PicksInSix Review: The Birth of the Pill - TimeLine Theatre Company

If Only There Was A Pill.
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

Inside TimeLine Theatre’s comfortable and cozy first floor bar and café on opening night of Jessica Huang’s fascinating and informative play, “The Birth of the Pill” on Thursday night, there was a heightened air of anticipation. It has been only a few months since TimeLine moved into its new home at 5035 North Broadway and you can already feel the impact of the bustling arts hub and newest live theatrical anchor in the heart of Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood.

The world premiere production, now playing through October 4, is based on the book by Pulitzer Prize winner Jonathan Eig who collaborated with Huang on the project. Both Eig and Huang were present for the opening which has received brisk advance sales and impressive promotion, including an opinion piece about the play by Eig that appeared in the New York Times.

Smartly directed by Sandra Marquez with a top drawer cast that includes the outstanding talents of Janet Ulrich Brooks as Margaret Sanger, Mary Beth Fisher as Katharine McCormick and Mitchell J. Fain, playing both Dr. Gregory Goodwin “Goody” Pincus and the author Eig, you can imagine that there is a fantastical twist to the stage telling of the funding, research, clinical testing and development of the Pill that forever changed the course of women’s lives.

That twist comes in the exhilarating, multi-faceted performance of María Victoria Martinez as Ramona Delgado, a narrator of sorts whose refreshing comedic sense keeps things moving at a rapid pace. Assuming a variety of characters, Martinez, who is rarely out of the action, poignantly represents the lost voices of a vast number of Puerto Rican women at the heart of the story who were unknowing participants in early clinical trials and therefore unaware of the potential health risks. It is a wide-ranging and challenging role that Martinez, a newcomer to Chicago, handles effortlessly, evoking a warm and robust charm all her own.

“The Birth of the Pill” leaves it to us to ponder the difficult questions surrounding the moral and ethical choices made by Sanger, McCormick, Pincus, Dr. John Rock (David Parkes) and Dr. Min Chuen Chang (Rammel Chan) in an era when birth control of any kind was illegal are worth the human cost.

The overall subject matter has depth to it, but you do not need to be a biologist to understand what is going on. If you have any doubts, come early to peruse the superb 2nd floor exhibit. But don’t delay. This will be a big hit for TimeLine and a tough ticket in the weeks ahead.

NOTE: The Birth of the Pill contains brief nudity. Content Advisory.

PHOTO | Brett Beiner Photography

TimeLine Theatre Company
presents
World Premiere
The Birth of the Pill
5035 North Broadway
through October 4, 2026

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PicksInSix Gold Review: An Enemy of the People - TimeLine Theatre Company

What Is The Price Of Truth?
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Ed Tracy

Precisely timed at an inflection point for the long-term stability of the performing arts in Chicago, TimeLine Theatre Company has accomplished the nearly impossible dream of planning, funding and opening a state-of-the-art black box theater that has all the makings of providing not only a sparkling, much-needed new venue for creative artists, but also a shimmering anchor for the Uptown neighborhood. It is an unqualified, stellar, multi-faceted achievement!

The opening production—the Chicago premiere of Amy Herzog’s new version of Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” superbly directed by TimeLine Company Member Ron OJ Parson—teams veteran TimeLine talent with exciting new actors to present a riveting drama that feels fresh, edgy and of-the-moment. And as much as the play is the thing, the aura throughout the building at last Thursday’s opening can only be described as electric long before the lights came up on John Culbert’s impressive set design—a versatile, bi-level interior that towers over the thrust stage configuration. Indeed, the black box itself, seating 250 and rising nearly three floors, provides an unmatched view for the audience of the action transpiring only feet away.

The Ibsen classic is high moral drama, raising the stakes for a small community in the late 1800s Norway trying to survive in the face of a health crisis that threatens the lives and livelihood of everyone involved, including the present and future generations of one family at the center of the story. Will Allan plays Herzog’s Dr. Thomas Stockmann whose research has concluded that the town’s baths, the lifeline of the tourist economy, have been dangerously contaminated. When word of his findings begin to emerge within a close-knit group that includes his daughter Petra (Campbell Krausen), a family friend, Captain Horster (Charles Andrew Gardner), and those responsible for the local paper, Billing (Kenneth Hamilton), Aslaksen (Anish Jethmalani) and Hovstad (Grayson Kennedy), a wave of righteous indignation initially sets in supporting Stockmann’s plan to present his findings. But when Stockmann’s brother and town mayor Peter (Behzard Dabu) gets wind of the story and raises doubts, support quickly evaporates and the tenor shifts radically away from full disclosure to hysteria and resentment. Stockmann’s case is further complicated by his father-in-law Morten Kill (David Parkes) who tips the scales on another level altogether.

