Kimzyn Campbell, author at Chicago Reader

Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol returns to Writers Theatre

by Kimzyn Campbell November 28, 2023November 28, 2023

Manual Cinema’s Christmas Carol (devised and directed by Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace, Ben Kauffman, Julia Miller, and Kyle Vegter) is a charming remix of an old classic, but with added layers for extra warmth this time of year. Imagine the timeless tale of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol with a modern upgrade, boasting a new […]

A young woman with dark hair, wearing a gothic black lace dress, stands left with arms crossed. On the right is Beetlejuice in green hair and a black-and-white striped suit He has his arm draped over her.

Theater Review

Beetlejuice is a demonic good time

by Kimzyn Campbell November 15, 2023November 15, 2023

Thirty-five years after its film debut, the classic Tim Burton Halloween comedy Beetlejuice has been reimagined, first set loose like a demon as a 2019 Broadway musical (score by Eddie Perfect, book by Scott Brown and Anthony King, and directed by Alex Timbers), and now playing at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. My inner goth jumped at […]

Actors are clumped together onstage, their arms outstretched. The woman in front wears a long black dress with a somber expression

Theater Review

Stupid F#@ing Bird* makes Chekhov both timeless and contemporary

by Kimzyn Campbell November 9, 2023November 9, 2023

Stupid F@*#ing Bird is my kind of play—the kind that plumbs the depths of despair as if it were a vaudeville skit. “I’m in mourning for my life,” says Mash, quoting a line straight out of Chekhov’s The Seagull. Presented by Bluebird Arts and directed by Luda Lopatina Solomon, not every line is directly translated […]

Two lucha libre wrestlers are shown in a spotlight, with a woman on the right holding the leg of the man in the center. On the left stands a referee, and the backdrop is of an Aztec pyramid temple.

Theater Review

Lucha Teotl brings bodyslamming storytelling to the Goodman

by Kimzyn Campbell October 11, 2023October 18, 2023

Pro wrestling fans take heed: a lucha libre play is now up at the Goodman Theatre that celebrates the lively art form and spectacle of Mexican pro wrestling, where técnicos (the good guys) and rudos (the bad guys) face off in weekly matches, settling old disputes and beating the ever-living stuffing out of each other […]

A person in a white chef's jacket and red chef's hat with a red clown nose stands in front of a chopping board with a bloody knife. A fake severed hand is on the board. Three other clowns look on in horror.

Arts & Culture

Clowns over easy

by Kimzyn Campbell August 24, 2023September 25, 2023

The invite to a clown brunch arrived at a pivotal point in my summer, when the thought of clowning and eating made perfect sense. I accepted, and invited along a clown friend as well, so we could dine and laugh together, making hot clown summer suddenly seem feasible—thanks to the heat wave and air pollution […]

A woman with long brown hair, wearing a green cardigan, stands left. She is leaning over a table with an intense look on her face. A young man is seen on the right, back to the camera. He has a gray T-shirt and dark hair.

Theater Review

Next to Normal is worth the ride

by Kimzyn Campbell August 10, 2023August 10, 2023

Next to Normal is a musical that takes on a mental health crisis to destigmatize. This is a good thing. Go to Paramount’s Copley Theatre for Jim Corti’s staging. Be proud, open your heart, and listen to the struggles of Diana, a mentally ill woman (played by the incredibly talented Donna Louden). She’s a mother […]

A back of a man's head is on the left. A person sits onstage with a puppet. A red curtain is behind them.

Arts & Culture

Puppet wisdom

by Kimzyn Campbell August 9, 2023August 9, 2023

“Did they have puppets 10,000 years ago?” I asked in response to a story Blair Thomas, founder and artistic director of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, was telling us about humanity’s long-term relationship with puppets. Thomas replied without missing a beat. “Yes! Do you know how we know?”“How?”“Past life regression!” Seven artists from different […]

Three chandeliers dangle over the stage with women in dresses hanging onto them. Other performers are on a bed center stage, with a clown upstage at the right of the photo.

