Tony Adler
Chicago Reader
Chicago, IL, United States
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Past articles by Tony:
There are a lot of facts in Truman and the Birth of Israel, but they don't add up to much
Instead this Greenhouse production invents its central dramatic incident to make its point. → Read More
E. Faye Butler plays Gypsy’s Mama Rose as one great, ferocious growl
The rest of Porchlight’s raucous revival shines around her. → Read More
Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is scrumdiddlyumptious and satisfyingly gross
There's also something weirdly liberating about the sight of Oompa Loompas toting knives. → Read More
Steep Theatre strips Amelia Roper’s Zürich of all its humor
All that’s left of the angry satire is punishment. → Read More
David Cale shares his life story in We're Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time
But this Goodman production should best be understood as a reliving than a true memoir. → Read More
With Downstate, Bruce Norris finally earns his Pulitzer
And director Pam MacKinnon and her Steppenwolf cast give us a masterwork. → Read More
A woman gets stripped to her psychic skin in Naked
Trap Door Theatre’s revival of the Pirandello play is farcical, soapy, and profound. → Read More
Lifeline Theatre’s Frankenstein reduces Mary Shelley’s cosmic struggle to a therapy session
It fails to pay tribute to the big questions raised by the classic novel celebrating its bicentennial this year. → Read More
Chicago celebrates two centuries of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster
Frankenfest brings four stage adaptations of Mary Shelley's gothic masterpiece. → Read More
Coming this fall: Indecent and Downstate, two plays with a better-than-even chance of being great
A local debut and a world premiere that just might merit the hype. → Read More
BigMouth asks you to consider what Socrates, Malcolm X, and Ann Coulter have in common
Valentijn Dhaenens's one-man show is designed to start a conversation. → Read More
House Theatre’s Borealis doesn’t quite light up the sky
Bennett Fisher’s play has all the amenities except a well-explored point. → Read More
The Holocaust drama A Shayna Maidel takes the redemptive route
But the production's happy ending feels unearned. → Read More
Tres Bandidos is like a revolver with no holster
A western in function, the show lacks the tension of the classic archetypes it seeks to emulate. → Read More
Writers Theatre’s Vietgone brings the war home to Glencoe
Writers Theatre’s Vietgone brings the war home to Glencoe. → Read More
With a confused Richard III, Muse of Fire goes out with a flicker
The company's attempts to play with gender dynamics just create confusion. → Read More
In The Harvest, Samuel D. Hunter suggests that even fundamentalists are human
The play defeats expectations and shakes its audience up. → Read More
Leave Me Alone! turns Chekhov into a public service announcement
And, in the process, gives the entire ending away. → Read More
Chicago Shakespeare presents an amped-up Midsummer Night’s Dream in the parks, the way it was sort of meant to be
Barbara Gaines's adaptation includes hip-hop faeries, a cute lion, and abundant Chicagoiana. → Read More
In Everybody, a human soul encounters the Grim Reaper
A modern update of Everyman faces death with jokes and gimmicks that verge on cutesiness. → Read More