Allan’s raw, passionate and finely nuanced portrayal of Stockmann brims with confidence and turns with powerful conviction, especially in his point-blank confrontations with Peter that Dabu effortlessly unravels as Herzog’s sinister, calculating opportunist who sacrifices all decency to undermine any point of view that he does not share. That familiar toppling of opinion rapidly washes over everyone except Krausen’s endearing and captivating turn as Petra and Gardner’s poised Horster, whose stalwartly loyal support holds the key to what may come next. It is a story for our time and in Parson’s expert hands, carves a wide path of fire and fury.

The creative team delivers a visually stunning palette of the period merging Christine Pascual’s exquisite costumes, evocative lighting by Brandon Wardell, a signature sound design by André Pluess and a flurry of ingenious properties of all sorts and sizes by Nicolas Bartleson.

As TimeLine meets this moment, all that has transpired before is merely the foundation—and excitement—for what is to come. The pride in accomplishment for a permanent home is richly deserved and can be seen and felt around every corner. What lies ahead is a new era for TimeLine and their unique interpretation of works, the next chapter of a theater company that has never compromised itself, pushing forward and executing at the highest level again and again. And we will have the enduring pleasure of watching, learning and enjoying that work for years to come.

PHOTO | Brett Beiner Photography

TimeLine Theatre Company
presents
Chicago Premiere
An Enemy of the People
5035 North Broadway
EXTENDED through June 27, 2026

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PicksInSix Review: Black Sunday - TimeLine Theatre Company

‘BLACK SUNDAY’ – A Captivating Cautionary Tale
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

TimeLine Theatre Company’s world premiere production of “Black Sunday” written by Chicago playwright Dolores Díaz and directed by Helen Young, is a gripping drama about life in the harrowing days leading up to Sunday, April 14, 1935, when a dust bowl of epic proportions consumed the plains states with a devastating impact that reverberated across the nation.

TimeLine’s “Black Sunday” begins with a stunning cinematic prologue that traces the ecological impact of two decades of homesteading that initially reaped the rewards of the fertile prairie land but would ultimately disrupt and destroy the natural balance of the ecosystem. Drought and an increase in the jackrabbit population led to crop failure as coyotes preyed on farm animals created a perfect storm of destruction for the once promising frontier.

In the midst of this decaying situation, homesteaders who had flocked to the west with hope of starting a new life now faced a daily battle for survival. For one family—Pa (David Parkes), Ma (Michelle Moe) and Sunny (Angela Morris)— the heightened anxiety of living in squalor and fear as the impending winds blow all around them is palpable. Pa is a defiant settler, angry and unhinged but determined to keep his family together at all costs, even in the face of life and death. Ma is increasingly haunted by visions of the future, images and dreams that manifest themselves in a crude series of drawings that could hold the key to what is to come. Sunny has known only despair and isolation in her young life and now aspires to find any way to escape the hopelessness that she feels for her situation and the ruthless nature of her father’s control over the situation.

Díaz weaves into this family drama Jesύs (Christopher Alvarenga), a Mexican migrant worker who had hoped to start a new life for his family in California and Jim (Vic Kuligoski) a minister who has attracted the attention of Sunny over her mother’s protective objections. As the days click down on this intense drama and the gritty tension of the pending storm reaches a fever pitch, emotions flare and a stunning twist is realized.

“Black Sunday” is both a brilliant historical retrospective and a captivating cautionary tale for our time about the impact of climate change on our resources. The work also shines a light on the migrant workers story of the era and comes at a time when that story is being told to a new generation. Moreover, it stands as a powerful statement—then and now—about our personal responsibility to the environment and as stewards to our resources for future generations.

And “Black Sunday” steps in line as the final production in the 25-year succession of TimeLine’s rich dramatic storytelling in their Wellington location. Over the course of the next season, TimeLine Theatre Company will produce shows in association with Court Theatre, DePaul University’s Cortelyou Commons and Writers Theatre as plans for a new home in Uptown take shape for one of Chicago’s most revered professional theatres.    

PHOTO|Liz Lauren

TIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY
presents
World Premiere
BLACK SUNDAY
615 W. Wellington Avenue
through June 29

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PROGRAM

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PicksInSix® is a registered trademark of Roxbury Road Creative, LLC