Felicia Fields in “Pearl’s Rollin’ with the Blues” at the Writers Theatre in Glencoe. (Credit: Michael Brosilow)

Felicia Fields, the Chicago-based actress who won a Tony Award for her work in the Broadway production of “The Color Purple,” radiates joy and a good bit of mischief in this stellar production at Writers Theatre in Glencoe.  

(Courtesy of Writers Theatre)

How do you design a pandemic-era theater season? The Glencoe-based theater has devised a multifaceted plan that combines a degree of certainty with the option of built-in flexibility, with the ultimate goal of keeping live theater alive.

Ayanna Bria Bakari and Mary Beth Fisher in “The Niceties.” (Photo by Michael Brosilow)

“The Niceties” is a brief and telling chronicle of the temper of our times, and actors Mary Beth Fisher and Ayanna Bria Bakari sustain the necessary tension and subterfuge required to keep things at the boiling point. 

Cher Álvarez (Nora) in “A Doll’s House.” (Photo by Michael Brosilow)

Writers Theatre’s production of “A Doll’s House,” cannily but faithfully adapted by Sandra Delgado and Michael Halberstam, and featuring a bravura performance by Cher Alvarez, brought the play back to life in the most unexpected ways.

Michael Mahler, left, Brianna Borger, center and Bethany Thomas in “Into the Woods.” (Photo: Michael Brosilow)

One of Stephen Sondheim’s most popular works is now on stage at Writers Theatre in a sophisticated, powerfully sung, environmentally enveloping production directed by longtime Sondheim aficionado Gary Griffin.

David Schlumpf and Keely Vasquez in “Next to Normal” at Writers Theatre. (Photo credit: Michael Brosilow)

This 2008 musical is unsettling, irritating, frustrating, relentless and more. But director David Cromer and his actors have tapped into the dark charm and moments of humor in the show with great skill.

From left: David Alan Anderson, Kelvin Roston, Jr. and A.C. Smith in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” at Writers Theatre. (Photo credit: Michael Brosilow)

The harmonies, dissonances and inflections of the conversations among the four men who form Ma Rainey’s fractious band are something of a spoken-word blues opera in this Writers Theatre revival.

From left: Jon Hudson Odom, David Alan Anderson and Steve Haggard in “Witch” at Writers Theatre. (Photo credit: Michael Brosilow)

Now receiving an altogether riveting world premiere production at Writers Theatre, “Witch” is a pitch-black fairy tale for our times, and one that is not to be missed. 

From left: Aurora Adachi-Winter, Ian Michael Minh, Matthew Yee in “Vietgone.” (Photo credit: Michael Brosilow)

Qui Nguyen’s play, now receiving its Chicago premiere at Writers Theatre, is a second generation, rap-era kid’s flashy, sexually charged version of a story about the pain and rage that come with being a refugee, and the difficult process of assimilation. 

Marty Rea as Vladimir and Aaron Monaghan as Estragon in Druid theatre company’s “Waiting for Godot” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. (Photo by Matthew Thompson)

Within the span of a single week I saw productions of two plays – Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” and Sam Shepard’s “Buried Child” – that I wouldn’t necessarily have linked together had I not seen them in such quick succession.

From left: Julian Parker, Kayla Carter, Deanna Myers and Erik Hellman in “Smart People” at Writers Theatre.

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.”

Rudy Galvan (left to right), James Doherty and Johnny Arena perform in “United Flight 232.”(Michael Brosilow)

Chicago Sun-Times theater critic Hedy Weiss appraises the first performance staged in the recently opened Writers Theatre and the humorous one-man show, “Where Did We Sit on the Bus?” Get her take on these plays and others on currently on stage in Chicago. 

Glencoe's Writers Theatre (Steve Hall (c) Hedrich Blessing)

The curtain is going up on one of the most highly anticipated new theater complexes in the Chicago area, and it’s ready to put on a show. And the show begins outside the building. 

Glencoe's Writers Theatre (Steve Hall (c) Hedrich Blessing)

The curtain is about to go up on a highly anticipated new theater on the North Shore designed by renowned architect Jeanne Gang. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the space.

Writers Theatre in Glencoe is breaking ground on a new home to be designed by Studio Gang Architects.