According to renowned social critic and author Naomi Klein, our world today is like a hall of mirrors, made up of conspiracy theories, AI-generated content blurring the lines between truth and fiction, and elusive digital doppelgangers. In this conversation about her newest work, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, Klein offers a map to this untethered moment in history by combining chilling political reportage, piercing cultural analysis of our modern world, and stories from her own life. Join Klein and award-winning playwright V (Eve Ensler) on a white-knuckled ride into the dark heart of our hyper-individualized culture, and get her thoughts on how we might escape this mirror world and chart a path beyond despair.
This event will have open captions and assistive listening devices with t-coil available at the Box Office.
To buy tickets press on the link below: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/naomi-klein/
Emmy-nominated actress Millie Bobby Brown can now add author to her list of accolades with her debut novel, Nineteen Steps. Set against the backdrop of World War II London in 1942, Brown’s main character, Nellie Morris, grapples with a world constantly threatened by conflict. Her chance meeting with American airman Ray broadens her horizons, yet tragedy strikes during an air raid, shattering her world. Brown sits down with Greta Johnsen (of WBEZ’s Nerdette podcast) to talk about her creative process both as an actor and writer, her evolving beauty brand florence by mills, and her new novel about a brave young woman who proves the enduring power of love in the face of adversity.
This event will have open captions and assistive listening devices with t-coil available at the Box office.
To buy tickets press on the link below: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/millie-bobby-brown/
Jonas Becker’s New Normal explores how we, as individuals in society, adjust to large-scale cultural trauma, environmental deterioration, the loss of civil liberties, and increased financial precarity. As conditions erode over time, expectations shift silently for some, for others violently. The performance follows an improvisational score in which six trans-masculine performers respond to the slow violence of our current moment through endurance and illusion, struggle and support. Rocks that appear heavy are made of paper, and gestures where performers entangle each other oscillate between aggression and care. Importantly, some radical bodies resist normalization, while for others, the new normal is nothing new. The performers test their limits, adjust and readjust, responding physically to diminishing environmental standards and political conditions. This presentation expands on an In Progress showing of the work in the MCA’s main atrium in 2019, with an emotionally resonant arrangement of motion, sound, and lighting.
Run time: 45 minutes
Chicago Performs is organized by Tara Aisha Willis, former MCA Curator, with Laura Paige Kyber, Curatorial Associate.
Prior to the performance the lights will be set low. Please let a staff member know if you need assistance to your seat.
Audio Description and CART captioning are provided for the performance on Sunday, September 10.
Pro wrestling bursts onto the stage in a high-octane, immersive, 90-minute thrill ride.
It’s a night in the theater that you’ll never forget. Experience the heart-pumping action ringside, as the Goodman transforms into a professional wrestling arena—a perfect backdrop for the high drama and rich cultural history of lucha libre. Originally developed with Prism Movement Theater and produced in partnership with CLATA as part of 2023 Destinos Festival, actors and luchadores (wrestlers) in masks representative of Aztec gods play out an exciting wrestling story about family, honor, tradition and redemption.
Touch Tour and Audio-Described Performance
Saturday, October 28
12:30pm Touch Tour & 2:00pm Performance
Use code AUDIO for $30 tickets
Spanish Subtitles Performance
Saturday, October 28 at 7:30pm
Use code SPANISH for $30 tickets
Open-Captioned Performance
Sunday, October 29 at 2:00pm
Use code OPEN for $30 tickets
An innovative documentary piece that shines a spotlight on the stories of those caught in America’s school-to-prison pipeline.
HAILED BY THE NEW YORK TIMES AS “A SEARING AND URGENT WORK that confronts some of the most pressing issues of our time with honesty, intelligence, and compassion,” this innovative first-person documentary piece shines a light on the stories of those caught in America’s school-to-prison pipeline. Utilizing verbatim dialogue pulled from more than 250 real accounts from students, faculty, prisoners, activists, politicians, and victims’ families, Notes From the Field takes audiences on a powerful and emotional journey through the faults and systemic injustices of the American criminal justice system. Deeply human, profoundly moving, and full of moments of humor, compassion, and resilience, it’s a masterful work that makes it impossible to look away from the urgent need for change.
Originally performed by creator Anna Deavere Smith as a one-woman show, this 2017 Obie Award-winning production was hailed by The Guardian as “captivating political theatre, a devastating document of racial inequality and the most rousing of rallying calls. Everyone should watch it, at least once.”
