That Franz Kafka: what a cutup! In his unfinished novel The Trial, Joseph K. wakes up one morning to discover government agents in his room. They inform him that he's under arrest. They won't tell him what he's been charged with or even what will happen to him, and the more he tries to get to the bottom of things, the murkier things become. In other words, hilarious! Right? more ›

Based on the 1951 John Van Druten play I Am A Camera and its subsequent novel adaptation ("Goodbye to Berlin" by Christopher Isherwood), Cabaret is set in 1931 Berlin during the Nazi ascent to power. American writer Cliff Bradshaw has come to Berlin in hopes of finding inspiration for his novel, and instead (or in addition) finds Brit Sally Bowles, the headliner at the Kit Kat Club. A seedy, local cabaret, the Kit Kat Club serves as a metaphor for Berlin itself: one moment the biggest bacchanal in town, closed off from reality - the next, crumbling under the weight of political pressure (to put it mildly). more ›

First off, we should tell you that we’re more familiar with Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” than Mary Shelley’s original novel. Or the Boris Karloff movie. Or any other version, really. (Our apologies to the Chicagoist Literary and Film Offices if they’re ashamed of us in any way.) The point is: We fully accept that The Hypocrites’ Frankenstein may have included references that went right over our heads. That being said: Prior knowledge and research certainly enrich the audience’s experience, but they shouldn’t be required. Throughout this entire show, we couldn’t shake the feeling that we had missed something. It was a frustrating 70 minutes. more ›

The Theatre Office at Chicagoist Towers almost can't handle the amount of news we’ve heard this week. Here’s everything we’re talking about: more ›