Richard Christiansen: A Critic Who Made a Difference
As the Chicago Tribune’s lead theatre critic from 1978 to 2002, he helped build the city’s unique theatre scene, both by covering it and by getting to know its major players.
Stories by Jeffrey Sweet
One Way to Keep Theatre Alive? Put It on TV
Networks should borrow a model from the 1950s television series which broadcast exciting new plays live from the studio.
Viola Spolin’s House Is for Sale
Are we going to let the place where the mother of improv developed much of her thinking, and wrote her seminal book, be snatched up and possibly torn down?
Inge Festival Brings the Theatre World to Independence
A host of writers made their way to the Kansas small town to honor the late dramatist and support emerging playwrights.
Donald Margulies, Brooklyn Boy, Feted in William Inge’s Kansas Hometown
The playwright was this year’s honoree at the annual festival in Independence, which featured a generous sampling of his work, and Jen Silverman was the New Voices Award winner.
American Conservatory Theater Looks Back on Its Time in Chicago
Jeffrey Sweet on ACT’s momentous days in Chicago.
How the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center Started With One Man’s Vision
Its organizers nursed it, rehearsed it and gave out the news- this is where American theatre writing can gestate and blossom (if you handle the sturm und drang.)
Bernard Sahlins (1922-2013): A Giant of the Second City
Remembering the sustaining force behind the Chicago improv institution.
The Tamiment Connection
How vacations in the Poconos shaped the American musical.