Accessibility: open captions, audio description, touch tour
https://timelinetheatre.com/events/notes-from-the-field/
Notes From the Field runs February 8 – March 24, 2024 (previews 1/31 – 2/7) at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave.
A comedic showdown between truth and fact set in the world of non-fiction publishing.
JIM FINGAL IS AN EAGER YOUNG INTERN at a high-profile magazine hoping to impress his demanding editor-in-chief, Emily Penrose. When assigned the job of fact-checking legendary writer John D’Agata’s essay about the city of Las Vegas, Jim discovers a huge problem: many of the essay’s details were made up. As the publication deadline looms, a battle between truth and fact ensues in a gripping and fast-paced comedic showdown.
Drawing from true events surrounding real-life Jim Fingal’s fact-checking of the John D’Agata essay “What Happens There,” The Lifespan of a Fact has been praised as “a smart and engaging exploration of the nature of truth and the role of the media in society,” (Chicago Tribune) and “a tightly written and expertly crafted play that keeps the audience riveted from start to finish” (The New York Times). The book on which the play is based, The Lifespan of a Fact, received critical attention from national media including NPR, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times. It was subsequently named a “Top 10 Most Crucial Book” by the editors of Slate, a “Best Book of the Year” by The Huffington Post, and an Editor’s Choice by The New York Times Book Review. The stage adaptation opened on Broadway in 2018, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Bobby Cannavale, and Cherry Jones.
Accessibility: open captions
https://timelinetheatre.com/events/lifespan/
The Lifespan of a Fact runs November 9 – December 23, 2023 (previews 11/1 – 11/8) at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave.
TimeLine presents the Chicago premiere production of the 2022 Tony Award winner for Best Play!
Told in three parts over one evening, The Lehman Trilogy is the quintessential story of western capitalism, rendered through the lens of a single immigrant family. On a cold September morning in 1844, a young Jewish man from Bavaria stands on a New York dockside dreaming of a new life in the new world. He is soon joined by his two brothers, and an American epic begins. 163 years later, the firm they establish—Lehman Brothers—spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy, triggering the largest financial crisis in history. Weaving together nearly two centuries of family history, this theatrical event charts the humble beginnings, outrageous successes, and devastating failure of the financial institution that would ultimately bring the global economy to its knees.
Throughout its production history, The Lehman Trilogy has been met with extraordinary international acclaim. The Guardian proclaimed the original production “a kaleidoscopic social and political metaphor” and “an intimate epic about the shifting definition of the American Dream.” The Chicago Tribune praised it as “a masterwork” and The New York Times as “a vivid tale of profit and pain.” Vanity Fair raved that it is “true blockbuster theatre that will hold you captive until the final curtain call,” with Time Out New York saying “it leaves you dazzled.” And the Wall Street Journal declared that The Lehman Trilogy “surpasses all praise.”
Single tickets to The Lehman Trilogy are only available through Broadway In Chicago. Please visit their website to purchase.
For more information on access programming at Broadway in Chicago visit https://www.broadwayinchicago.com/tickets/accessible-information/
Accessibility: open captions
TimeLine presents the Chicago premiere production of the 2022 Tony Award winner for Best Play!
Told in three parts over one evening, The Lehman Trilogy is the quintessential story of western capitalism, rendered through the lens of a single immigrant family. On a cold September morning in 1844, a young Jewish man from Bavaria stands on a New York dockside dreaming of a new life in the new world. He is soon joined by his two brothers, and an American epic begins. 163 years later, the firm they establish—Lehman Brothers—spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy, triggering the largest financial crisis in history. Weaving together nearly two centuries of family history, this theatrical event charts the humble beginnings, outrageous successes, and devastating failure of the financial institution that would ultimately bring the global economy to its knees.
Throughout its production history, The Lehman Trilogy has been met with extraordinary international acclaim. The Guardian proclaimed the original production “a kaleidoscopic social and political metaphor” and “an intimate epic about the shifting definition of the American Dream.” The Chicago Tribune praised it as “a masterwork” and The New York Times as “a vivid tale of profit and pain.” Vanity Fair raved that it is “true blockbuster theatre that will hold you captive until the final curtain call,” with Time Out New York saying “it leaves you dazzled.” And the Wall Street Journal declared that The Lehman Trilogy “surpasses all praise.”
For more information on access programming at Broadway in Chicago visit https://www.broadwayinchicago.com/tickets/accessible-information/
Accessibility: audio description, open captions