See the Favorites by Year page for general info about our yearly favorites lists, as well as links to other years.
Within each category (Favorite Shows, Favorite Readings, and Favorites “Under the Radar”), entries are listed in alphabetical order. For shows that have a write-up elsewhere on our website, click on the “more” link to check it out.
Favorite Shows
- Bull in a China Shop by Bryna Turner: About Face Theatre
- Caroline, or Change by Tesori and Kushner: Firebrand Theatre (more)
- Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea by Nathan Alan Davis: First Floor Theater (more)
- Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) by Suzan-Lori Parks: Goodman Theatre (more)
- Flyin’ West by Pearl Cleage: American Blues Theatre
- Gypsy by Styne and Sondheim: Porchlight Music Theatre (more)
- Haymarket by Higgin-Houser and Kornfeld: Underscore Theatre (more)
- Insurrection: Holding History by Robert O’Hara: Stage Left Theatre
- The Light by Loy Webb: The New Colony (more)
- Rightlynd by Ike Holter: Victory Gardens Theater
- The Shipment by Young Jean Lee: Red Tape Theatre (more)
Favorite Readings
- Campaigns, Inc. by Will Allan: TimeLine Theatre
- The First Deep Breath by Lee Edward Colston II: Victory Gardens Theater (more)
- A Great Migration by Preston Choi: Silk Road Rising and A-Squared Theatre (more)
- Kent State Jackson State by Maureen Gallagher: TimeLine Theatre
- Les Blancs by Lorraine Hansberry: Goodman Theatre (more)
- Mothers and Sons by Terrence McNally: Pride Films & Plays
- Nat Turner in Jerusalem by Nathan Alan Davis: TimeLine Theatre
- Perkup Elkhorn by Isaac Gomez: Jackalope Theatre Company in collaboration with The Chicago Inclusion Project (more)
- Relentless by Tyla Abercrumbie: TimeLine Theatre
- Toni Stone by Lydia R. Diamond: Chicago Dramatists (more)
- The Wizards by Ricardo Gamboa: Goodman Theatre (more)
Favorites “Under the Radar” (shows meriting wider notice)
- The American Revolution by Marc Frost, et al: Theatre Unspeakable
- Black and Blue by Shepsu Aakhu: MPAACT
- Boombox by Hannah Starr: Brown Paper Box Co.
- The Green Book by Calvin A. Ramsey: Pegasus Theatre Chicago
- A Home on the Lake by Fedo and Rhoze: Piven Theatre Workshop and Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre
- An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde: Ghostlight Ensemble
- The Last Session by Schalchlin and Brochu: Refuge Theatre Project
- Leave Me Alone! by Paul Michael Thomson: The Story Theatre
- Native Son by Nambi E. Kelley, adapted from the novel by Richard Wright: DePaul University (more)
- The Pavilion by Craig Wright: Open Door Theater
- White by James Ijames: Northwestern University (more)
We also had a very memorable and inspiring “under the radar” experience when we attended The Blunt Way: A Journey Through a Complex Mind, a play devised, performed, and directed by students participating in TimeLine South, a summer theatre program that’s a partnership between TimeLine Theatre and The Harold Washington Cultural Center.