Arts & Culture

A procession of clowns

by Kimzyn Campbell May 30, 2023May 30, 2023

Let’s all take a minute to welcome back big circus. It’s been awhile since it rolled through our little town. In fact, Cirque du Soleil coming back to the Chicago area is a big deal when you consider how the company shut its doors (and shut down 40 shows) in 2020 due to COVID, shortly […]

A woman in a tulle flowered skirt with a silvery headdress swings on a rope and pair of rings at left. A man in a white shirt and dark trousers dances behind her.

Theater Review

The Dream King delivers heartbreaking hilarity

by Kimzyn Campbell May 24, 2023May 24, 2023

Silent Marvin is living in a silent world that is just as monotonous as ours. The daily grind of shuffling papers at his office job and flipping channels at night leaves him unsatisfied. Where is the purpose? Fortunately for Silent Marvin, he has his dreams. Each night he enters a Dadaesque landscape where flowers are […]

Will Wilhelm, a nonbinary person, stands on a stage filled with red velvet furniture. They are wearing a long red skirt and black top.

Theater Review

The Gender Play‘s the thing

by Kimzyn Campbell May 18, 2023May 18, 2023

All of the world is a stage, and Will Wilhelm knows it. Their new production at About Face (cocreated and directed by Erin Murray), Gender Play, or what you Will, is the perfect platform for them to explore their gender journey while also expressing their more dramatic side via monologuing with a side of dissertation. […]

A dog that looks like it has some kind of shepherd lineage runs on an indoor play course lined with orange cones. To the left, there is a woman with brown hair, wearing jeans, an orange sweater, a white wool cap, and a black face face mask running next to the dog.

Best of Chicago

Best low-key place to impress a dog

by Kimzyn Campbell April 5, 2023April 9, 2023

If you’re looking to impress a dog with a playdate, Bosly’s Backyard is all a dog could want. Kiddie pool full of tennis balls? Check. Obstacle course of jumps and tunnels? Check. Bridges to traverse and a wide-open, soft floor to run around on with pals? Check! But this is not some random doggy daycare […]

Pictured is the interior of Atlas Stationers. In the foreground is a "testing station," or a large wooden table with wooden stools, covered with an array of notebooks and containers of pens.

Buy Local

Best place to feed your stationery addiction

by Kimzyn Campbell April 5, 2023April 9, 2023

There is something so calming about a stationery store—the colorful rows of notebooks, the tidy aisles of office gadgetry, the stacks of pens and planners. If the only stationery store you’ve set foot into is a Staples, you are missing out on a true vibe that offers a sense of space and order in an […]

A close-up image of flowers at South Shore Beach and nature sanctuary

Best of Chicago

Best hidden beach and nature hike

by Kimzyn Campbell April 5, 2023April 7, 2023

When it comes to Chicago beaches, finding a little patch of sand to call your own among the crowds is tricky. So if you prefer a more chill experience, head to the South Shore Beach and nature sanctuary tucked right behind the South Shore Cultural Center at 7059 S. South Shore. This four-season hidden spot […]

Three figures are seen onstage. A young white woman with long brown hair is seated at the left, wearing vaguely medieval clothing and holding a long wooden pole in both hands. She is smiling. Seated next to her toward the right of the photo is a young Black woman in similar garb, who looks alarmed. In front of her is a person wearing a mask like a dragon or unicorn, holding a cane and also wearing glittery sleeves. The floor underneath is filled with patches of bright color, and there is a glittery wall hanging in the background.

Theater Review

Interactive inclusivity

by Kimzyn Campbell March 23, 2023March 23, 2023

Filament Theatre’s Think Fast, Jordan Chase!, written by Sonia Goldberg and directed by Jamal Howard, is full of plot twists which weave in and out of schoolyard and fantasy. Addressing difficult social scenarios that kids encounter, it opens with a plucky Jordan (Christabel Donkor) and her majestic bestie Mahari (Joolz Stroop) on the playground. Relations […]

Kaitlyn Andrews hangs upside down from ropes. She is wearing a two-piece purple bathing suit.

Arts & Culture

BCAM brings diversity to the circus

by Kimzyn Campbell March 22, 2023March 22, 2023

The BIPOC Circus Alliance Midwest, a thriving performance troupe in Chicago, played to sold-out audiences in venues around Chicago in February and March. Affectionately called BCAM by their members and fans, they are more than just a collective of circus artists. BCAM is an organization that emerged from the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 […]