 10th novel, Whistler, with publishing executive Lisa Lucas. The event was part of the Chicago Humanities Festival spring series, in partnership with Women and Children First bookstore. Patchett writes intensely human stories about people you might know—or would like to know.
Review: Theatre Evolve’s Native Gardens Explores a Backyard Dispute—It’s Funny, But Not That Funny
Native Gardens is a play that tries to be relevant, to reflect the issues raised by age, privilege, race and ethnicity. And to some extent, it succeeds. The script by Karen Zacarias tells the story of two couples (one white and older, one “ethnic”) and their gardens, one formal and carefully tended, the other aiming to be a “native garden” with wildflowers and weeds. You may be able to guess which garden is tended (or not) by which couple.
Review: From Musicmaker to Baker, Chicago to Nashville—Susannah Felts’ Novel The Come Apart Tells the Story
The Spinning Birds is a Chicago indie rock band, with a front-woman singer and songwriter. Susannah Felts’ new novel, The Come Apart, starts with the story of the band’s sophomore album, Murmuration, describing their effort to record and promote it by touring the Midwest in a beat up old van. Maggie Corbin is the band’s front-woman, and she and her romantic partner, Matt Turkish, write the songs. They live in Ukrainian Village. The four band members have a tight relationship that Maggie values.
Review: Writers Theatre Stages Stoppard’s Final Great Work, Leopoldstadt , a Story of 20th Century Tragedy—and His Own Past
Tom Stoppard’s last grand masterpiece, Leopoldstadt, gets a dynamic staging at Writers Theatre, featuring an all-Chicago cast of some of our finest actors, directed by Carey Perloff. The play concerns the times and tragedies of a mixed Jewish/Christian family in Vienna between 1899 and 1955, with scenes set in 1899-1900, 1924, 1938 and 1955. The symbolic nature of that religious mix is illustrated in the celebratory first scene, set in the grand drawing room of the Merz home on Christmas Eve 1899.
Dispatch: Love, Baseball, Free Speech, Route 66—Authors Discuss Their Work and Actors Read a Play at the American Writers Festival
The American Writers Festival, held over the weekend at the American Writers Museum and the Harold Washington Library, was presented by the museum in partnership with the Chicago Public Library. In this third edition of the free festival, more than 90 writers were featured, discussing bestselling novels and memoirs plus screenwriting, poetry, fantasy, horror, podcasting, journalism, children’s books and more.
Review: Promethean Theatre’s Antigone Demonstrates Personal Morality Trampled by Authoritarian Rule
The contemporary version of the play Antigone, written by Jean Anouilh almost 2400 years after Sophocles’ original, preserves the Greek play’s theme: the conflict between individual conscience and governmental edict. Although King Creon decrees that Antigone’s brother Polynices should not be given a proper burial because Creon considers him a rebel and a traitor, Antigone persists in giving her brother the burial she believes is essential.
Feature: Miss Spoken Keeps Women’s Stories Alive With Monthly “Lady Live Lit” Events
Live lit is alive and well in Chicago, with many iterations and variations. There’s the weekly Paper Machete at the Green Mill. The Moth continues at various locations. There’s Tenx9 at Kibbitznest, Tuesday Funk at Hopleaf, Grown Folks Stories at the Green Line Performing Arts Center, and This Much Is True at Mrs. Murphy’s Irish Bistro. And in case you’ve missed it, there’s Miss Spoken at Cole’s Bar in Logan Square every fourth Monday.
Review: In A Red Orchid’s The Targeted , People Believe Mind-Control Chips Are Implanted in Their Bodies
The setting is a church summer camp, now the site of the First Annual Solidarity and Truth Conference. Before the play begins, voices and visual projections describe the lives of T.I.s (Targeted Individuals). The attendees begin gathering, getting their name tags and coffee. There’s casual chatting about the conference topic: government attacks on Targeted Individuals by radiation or CIA mind control.
Review: Le Bal at Trap Door Theatre Portrays an American Century with Music, Dance and No Dialogue
Not a word is spoken. The 90-minute performance by Trap Door Theatre is staged with music, recorded song and occasional dialog, but the seven actors say nothing. The production is Le Bal, not so much a play as a revue that explores the social, political and cultural turmoil of the last American century. Stephen Buescher adapted Le Bal and directs this performance, which is devised by the actors and crew, and inspired by the 1983 film Le Bal, by director Ettore Scola.
Review: Timeline Opens Its New Home With a Sizzling Staging of An Enemy of the People
Opening night for the first play in Timeline Theatre’s new building was a sparkly affair. The audience was full of theater people and the level of drama was amped up because this was a night of good news. After years of concern in the arts community about the survival of theater and other arts organizations, an established mid-size theater was opening a brand new facility and expanding the Uptown arts neighborhood.
