Jessie Bond – Splash Magazines

Layalina Review – An Underwhelming Experience

March 19, 2023 Jessie Bond 0

Goodman Theatre presents the world premiere of Layalina by Martin Yousif Zebari, directed by Sivan Battat. This play is broad in scope, tackling a family’s experiences in Iraq in the early 2000s and in the […]

Toni holds a baseball up in the air triumphantly

Toni Stone Review – A Home Run

February 16, 2023 Jessie Bond 0

Even as a non-sports fan, I have a soft spot for baseball stories. I adored Amazon Prime’s recent reboot of A League of Their Own, and I will admit that the show was on my […]

A Christmas Carol Review – An Enduring Classic

December 4, 2022 Jessie Bond 0

I’ve never been a big proponent of the classics. As a children’s librarian, rarely do I find myself recommending hundred-plus-year-old titles when so many new and exciting books have been published in the last decade. […]

Three cast members pose in front of mismatched tables

The Twenty-Sided Tavern Review – A Magical Experience

November 5, 2022 Jessie Bond 0

The quality of a Dungeons and Dragons game is often determined by the quality of the DM, or Dungeon Master. The DM guides the game, playing all the non-player characters, narrating the events of the […]

Wicked Review – Good News, She’s Back

September 30, 2022 Jessie Bond 0

I couldn’t tell you what gifts I received for most of my childhood birthdays, but my thirteenth birthday gift is forever burned into my memory. That’s because I received tickets to see Wicked when it […]

Good Night, Oscar Review – An Uninspired Script

March 22, 2022 Jessie Bond 4

Two questions I’ve carried with me from my days as an undergraduate theatre major to my current career as a theatre critic are “why now?” and “why this play?” They encourage me to think about […]

Wife of a Salesman Review – Cutting Feminist Commentary

March 15, 2022 Jessie Bond 0

Strangely enough, despite my undergraduate degree in theatre, I never had to read Death of a Salesman for school and instead sought it out on my own as a “classic” I needed to read to […]

The Play That Goes Wrong Review – Absolute Hilarity

December 19, 2021 Jessie Bond 0

The Play That Goes Wrong does exactly what it says on the tin: it goes very, very wrong. Everyone has a story or two about something going wrong in a live performance, whether it’s a […]

Q Brothers Christmas Carol Review – A Madcap Makeover

December 15, 2021 Jessie Bond 0

It’s December, which means countless stage adaptations of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol are being produced all over the country. None of them, however, is quite like A Q Brothers Christmas Carol, currently in production, […]

Knuffle Bunny Review – Energetic, Colorful, and Hilarious

December 6, 2021 Jessie Bond 0

The Young People’s Theatre of Chicago makes its debut with Knuffle Bunny, a stage adaptation by Mo Willems of his beloved picture book. This vivacious musical follows the young Trixie and her Dad as they […]