Read about 'Drink the Past Dry' in the Chicago Tribune

Alex Albrecht, from left, Khnemu Menu-Ra and Valerie Cambron rehearse a scene in the Ghostlight Ensemble production “Drink the Past Dry,” a site-specific piece performed at Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro, April 9, 2025, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Ghostlight’s upcoming production, Drink the Past Dry, was featured in the Chicago Tribune’s Theatre Loop.

Director Maria Burnham and actors Khnemu Menu-Ra and Katharine Jordan spoke with reporter Emily McClanathan about the show, which opens on Friday, May 2 (with a preview performance this weekend at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 27.

Read all about the show and the work behind it here.

Six years ago, the in-house pub at Chicago Shakespeare Theater moonlighted as a performance space for a touring production of Roddy Doyle’s “Two Pints” by Ireland’s Abbey Theatre. Audience members — who sat at the pub’s tables with drinks in hand — spent a couple of hours eavesdropping on two longtime friends at the bar, their conversations meandering between the mundane and the profound.

This spring, the upstairs bar at Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood will similarly transform into a theater venue for “Drink the Past Dry” by Ghostlight Ensemble, a local company with a penchant for site-specific productions. Written and directed by Maria Burnham, this world premiere puts a science fiction twist on the otherwise familiar setting of a Chicago bar: at this watering hole, if you sit on the right stool and order a particular drink, you can travel in time.

Jacobson gives life to children's nightmares in horror-inspired 'Nutcracker'

Victoria Jacobson (right) rehearses for the holiday horror play "Nutcracker Nightmare," which opens on Friday, Dec. 8.

In Victoria Jacobson’s book, things that slither along the ground are scary. Dolls are not. And yet in her latest role as Zipakna, a worry doll that comes to life and terrorizes the Stahlbaum family in “Nutcracker Nightmare,” she is tasked with making an audience think just that.

“The biggest challenge was trying to find the balance between doll and creepy in a movement sense, Jacobson said. “What I consider to be bump-in-the-night scary are things that slither or move lower to the floor, while a doll would not necessarily be the type of creature to do so. Exploring a spectrum of movements in that sense is something that I worked on the hardest.”

Read more about Jacobson and her work in The Chicago Tribune and the Lakeview Patch.

Nielsen takes on the (red) mantle for iconic Nutcracker role

Cary native P. Tyler Nielsen (second from right) rehearses for "Nutcracker Nightmare," which opens this week.

Words may be the weapon most closely associated with an actor's trade, but for P. Tyler Nielsen taking on the iconic role of The Nutcracker in "Nutcracker Nightmare" meant acting with his body…and with actual weapons.

"I love the physical challenge of portraying such an iconic character who has so few lines," Nielsen said. "There is much to convey without the chance to verbalize the Nutcracker's internal journey.

"In addition, the chance to discover how a nutcracker might move, fight and express love is a joy," he added.

Read more about Tyler and his work in the Chicago Tribune or the Crystal Lake Patch.

Probing what makes characters live on stage is the latest challenge for Pereira

Jason Pereira (rear, center), stars as The Son in Ghostlight Ensemble's production of Six Characters in Search of an Author through May 7. (Photo by by Katie Jarecki)

Exploring what makes fictitious characters come alive for audiences and readers was part of the draw and the challenge in actor Jason Pereira's latest role as The Son in Ghostlight Ensemble's production of Six Characters in Search of an Author.

"What challenged me is also the thing I love the most about the play as a whole, it really makes you think about the actual 'life' of a character," he said.

Read more about Jason and his work on Six Characters in Search of an Author in the Chicago Tribune.