Preview: Shedd Aquarium Opens New 4D-Experience Theater Where You Can Visit the World of Penguins, Sharks and Oct opuses
Shedd Aquarium has opened a fully reimagined theater for 4Dexperiences, enabling guests to step into the world of penguins, sharks and octopuses. During these multi-sensory adventures in the aquarium’s Phelps Auditorium, guests watch a short film showcasing the lives and behaviors of aquatic animals, while also feeling immersed in the environment with wind, mist, scents and more surprises. Visitors can choose from three different shows when reserving or buying tickets.
Review: At Young People’s Theatre, The Hula Hoopin’ Queen Sings With Joy and Energy
Circles have been universal throughout history, Evanston playwright Gloria Bond Clunie tells us. Hoops have delighted cultures all around the world, from ancient Egypt to the Parthenon. Native American nations use hoops to tell their stories in dance. And clearly, some of the children bouncing in and out of their seats during Clunie’s play, The Hula Hoopin’ Queen, were eager to start hooping on Saturday.
Review: Steppenwolf’s World Premiere Windfall Questions the Links Between Money and Justice When Black Lives Are Lost
Does money buy justice for Black lives lost? In Windfall, his world premiere play commissioned by Steppenwolf Theatre, Tarell Alvin McCraney asks us to consider this question. Director Awoye Timpo casts a starry crew of four Steppenwolf ensemble members, plus two newcomers—Michael Potts and Esco Jouley—who bring real power to telling this story, set in Chicago.
Review: In I Hate Hamlet by Saint Sebastian Players, a Ghost Comes to Life and Two Actors Spar Over the Classic Role
I Hate Hamlet, the new production by Saint Sebastian Players, is a play for lovers of Shakespeare…and others. Playwright Paul Rudnick says, in his introduction to the script, that he wanted the play to appeal to “anyone who has ever had to be dragged to a high school Romeo and Juliet or a deadly all-star Julius Caesar.” So whether you loved or dreaded Shakespeare in high school or college, this may be the play for your next night out.
Review: See moonwatchers by Lazy Susan Theatre for Some Intergalactic Space Fun
moonwatchers, now being staged by Lazy Susan Theatre, might be just what you need if you are feeling depressed and angry about the state of the nation and the world. It’s one hour of pure silliness, a delightful mix of two guys trying to keep Earth and its moon in orbit with the help of a few other characters. The script by Corey Farrell and Nigel Berkeley seems like something dreamed up for a fringe festival and that’s indeed what it is—an award winner at the 2022 Minnesota Fringe Festival.
Review: The Dover Road by Ghostlight Ensemble Tells the Story of a Benefactor With an Odd Happiness Mission
The Dover Road is a vintage play, a comedy of manners with a twist. Ghostlight Ensemble is staging the 1921 A.A. Milne script, directed by Holly Robison, in an interesting historic venue—the coach-house of the Glessner House in the Prairie Avenue historic district. Robison directs this comic drama, set in 1930, with brisk action and smart dialogue by her cast of six. We meet the host of this comic drama as the play opens. Mrs.
Review: At Chicago Children’s Theatre, Goodnight, Moon Has a Talented Cast in Constant Motion and Merriment
You know how kids try to avoid going to bed at night? If you’re a parent or grandparent or sitter, you know the drill. Mama, I’m not sleepy. Will you tuck me in? Can I have a glass of water? I need my giraffe (or teddy bear, or stuffed kitty or dog). All the shenanigans that a child thinks up while avoiding sleep are the plot of Goodnight, Moon at Chicago Children’s Theatre.
Feature: We Visit Neighbors Vol. 1 , an Art Fair That Explores How Art Works in a Domestic Space
If you have ever walked down Astor Street on the near north side (the Gold Coast), you may have noticed a large house with a private courtyard in the 1300 block. From the sidewalk, you can’t see into the courtyard (shown in photo above). I live in that neighborhood and have always been curious about that space.
Review: Eos Theatre Stages The Trojan Women , a Powerful Play About How Women Suffer in Wartime
The Trojan Women is a play about yesterday that speaks to today. It’s a powerful story about how women suffer in wartime, a commentary on the costs of war and its impact on women and children. The Trojan Women is the inaugural production by Eos Theatre Company, newly founded by four women theatermakers. The contemporary script by British playwright Caroline Bird is based on Euripides’ version.
