Time continues its mind-boggling push through dimensions as we find ourselves entering the fifth month of 2022, and there’s no shortage of fun things to do on the horizon.
FRI 4/29
House Theatre of Chicago’s artistic director Lanise Antoine Shelley’s latest production honors her Haitian heritage, and the story of Henri Christophe, a leader of the Haitian revolution who helped end French rule in 1804—only to later declare himself monarch. In The Tragedy of King Christophe, Shelley adapts and directs West Indian poet and playwright Aimé Césaire’s 1963 drama (translated from the French original by Paul Breslin and Rachel Ney) in its North American premiere. Césaire, who died in 2008, was known for coining the term “Négritude,” which he defined as “the simple recognition of the fact that one is Black, the acceptance of this fact and of our destiny as Blacks, of our history and culture.” Césaire wrote his play during a time of global postcolonial upheaval, when other Black leaders who came to power during revolutions ended up using repressive means against their citizens. As Breslin notes in an interview on the House site, “the very means [Christophe] had to take to ensure his subjects’ freedom destroyed their freedom, and made him an oppressor like the oppressors he had fought to liberate them from.” The play includes a cappella music under the direction of The Ricky Harris; William Anthony Sebastian Rose II plays Christophe. There is a preview tonight at 7:30 PM, and the production runs through Sun 5/29 at the Chopin Theatre (1543 W. Division); tickets are $20-$50 and available at thehousetheatre.com. (KR)
Talk about a dance of death (or do I mean “undeath?”). Ardent Dance Company, under the leadership of Justine Kelly, presents a full-length performance based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula this weekend, running tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 PM as well as Sunday at 4 PM at Vittum Theater (1012 N. Noble). Tickets are $18-$25 and available at Eventbrite. Proof of vax required, but masks optional; no word on the garlic or wooden stakes policies. (KR)
If you hate-watch coverage of the Met Gala every year, then Annoyance has a show for you! The Gala spoofs the high-fashion celebrity event in this satire of “performative philanthropy,” wrapped in the couture of a murder mystery, directed by Elias Rios. It opens in previews tonight at 8 PM and continues on Fridays through 6/24 at 851 W. Belmont; tickets are $25 at theannoyance.com. (KR)
SAT 4/30
The last Saturday in April is Independent Bookstore Day, a national observance that was started in 2014 and continues to be buoyed by the promotion of the American Booksellers Association. Dozens of local vendors are participating this year and subsequently there are book events all over the city today. If you hit ten of the participating stores in the Chicagoland Bookstore Crawl, you’ll receive 10 percent off purchases for an entire year at all participating stores—15 percent if you crawl to 15 of them! Just take and upload a photo at each store to social media, then tag it with #ChiLoveBooks. If that seems like a lot to fit into a Saturday, maybe try visiting one new-to-you store. Some of my favorites are Quimby’s (1854 W. North), Pilsen Community Books (1102 W. 18th St.), Semicolon (1714 W. Division), Unabridged (3251 N. Broadway), and Women and Children First (5233 N. Clark). (MC)
And don’t forget to check out our Chicago Independent Bookstore Map (created in 2020) for more ideas! (SCJ)
Last Saturday was record store day, and House of Vans (113 N. Elizabeth) wants to keep the party going with tonight’s Record Store Day Fair. From 6-10 PM, they’ll be kicking off a vinyl fair curated by Wax Trax! Records. K.Flay and Boyish will perform followed by DJ sets from Laura Jane Grace and Julia Nash, Jill Hopkins, and Patrixia Goth. Bring your appetites for culture because local food (and beer for those over 21!) wil be on hand to fuel crate-digging. This event is free and open to all ages, and while registration is recommended, it does not guarantee entry. Better get there quickly! (MC)
It’s time to travel back down the rabbit hole with Lookingglass Alice. The company’s first show was an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass, and they’ve produced David Catlin’s acrobatic version of Alice in Wonderland several times since its 2005 premiere. It’s back in previews tonight in association with the Actors Gymnasium, with Molly Hernández starring as Alice; all the other roles are played by a cast of Chicago heavy hitters and Lookingglass vets, including Kareem Bandealy, Adeoye, Lindsey Noel Whiting, Samuel Taylor, and Michel Rodriguez Cintra, an ensemble member of Lucky Plush and a former principal dancer with Danza Contemporanea de Cuba. You can visit Wonderland at Lookingglass’s home theater in the Water Tower Pumping Station (821 N. Michigan) through 7/31: tickets (including for tonight’s 7:30 PM performance) are $55-$70 at lookingglasstheatre.org. (KR)
The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (2320 W. Chicago) is hosting a benefit for Ukraine. Tickets ($20, $15 in advance) include admission as well as beer and hard seltzer provided by Solemn Oath Brewery. Nix, an installation artist popular in the rave space, will create an environment for guests to bliss out to the sounds of DJs Outsidenightair, Otra Dek (doing a live set), Gi Gi, and Farplane. The evening kicks off at 7:30 PM and is open to those 21 and older. All funds go to the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America for humanitarian relief in Ukraine. (MC)
SUN 5/1
