When A Strange Loop premiered on Broadway in 2022, I was eager to travel to New York to catch the production because the previews were captivating. Unfortunately, due to COVID, travel wasn't advisable at the time. So, when About Face Theatre announced it would perform the production here in Chicago at the Raven Theatre, I finally got the chance to see if it lived up to the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning acclaim. It certainly did! Michael R. Jackson's A Strange Loop is a phenomenal, well-written musical. If you're willing to overlook some explicit content, which may not be for everyone, you'll find its message resonates with anyone seeking acceptance, a quest to find one's identity, and self-discovery, something we all have done!
Weaver plays Usher; the play's core centers around a dynamic, inner reflection loop where a young, overweight, Black, queer man whose main income comes from working as an usher at a Broadway "The Lion King" seeks to write a play about a gay Black man struggling to write a musical, mirroring his own struggles while grappling with the strains of familial expectations—specifically, the demands from his parents to conform to a conventional masculine life and the continual pressure from his deeply religious mother that, if he truly loves her, he should create a gospel play in the style of Tyler Perry instead of following his true artistic path and lifestyle. To cope with the madness surrounding him, Usher has six distinct thoughts in his head that constantly speak to him with words of self-loathing, doubt, and encouragement. Each thought takes on a different persona that clashes with the others as they battle to take over his emotions.
With themes of sexual dominance, racism, rape, rejection, suicidal thoughts, body shaming, abuse, depression, homophobia, and HIV stigmatization, A Strange Loop can be viewed as a provocative awakening or an unsettling shock to your cerebrum. The cast includes Eddie Weave, who was outstanding as Usher, Micah Mixon, Matheus Barbee, Christopher Wayland, Michael Turrentine, John-Payne, and Naphtali Curry, featuring some of Chicago's finest acting. The six actors who masterfully play his Thoughts also double as real-life figures in Usher's world. The seamless flow, vibrant chemistry, and captivating singing across 16 thought-provoking songs, combined with outstanding individual performances, create an utterly intoxicating, enthralling experience. A Strange Loop is about a gay Black man trying to find his identity and acceptance from his family and himself, capturing the exact emotional heart and message of the entire play! The loop is him continuously recycling through toxic thoughts and his need to confront the self-criticism from within to learn self-acceptance. It's a strange loop we have all encountered.
The play overtly pokes at religion, religious individuals, and Tyler Perry, which Usher feels conflicts with his lived experience. In the play, he gets a chance to work as a ghostwriter on a Perry gospel production, which he accepts for the money and to please his mother; however, his depiction raises questions about the morality of those who seek to place all immoral people against God and send them to hell, burning in flames with a disconcerting song called AIDS Is God's Punishment. The scene is somewhat overly dramatic, and Jackson's point of judgment and damnation pulls away from the moral narrative of acceptance of others without reciprocal judgment.
As a frequent theatergoer, A Strange Loop wouldn't be my cup of tea, to use an old idiom. But as a critic, I must acknowledge that it is one of the most articulate, thought-provoking plays I have encountered. At its core, it's one of Chicago's best performances.
⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 Stars
About Face Theatre and Raven Theatre
A Strange Loop
Book, Music and Lyrics by Michael R. Jackson
Directed by Mikael Burke
October 8- November 8, 2026
A Co-Production with About Face Theatre
Thanks for visting our website. For tickets, you can click on the either of the two above logos. For additional reviews, click below.
