Emily McClanathan

Theater Critic and Journalist at Freelance

Writing about theater, books & more for @chicagotribune, @Chicago_Reader, @playbill, @americantheatre, etc. National Critics Institute fellow. (she/her)

Articles

Amy Morton Returns to the Stage in You Will Get Sick

1 week ago | playbill.com | Emily McClanathan

This summer, Amy Morton returns to the stage at Steppenwolf Theatre, where she has been an ensemble member since 1997, for the first time in eight years. Starring in the Chicago premiere of Noah Diaz’s You Will Get Sick, directed by Audrey Francis (now through July 20), Morton plays a character simply called #2, a woman who acts as an ad-hoc caregiver for a terminally ill younger man and develops an unexpected friendship with him. Why the long gap in Steppenwolf gigs?
True Colors drag troupe inspires audiences

1 week ago | chicagotribune.com | Emily McClanathan

On a recent Saturday, Sketchbook Brewing Company’s Evanston taproom was filled to standing-room capacity by an enthusiastic crowd that clapped and danced along to performances of music by Christina Aguilera, Avril Lavigne, Lady Gaga and more. The artists who garnered such a warm response are collectively known as True Colors, a local drag troupe featuring individuals with a range of developmental, intellectual and physical disabilities.
Review: In Lifeline Theatre’s ‘War of the Worlds,’ comedy wins out over human drama

3 weeks ago | chicagotribune.com | Emily McClanathan

Lifeline Theatre’s new adaptation of the 1898 H.G. Wells novel “The War of the Worlds” has many of the hallmarks of a campy sci-fi B movie: cheesy dialogue, exaggerated stock characters and visuals with the low-budget charm of mid-aughts “Doctor Who.” With these bold stylistic choices by adapter John Hildreth and director Heather Currie, the play satirizes contemporary American society in an unconventional take on the science fiction classic.
Review: In world premiere ‘Neighborhood Watch’ at Jackalope Theatre, an uneasy time in suburbia

1 month ago | chicagotribune.com | Emily McClanathan

What happens when a Muslim man moves into a predominantly white, politically divided suburb a month after the 2024 election? In Rehana Lew Mirza’s new play, “Neighborhood Watch,” it means that the white-haired NPR listener who still wears Bernie 2016 and Clinton-Gore ’92 T-shirts starts acting pretty weird.
Daywatch: Johnson proposal would put requirements on new industrial developments

1 month ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Brian J. Rogal |Paul Sullivan |Rick Kogan |Emily McClanathan

Good morning, Chicago.Mayor Brandon Johnson will push forward this spring an ordinance designed to reform land-use policies that environmentalists say for decades led to pollution in Black and Latino communities.Some advocates for heavy industry are worried. None deny minority neighborhoods on the South and West sides suffer more from the dirty air, water and soil that historically came from steel mills, smokestacks and truck traffic.
Review: In ‘Endgame’ at Facility Theatre, reality and dystopia wash together

1 month ago | chicagotribune.com | Emily McClanathan

If Ebenezer Scrooge found himself isolated in a post-apocalyptic setting, with no one but his elderly parents and his long-suffering servant to haunt his monotonous days, he would probably behave like Hamm, the petty tyrant of a sad little domain in Samuel Beckett’s 1957 play, “Endgame.” In Facility Theatre’s new revival of the Irish playwright’s absurdist tragicomedy, the blind and paralyzed character (played by artistic director Kirk Anderson) looks like a slightly steampunk Scrooge,...
A trans women was arrested for a “somebody needs to do it” style Nancy Mace tweet

1 month ago | intomore.com | Arin Waller |Henry Giardina |Johnny Levanier |Emily McClanathan

Recently, a transgender woman was arrested in South Carolina for allegedly making a death threat against South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace online. 19-year-old Roxie Wolfe of Greenville County, South Carolina, made the post on April 26th on the platform formerly known as Twitter. In the tweet, she said she would shoot and kill a given official—who, in the original post, wasn’t named. This was identified as Nancy Mace.
Just when you thought JoJo Siwa couldn't get any more confusing, this happens

1 month ago | intomore.com | Henry Giardina |Johnny Levanier |Arin Waller |Emily McClanathan

I’m saddened to report that once again Jojo Siwa has made the news, this time for an even more confusing twist in the saga of her sexual and gender identity. Ordinarily, it would not be our business, or even remotely interesting as gossip. But since Siwa went on Big Brother, we’ve been witness to a barrage of confusing updates surrounding her queerness.
This Y2K trans coming-of-age drama just dropped its first trailer

1 month ago | intomore.com | Johnny Levanier |Arin Waller |Emily McClanathan |Sabrina Wigfall

The acclaimed memoir by author Paris Lees is coming to the small screen in the upcoming queer Y2K drama What It Feels Like For A Girl. BBC has shared the tantalizing first trailer for the eight-part miniseries and a release date less than a month away. What It Feels Like For A Girl is based on the 2021 memoir of the same name by Lees. It chronicles the author’s coming-of-age journey from small town loner to queer found family member against the backdrop of the early 2000s nightlife scene.
UK university apologizes for anti-trans bathroom policy after backlash

1 month ago | intomore.com | Johnny Levanier |Arin Waller |Emily McClanathan |Jude Cramer

A research university in the UK is rolling back its anti-trans bathroom policy following outcry from students. The university has said that the policy was originally posted in “error.” But even as the university apologized, administrators are still “continuing to review” the bathroom policy. Earlier this week, the University of Warwick updated its Trans Inclusion Code of Conduct policy to exclude trans students and staff from single-sex spaces aligning with their gender identity.