Happy May Day! Today we celebrate International Workers’ Day and the ongoing fight for worker’s rights. One way to honor the sacrifices of laborers throughout history is with a visit to the Haymarket Memorial (175 N. Des Plaines) or the Haymarket Martyrs’ Monument at the Forest Home Cemetery (863 S. Des Plaines in suburban Forest Park). On May 4, 1886, what began as a peaceful rally to support workers striking for an eight-hour work day escalated into a day of violence between police and protestors. After a bomb went off, police began shooting at one another and the crowd, resulting in the deaths of eight officers and four strikers. Eight anarchists—many of whom were not present that day—were arrested under conspiracy charges. Four of them were executed by the state, and one died by suicide in jail. Historians agree the convictions were politically motivated, not evidence-based, and bad-faith publicity of the trial triggered a wave of labor repression and anti-immigrant violence. But through solidarity and perseverance, their deaths were not in vain, and that trial was a landmark moment, not only in labor history, but also for free speech and freedom of assembly. Why isn’t all of this better known? As Illinois Labor History Society president Leslie Orear explained to the Reader in 2018, “It’s all a part of a deliberate amnesia. Our story is that Haymarket was a police riot—nobody did a damn thing till the police came. Their story is that [the incident] saved the city from anarchist terrorism. Our position doesn’t dishonor the police.” (MC)
Schubas (3159 N. Southport) has been bringing music and nightlife to its part of Lakeview for over 30 years, and today they’re looking forward to welcoming visitors in to take a gander at the bar in a different way as they open the doors for a “garage” sale. Head over anytime from noon-5 PM to check out discounted screen prints, posters, furniture, band merchandise, vinyl records, kitchenware, and other items that the venue would like to release into the world. There will be other vendors on hand as well, including Feeltrip Records, Quiet Pterodactyl, Reckless Records, and Primaries Vintage. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure, and there’s nothing like a music venue’s spring cleaning to drum up some fantastic finds. It’s free and open to all ages. (SCJ)
Tonight’s a chance to see the energetic and seemingly tireless improvisational musician Fred Lonberg-Holm in action, as he plays as part of a trio called Stirrup, performing at 9 PM at Hungry Brain (2319 W. Belmont). Lonberg-Holm, a former Chicagoan, works in a variety of contexts including jazz and improv and uses his cello, electronics, and sometimes other methods to get his ideas across to entranced audiences. Check out Reader contributor Bill Meyer’s concert preview here. Tickets are $10 and this concert is open to those 21 and over. (SCJ)
MON 5/2
Tonight’s Monday Night Foodball brings us a pre-pride celebration of sorts, as Dani Kaplan (formerly of Lost Lake) brings Chick-Feel-Gay to the table. It’s her “sorta-annual, crispy-fried lampoon” of the quickly-prepared chicken chain and according to Reader senior writer and MNF coordinator Mike Sula, you can expect delicious chicken sandwiches from Kaplan along with “rainbow cake shakes” which Sula points out are spike-able. Sign us up. You can pre-order through Venmo for pickup at the bar, or try your luck with walking in; proceeds from the food will benefit Equality Florida. It all starts at 5 PM tonight at the roomy and friendly Kedzie Inn (4100 N. Kedzie). (SCJ)
WED 5/4
In Remaking the Exceptional: Tea, Torture, and Reparations, artists, including torture survivors and activists, present work that meditates on the local and international violence represented by Guantanamo Bay, the extralegal prison the US established in Cuba as part of its post 9/11 “Global War on Terror.” Now on view at the DePaul Art Museum (935 W. Fullerton), this exhibition connects policing, torture, and incarceration to an international struggle while celebrating acts of creative resistance and envisioning. Admission is free, and the museum is open today from 11 AM-7 PM. And if today doesn’t work for you, you’ve got plenty of time to check it out as the exhibit closes in August. (MC)
Homegrown talent Kristin Hayter, aka Lingua Ignota, is bringing her singular brand of maudlin art rock to Thalia Hall tonight (1807 S. Allport). Who didn’t keep Lingua Ignota’s album Caligula in heavy rotation in 2019? Her follow up recording Sinner Get Ready dropped last year, and this is the first tour where fans get to experience those songs live. Hayter borrows from folk, metal, noise, and classical music to find harrowing beauty in survival. Her sound is as breathtaking as it is terrifying—and she’s rumored to have a stage show that matches. The show starts at 8 PM, and tickets are $25. You must be 17 or older to attend. (MC)
The legendary Patti Smith returns to Chicago tonight with her band for a concert organized by Metro (3730 N. Clark) in celebration of the venue’s fortieth anniversary this year. You can read more about Smith’s legacy in a concert preview written for the Reader this month by contributor Monica Kendrick. Advance tickets are available for this 8 PM show, and it’s open to those 18 years old and up. (SCJ)
THU 5/5
Since November 2020, Identity Performing Arts, under the leadership of founder Ginny Ching-Yin Lo, has been working on a dance project, Trilogy, with much of it created as film due to the pandemic restrictions. Tonight, Ching-Yin Lo and Chromabeats (the experimental electronic duo of Wiebe Ophorst and MANCHO, aka Marshall Greenhouse) unveil a new collaboration, Fearless, at the Old Town School of Folk Music’s Myron R. Szold Music & Dance Hall (4545 N. Lincoln). It marks Identity’s return to live performance; showtime is 7 PM and tickets are $26 general, $24 for Old Town members at oldtownschool.org. (KR)
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