Year in Review — 2025’s Best Non-musicals

December 30, 2025January 4, 2026 theaterinchicagoreviewsAmadeus Chicago, An Iliad, Angels in America, Anne Sheridan Smith, Berlin play, Chicago Shakespeare, Court Theater, David Darrow, Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley, Emilie Maureen Hanson, Eric T. Miller, Goodman Theater, Ian Barford, Invictus Theater, Jason Huysman, Levi Holloway, Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare, Mr. Wolf play, Northlight Theater, Paranormal Activity Chicago, Parker Players, Rajiv Joseph, Redtwist Theater, Remy Bumppo, Sanaz Toosi, Shattered Globe, Steppenwolf Theater, Teagle F. Bougere, The Antiquities play, Timeline Theater, Timothy Edward Kane, Titus Andronicus, Wish You Were Here playLeave a comment

#1 Angels in America, Parts 1 & 2 – Invictus

*Michael D. Graham (Roy Cohn) and Joe Bushell* (Joe Pitt)

Invictus has received significant praise for its ambitious staging of Tony Kushner’s 1993 Pulitzer Prize winner, which will likely dominate the 2026 non-equity Jeff Awards. The script itself is one of American theater’s greatest masterpieces, melding the realism of 1980’s America with delusions involving ghosts and an angelic prophet. What I remember most is the perfect cast of eight performing more than 20 roles. If forced to name a standout, I would pick Michael D. Graham as Roy Cohn, who hints as Cohn’s self-hatred even as he brags about being the most powerful AIDS victim in America.

#2 Mr. Wolf – Steppenwolf

Caroline Neff (Julie), Kate Arrington (Hana), Namir Smallwood (Michael) & Emilie Maureen Hanson (Theresa)

Steppenwolf might have experienced some difficulty promoting this play, which centers on a girl named Theresa (Emilie Maureen Hanson), who returns to her family as a teenager after being abducted as a child. I saw it twice to explore the dynamic characters and powerful dialogue created by playwright Rajiv Joseph. In particular, Theresa is a marvel of complexity – a 16-year-old whose narrow worldview has been shaped by interactions with just one person. Ensemble members Kate Arrington (Hana), Tim Hopper (Mr. Wolf), Caroline Neff (Julie), and Namir Smallwood (Michael) round out the stacked cast.

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Year in Review–2022’s Best Non-musicals

December 31, 2022January 16, 2023 theaterinchicagoreviewsAll's Well that Ends Well, American Blue Theater, Auditorium Theater, Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, Chicago SHakespeare Theater, Choir Boy, Copley Theater, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Fences, Good Night Oscar, Goodman Theater, Janni Younge, National Geographic Live, Relentless, Remy Bumppo, Routes, Steel Magnolias, Steppenwolf Theater, The Bluest Eye, The Chinese Lady, Timeline Theater2 Comments

Here are my choices for the top 10 non-musical productions of the year.

#1 Good Night, Oscar (Goodman)

Sean Hayes brought in sell-out audiences for his portrayal of Oscar Levant – a man that manages to earn a laugh with every sardonic, controversial, self-deprecating statement that escapes his mouth. Doug Wright’s script, which focuses on a night when Levant took temporary leave from a mental asylum to appear on Jack Paar’s The Tonight Show, climaxes with Hayes’ jaw-dropping performance of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Hayes won the Jeff Award for his performance, and I suspect he will be a frontrunner for the Tony Award when Good Night, Oscar premiers on Broadway in April.

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Relentless—Goodman Theater (4/12/22)

April 19, 2022May 2, 2022 theaterinchicagoreviewsAyanna Bria Bakari, Demetra Dee, Goodman Theater, Jaye Ladymore, Rebecca Hurd, Relentless, Timeline Theater, Travis Delgado, Tyla Ambercrumbie, Xavier Edward KingLeave a comment

Relentless was the first hot ticket of 2022 for Chicago theaters. The Timeline production sold out in its January-February run and even offered streaming options in its later weeks. The show has since transferred to the Goodman Theater, where it is playing next to Good Night, Oscar—a production combo of this quality arrives maybe two or three times in a decade. Tyla Abercrumbie’s script is particularly praiseworthy for developing intricate connections between its six main characters with the predominant action taking place in 1919 at the dawn of “Red Summer,” a period marked by nationwide racial violence against African Americans.

Ayanna Bria Bakari (Annelle) & Jaye Ladymore (Janet)

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