| Small Theatre Companies in Chicago | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 10:20 am EDT 10/24/17 | |
| In reply to: I'd like to hear from other regional people about special small theater companies in their areas - Ann 09:43 am EDT 10/22/17 | |
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| The best play I saw in Chicago last year was Byhalia, Mississippi by Evan Lindner. It was produced by a group that I knew a little about The New Colony. I had previously seen their production, The Bear Suit of Happiness, also by Evan Lindner in 2013. It was an intriguing play about a gay soldier in WWII. In 2015 I saw their show, Stanley in the Name of Love, which was not particularly memorable. Byhalia, Mississippi was about a white trash couple dealing with an unexpected pregnancy in a racially charged environment. It was awarded the 2016 Jeff Award for New Work (Non-Equity). It opened at the tiny Den Theatre and quickly sold out its run. It was eventually remounted at Steppenwolf's new 1700 Theatre, which is where I saw it. The best play I have seen this year is easily At the Table, Michael Perlman's revised version of his 2015 off-off-Broadway play. It was produced by Broken Nose Theatre, a group I had never heard of. At the Table opened at the Berger Coach House in February and soon became the hottest ticket in town (tougher to get than Hamilton). I saw it there in March via the cancelation line and again in July when it was remounted at the Den. It recently won the 2017 Jeff Award for Best Play (Non-Equity). Broken Nose has announced their 2018 season -- the initial offering, a new play Kingdom, which is about an entirely-LGBT family, sounds pretty interesting. Steep Theatre has been around for many years, but I just discovered them in 2015 when the Tribune's Chris Jones raved about their production, Brilliant Adventures by Alistair McDowall. My partner and I were blown away by this show and we have now seen 5 of their productions including Posh by Laura Wade, Wastwater by Simon Stephens, Earthquakes in London by Mike Bartlett, and Hookman by Lauren Yee. One of Steep's specialties is to present U.S. premieres of plays from the UK. |
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| Next: | re: I'd like to hear from other regional people about special small theater companies in their areas - BarbaraT 10:24 am EDT 10/23/17 |
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