Home » Archive by Tags

Articles tagged with: Profiles Theatre

Theater 2015-16: Reveling in discomfort zone, Profiles leads off with the off-beat ‘Jacksonian’

Aug 23, 2015 – 9:37 pm | 891 views
'The Jacksonian' feature image (Profiles Theatre)

First in a series of season previews: Profiles Theatre opens its 27th season with an off-the-wall, grimly humorous, borderline surreal gem of a play fraught with wacky characters and murder, Beth Henley’s “The Jacksonian,” that might have been tailored expressly for this devoutly edgy company. It launches a lineup that finds Profiles in its high-intensity groove.

‘Genius’ at Profiles: Grappling with magical thinking and the harder part of being human

Apr 5, 2015 – 9:56 pm | 1,483 views
Feature 2

Review: The mystery of genius and the frailty of ego may only appear to be separate subjects. They fuse in complicated and absorbing ways in Kate Walbert’s deftly written new play “Genius” at Profiles Theatre – a world premiere that well may be Chicago’s theatrical sleeper of the season. ★★★★

Role Playing: Lia D. Mortensen’s intense portrait of a mentally failing scientist holds mirror to life

Mar 29, 2015 – 9:41 pm | 1,335 views
???????????????????

Interview: A very hard personal experience helped actress Lia D. Mortensen get into the skin of the brilliant scientist she portrays in Sharr White’s play “The Other Place” at Profiles Theatre. She had watched her father, Dale T. Mortensen, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in economic sciences, suffer the mentally eroding effects of brain cancer, which took his life.

‘The Other Place’ at Profiles: Brilliance provides no defense when dementia lays its dark siege

Feb 26, 2015 – 11:38 pm | 2,120 views
Feature 1

Review: Julianna knows that her husband, a doctor, is cheating on her. He sometimes slips and refers to a fellow physician – who has been consulting with Julianna about her episodes of disorientation, forgetfulness and anger – not as Dr. Teller, but as Cindy. That should tell you something. It’s plain enough to the betrayed wife, and she’s outraged. The mental decline and crash of this fiftyish woman, a biophysicist, is the substance of Sharr White’s play “The Other Place.” But it’s not the sum. Experiencing its totality, at Profiles Theatre, afforded one of the most rewarding nights in recent Chicago seasons. ★★★★★

Theater 2014-15: Profiles opens a new chapter with familiar face of LaBute and world premiere

Aug 15, 2014 – 10:58 pm | 4,391 views
'Reasons to Be Happy,' by Niel LaBute, at Profiles 2014 feature image 2

Fourth in a series of season previews: With 25 years on the books and a second performing space established and offering new flexibility, Profiles Theatre heads into its second quarter-century this season with an opening production of resident artist Neil LaBute’s “Reasons to Be Happy.” Also on tap is the world premiere of Kate Walbert’s “Genius,” intertwining the secrets and alliances of two creative couples from different generations who find their lives changed at a dinner party.

‘Gidion’s Knot’ at Profiles: Answers hit hard when mother seeks cause of child’s suicide

Feb 5, 2014 – 8:53 am | 12,403 views
Amy J. Carle plays the mother of a fifth-grader who has committed suicide in 'Gidion's Knot' by Johnna Adams at Profiles Theatre. (Michael Brosilow)

Review: While it isn’t exactly a monodrama, Johnna Adams’ play “Gidion’s Knot,” about a mother looking for answers after her fifth-grade son kills himself, is a provocatively detailed – and less than flattering — portrait of the mom, with the only other character, the boy’s teacher, serving essentially as interlocutor. And Amy J. Carle’s performance at Profiles Theatre as the self-absorbed, reluctantly self-questioning mother is wrought with painful precision. ★★★

Theater 2013-14: Charting course back to its earthy roots, Profiles celebrates 25th season

Aug 13, 2013 – 12:27 pm | 3,629 views
Playwright Neil LaBute

Second in a series of season previews: Profiles Theatre will mark its 25th anniversary this season by getting back to what co-artistic director Joe Jahraus calls the lean, mean style that has set this company apart. That’s lean as in Neil LaBute’s “Wrecks,” a one-actor narrative about the devastation of a man’s life wrought by the death of his wife, and mean as in Rhett Rossi’s “In God’s Hat,” which plays out through the taut, charged reunion of two estranged brothers when one of them is released from prison.

‘In the Company of Men’ at Profiles: The boys will have their vengeance; then love walks in

May 24, 2013 – 12:08 pm | 4,743 views
Jordan-Brown-as-Chad-with-Jessica-Honor-Carleton-as-Christine-in-In-the-Company-of-Men-at-Profiles-Theatre-credit-Michael-Brosilow

Review: ★★★★

‘Dream of the Burning Boy’ at Profiles: Loss, loneliness and anger shroud a student’s death

Apr 16, 2013 – 11:54 pm | 34,623 views
Marilyn Bass, Darrell W. Cox, Alaina Stacey in The Dream of the Burning Boy by David West Read directed Joe Jahraus Profiles Theatre 2013 credit Michael Brosilow

Review: ★★★★

Your drama is waiting: Chicago Theatre Week offers citywide smorgasbord at savory prices

Jan 6, 2013 – 1:33 pm | 23,383 views
Chicago Theatre Week 2013

Report: Tickets will be $15 and $30.

Bows of Holly: In Chicago theaters, abundance rejoices in lavish spread of holiday shows

Dec 5, 2012 – 12:20 am | 8,434 views
Larry Yando as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol Goodman Theatre 2012 credit Liz Lauren

Shows of the season: A roundup

The New Season: Teaming with Neil LaBute, Profiles readies 24th year on the gritty fringe

Jul 29, 2012 – 11:33 pm | 4,983 views
The longtime Profiles Theatre association of Joe Jahraus, Neil LaBute and Darrell W Cox continues

First in a series of season previews: Profiles Theatre will open its 24th season Aug. 24 with playwright Neil LaBute officially inducted into the family, a second performing space in use and a new mantra that crystalizes the company’s founding philosophy: “Whatever the truth requires.”

Profiles explores psychological shadows as LaBute drops siblings in deep, dark woods

Apr 26, 2012 – 1:15 pm | 13,536 views
In a Forest Dark and Deep feature image Profiles Theatre CHicago 2012 Natasha Lowe as Betty credit Wayne Karl

‘In a Forest, Dark and Deep.’ 4 stars!

Profiles’ ‘Behanding in Spokane’ bundles laughter and terror in the same dark bag

Oct 25, 2011 – 10:16 pm | 5,712 views
ProfilesBehanding2

Sardonic, but clear-sighted. 3 stars