Rebecca Gilman’s world premiere TWILIGHT BOWL, now playing in the Goodman’s Owen Theatre, introduces us to six women contemplating the challenges of young adulthood in vastly different ways. Five of these young women are residents of the small town of Reynolds, Wisconsin. The titular Twilight Bowl refers to a neighborhood bar and bowling establishment, designed with realistic, painstaking detail by Regina Garcia, where the five Wisconsin women gather. Many of them have also worked at the Twilight Bowl, whether to pass the time in the summer or as a way to make a living. Though the lives of these young women may initially seem quaint to some, the introduction of an outsider from Winnetka, Illinois in the play’s second scene indicates that we all in some ways occupy our own “bubbles.”

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Much like its companion piece THE MADRES, Stephanie Alison Walker’s THE ABUELAS starts out as a slow, compelling burn that builds to a torrent of emotions. While THE MADRES took place in 1979 and introduced us to three generations of Argentine women fighting for the survival of the youngest, Belen, who is among “Los Desparecidos” taken by the government—THE ABUELAS transports us right here to Chicago, 37 years later. José Manuel Diaz’s polished and urbane apartment set, implied to be located on Lake Shore Drive, paves the way for a narrative that starts out as an almost mundane portrait of a modern family. But soon secrets are revealed that connect back to the characters of THE MADRES in a heartbreaking and powerful fashion.

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Both profoundly moving and profoundly disturbing, DEAR EVAN HANSEN is one of the most deeply troubling musicals I’ve seen. I left DEAR EVAN HANSEN with a swirl of mixed emotions. With book by Steven Levenson and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and direction by Michael Greif, this 2017 Tony Award-winning musical wants desperately to send a message about the possibility of hope amid the isolating times of high school and the swirling of social media feeds, but the show feels weighed down by its morally dark storyline.

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In PIPELINE, playwright Dominique Morisseau reflects on the cracks in the inner-city public-school system, and the ways in which it often functions as a school to prison pipeline for young black men, without vilifying the system’s participants. It’s a skillfully crafted balance that demonstrates how the brokenness of the system is disheartening for teachers and students alike. And under the direction of Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Victory Gardens Theater’s ensemble makes this a very human struggle.

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