Review: The Ally at Theater Wit Relies on Volume, Rather Than Drama
The Ally, a play now on stage at Theater Wit, is a diatribe more than a drama. The script by Itamar Moses (book for The Band’s Visit) puts a university professor of writing in the cross-hairs of a series of angry debates—yes, shouting matches—about issues relating to Israel and Palestine. The result is an evening that can be either interesting or unpleasant, depending on your interest in and knowledge of the subject matter.
Review: Radical Craft: Arts Education at Hull House 1889–1935 Describes the Role of the Arts in the Development of Chicago’s Pioneering Settlement House
Hull House and its founder Jane Addams have long been recognized as pioneers in citizenship development and education for low-income and immigrant communities. A new book expands on that history with an emphasis on how arts and crafts work by Chicago immigrants was a key part of that story.
Feature: Is He Guilty? Greek Hero Odysseus Is Tried for Murder in the National Hellenic Museum’s Latest Courtroom-Style Drama
The National Hellenic Museum’s annual trial of a Greek legend returned triumphantly this year with The Trial of Odysseus, the hero of Homer’s Odyssey. Since the series was founded in 2013, some of the trial defendants have been well-known, like Socrates or Pericles, while the series also has featured Themistocles and Megacles.
Review: Changing Channels at City Lit Theater Reminds Us About Another Scary Time in US History
Midcentury America was a scary time. We worried about the Bomb because the Russians had one too—and it might be bigger than ours (theirs was plutonium). Today is scary too but back then at least we knew we could rely on a sane, intelligent leader in the White House, whether or not we had voted for him. But we did have our teevee sets, one in almost every home, and entertainers were beginning to recognize the potential of that screen.
Review: Goodman Theatre’s
Oscar Wao is a nerdy guy and a wannabe writer with a big heart. He’s open to friendship and longing for love. We even get to experience his loss of virginity during his story, which depicts Dominican life in America. The Goodman Theatre’s world premiere play, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, is adapted from Junot Diaz’s 2008 Pulitzer Prize winning novel. The stage adaptation is by Marco Antonio Rodriguez.
Review: Red Theater Stages a New Version of Chekhov’s
It’s a Chekhov play, so ….. Everyone is in love with the wrong person. Everyone is unhappy. People live in the country but yearn to live in the city. The time is indeterminate and the dialog is modernized. But it’s still Chekhov, so everyone is miserable. I’m quoting myself in the paragraph above—from the last time I saw The Seagull. But it applies to the new production by Red Theater, adapted and directed by Ian Maryfield.
Review: Rivendell Theatre’s
It’s a few days before the wedding of Kara and Levi and in the small town of Milton, Nebraska, that’s a big event. As the play opens, we meet Levi (David Stobbe) and his friend and best man Doug (Glenn Obrero). They’re talking about that event, as Levi prepares to work in a field. A piece of noisy farm equipment rumbles in the background That’s how Alex Lubischer’s play Pivot begins; its world premiere is now being staged by Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, directed by Hallie Gordon.
Dispatch: We Recap Films About Wacky Houses, Czech Design, and An Architect of Grief at the Architecture & Design Film Festival
The Architecture & Design Film Festival, opens in Chicago tomorrow, Thursday, February 19, and runs through Sunday, February 22, at the Chicago Cultural Center and the Gene Siskel Film Center. The festival is presented by the Chicago Architecture Center. The 10-film festival lineup—all Chicago premieres—highlights issues such as sustainability, housing and community resilience as well as design philosophy, visual identity and artistic legacy.
Review: At Young People’s Theatre,
I saw the morning performance of The Hobbit by Young People’s Theatre Saturday, expecting the house to be full of squealy kids with parents. I was only slightly surprised to find myself in a house that was mostly adult—or at least teen and adult—because The Hobbit trilogy and its sequel series, Lord of the Rings, are beloved by young and old.
Review: Royal Shakespeare’s
You may appreciate the play Hamnet because you loved Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel or the 2025 film directed by Chloé Zhao. In either case, your view of the Hamnet story will be refreshed when you see the Royal Shakespeare Company version now on stage at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Erica Whyman directs this stunning and evocative production, adapted for the stage by Lolita Chakrabarti.
Review: In Hedda Gabler, Remy Bumppo Theatre Portrays Hedda as a Fascinating, Immoral Woman Desperate for Freedom | Third Coast Review
Hedda and Nora. A 19th century Swedish playwright managed to create two female protagonists that resonate with us strongly today. Nora, in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (1979) reminds us of the unending debates on women’s rights and individual freedom in the patriarchal society that Ibsen portrayed (and hasn’t completely ended). And Hedda, the female protagonist in Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler (1890), is a fascinating character, immoral, a bit childish, impatient with her sedate husband.
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