Unmatched pair: Laughter on the 23rd Floor at Eclectic Full Contact Theatre, and Tyrant at Sideshow Theatre
Critics Kelly Kleiman and Jonathan Abarbanel pair two very different productions: Neil Simon's dysfunctional writers' room in Laughter on the 23rd Floor against the dystopian world premiere of Tyrant by Kathleen Akerly.
Read the review →Eclectic Full Contact Theatre occupies a distinctive corner of Chicago's independent stage landscape, where bold choices and unconventional programming often define a season. As part of the city's broader ecosystem of storefront and mid-size companies, the ensemble contributes work that sits comfortably alongside the output of peer groups like Sideshow Theatre, inviting audiences to sample a wide emotional range from one neighborhood to the next. For listeners of Dueling Critics, the company represents one of the many stops on a continuing tour through the regional scene that hosts Kelly Kleiman and Jonathan Abarbanel as they weigh each production against their shared and competing standards of craft and intent.
The Chicago theater community that Dueling Critics covers is shaped by dozens of small and midsize companies working simultaneously across the metropolitan area. Eclectic Full Contact Theatre fits within this constellation, joining houses such as Sideshow Theatre in offering work that ranges from sharp comedic writing to more provocative dramatic territory. The podcast approach treats each company as a piece of a larger mosaic, recognizing that no single venue defines the city's voice. Reviews filed under the Eclectic Full Contact Theatre tag serve as a record of one company's contribution to that ongoing conversation, captured through the back-and-forth dialogue between the show's two hosts.
Archived posts gathered under specific company tags function as a long-form reference for listeners who want to trace a production house's history through critical reception. The Eclectic Full Contact Theatre archive, though compact, illustrates how the podcast treats each production as a conversation starter rather than a final verdict. Pairing a show with work from a neighboring company reflects the critics' instinct to place individual pieces in context, comparing tone, ambition, and execution side by side. The result is a body of commentary that values context, range, and the texture of a city's many stages working in parallel across a single season.