Reviews Mary Crylen Reviews Mary Crylen

Pamplona | Goodman Theatre

The 1953 Pulitzer Prize and coveted Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, Hemingway declared his best work is yet to come. Five years later, Ernest Hemingway sits in front of his typewriter in a Spanish hotel room with the looming deadline. Insightful and provoking, Pamplona explores the struggles the writer dealt with in declining health, overwhelmed by his troubled fourth marriage and tormented by the ghosts of his past.

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Heartbreak Hotel | Broadway Playhouse

In 1954, a humble truck driver checks in to Sun Records to record a song for his mother and leaves with the chance at a career that skyrocketed to stardom. Heartbreak Hotel journeys through Elvis Presley’s rise to fame and the growing pains of showbiz.

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TILIKUM | SIDESHOW THEATRE

Playwright Kristiana Rae Colón imaginatively spotlights America’s harsh sociological realities and relevant environmental issues in Sideshow Theatre’s world premiere of Tilikum. Under the direction of Lili-Anne Brown, this production navigates through environment advocacy, moral integrity and cultural respect.

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Feature: The Arts and Politics | Bill Clinton

Show up. Two simple words with a powerful message were the crux during A Conversation with Bill Clinton at the Auditorium Theatre this past week. The 42nd president visited Chicago on his book tour promoting The President Is Missing, a novel co-authored with renowned thriller writer James Patterson.

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Broadway and the Bard: An Evening with Len Cariou | Stage 773

Len Cariou enchants with a night fused between William Shakespeare’s works and Broadway classics. Cariou navigates the audience through soliloquies and monologues and pairs them with complimentary, inspired, or contrasting show tunes. Broadway and the Bard is a whole lot of laughter and emotion. It's truly a night to remember.

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Midsummer Night’s Dream | Auditorium Theatre

Premiere of Alexander Ekman’s immersive full-length ballet Midsummer Night’s Dream. A vast departure from Shakespeare’s tale, this full-length contemporary production pays homage to the summer solstice and the Scandinavian Midsummer holiday – a time of celebration, mystery, adventure and love.

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Macbeth | Chicago Shakespeare Theater

“Nothing is but what is not” and that is certainly true for CST’s spring production of the classic Scottish play. Macbeth stretches belief in closing the 2017/18 season this spring at the new versatile venue The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Macbeth is adapted and directed by Teller (of Penn & Teller) and Aaron Posner—the celebrated creative duo behind CST’s The Tempest, winner of the Jeff Award for Best Production in 2015.

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Okwui Okpokwasili’s Poor People’s TV Room | Museum of Contemporary Art

Okwui Okpokwasili’s Poor People’s TV Room is a raw emotional piece that is truly compelling. Two historical incidents in Nigeria drive the artist’s work: The Women’s War of 1929 and the Boko Haram kidnappings of more than 270 girls in 2014. Yolanda Cesta Cursach, Curator of Performance, explains the piece as “erased moments of resistance and collective action”.

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FEATURE: VISUAL ARTS & STORY TELLING | ANNIE LEIBOVITZ

“I was obsessed with the story,” Annie Leibovitz says about a photograph of her parents at the first-ever MCA Women’s Board Luncheon in celebration of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s 50th anniversary. The event was dedicated to honoring extraordinary women artists around the world and uniting Chicago’s most influential leaders in support of arts education and public outreach programs.

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Hubbard Street's Spring Series | Auditorium Theatre

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s spring engagement celebrated resident choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo at the Auditorium Theatre this past weekend. For the first full evening performance in twenty years, Hubbard Street provided a sampled overview of Cerrudo’s past decade with the company.

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THE CONDITION OF FEMME | THE CIRCLE THEATRE

Which word do you find less offensive, rape or sexual assault? Do semantics really matter when the action speaks for itself? In today’s world, cultural definitions are being challenged as the female voice is finally rising up after years of being filled with fear and anxiety.

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PLANTATION! | Lookingglass Theatre

Wildly funny! Boldly provocative! How does one recompense for the past? Lookingglass Theatre Company’s 30th anniversary celebration continues with Plantation!, a new comedy written by ensemble member Kevin Douglas and directed by ensemble member David Schwimmer. This wildly striking play tackles race, recompense, and culture amid non-stop sharp quick wit with big laughs.

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The Wolves | Goodman Theatre

Soccer unites the world. An international sport that illustrates the power and balance in the global community through competition not only on a global scale, but in the lives of ten young girls. Sarah DeLappe’s poignant and smart play follows a suburban girls soccer team, as they navigate life’s big questions and their own individual battles. A 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist, The Wolves directed by Vanessa Stalling features a ten member all female, all Chicago cast. These fierce women illustrate the beautiful hilarity and stark reality of female adolescence.

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Breach | Victory Gardens Theater

Playwright Antionette Nwandu’s latest work to hit the Chicago stage is a “love letter to black women” entitled Breach: a manifesto on race in america through the eyes of a black girl recovering from self-hate.

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Rose | Greenhouse Theater

A 2017 Jeff Award Winner for Best Solo Performance, Rose by Laurence Leamer returns to Greenhouse Theater Center. Based on never-before-heard interviews, Leamer examines America’s “royalty” in a truly moving and compelling way that will shift any pre-existing perceptions of the Kennedys.

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Twelfth Night - Midsommer | Lincoln Park Conservatory

Twelfth Night, or What You Will by William Shakespeare is a defined as a “problem” play. It falls between comedy and tragedy, as some characters get their happy endings, while others do not. The plot focuses on twins Viola and Sebastian who were separated in a shipwreck.

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