Lifeline Theatre Review

Very professional local theater. They adapt novels to the stage. Intimate environment so there no such thing as a bad seat.

A nice neighborhood theater that my wife and I enjoy going to. We saw their last production of Anna Karinina and really enjoyed it. Good acting and at a good price.

Parking was weird, but the theater itself is nice and has a cool vibe.

The best theater in Chicago. Each show is innovative without going over the line into cheesy.

Wonderful storytelling. Shows for adults and for kids. A great part of the neighborhood. Close to food and drinks

One of the oldest and best storefront theatres in Chicago. Adapting from literature and children's stories, Lifeline never disappoints as they bring their Big Stories, Up Close.

Great little theater in the heart of Roger's Park. They always put on stellar performances, and there isn't a bad seat in the house. The plays are always unique too. This is one of my favorite places to go for theater.

Great theater company adapting literary and popular books to the stage. Subscriptions make it very economical.

This review is based on one single visit to date, and our first visit to any Chicago theater at that, so please weigh accordingly. This is a small theater with little to no immediate parking, but with that information in hand in advance (shuttle provided, which we didn't use) it didn't subtract from our visit. The set design for such a small space was truly ingenious, both for the single production we saw and historically based on set photos. The production itself was an excellent literary adaptation (apparently their specialty); we visited a "preview" performance and it was already top-notch. Looking forward to visiting again in the future.

So amazing! The acting moved me to tears and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. It's a Moss go to place!

I've been to 4 shows here (one was even a musical) and they always exceed expectations. The seats are narrow and the theater gets cold, but it's really the best community theater I've seen in a long time.

One of my favorite local theaters. In Morse Avenue arts district, 1 block from Red Line. Specializes in literary adaptations. Creative use of small space, terrific performers, helpful reservation and box office staff. Children's theater productions also excellent!

Good sightlines from any seat. Quality actors. Good choices for material. Worth any visit. I am actually considering a season ticket to view more plays. Worth the visit. Thumbs up.
Parking was the only issue.

Great theater. Small, good views, excellent performances. No question that it is an extraordinary value.

Great small theater venue. Friend also told me they also do great children's theater (I don't have kids)

I buy season tickets to the kids series for my family every year. I love this theater company.

Excellent performances in a cozy space. Prices are amazing.

Neverwhere is a must see. The performance was out of the world. You will not be disappointed.

Local Rogers Park theatre. Engaging. Cozy. Stadium seating so every seat is good. I have loved every show I saw here. Anna Karenina, Frankenstein, Filet of Solo. The Filet of Solo event is a three weekend Solo storytelling festival. I didn't know there were so many strong story tellers in Chicago. Amazing deals especially if you go for the 3 show season pass. Steps away from the Morse Red Line.

Great shows everytime we have been here. Well acted and a very intimate cozy theatre. I wouldn't bring young kids but it is a very fun place with great show adaptations.

Went to free weekly tot music play date on Saturday. Great group of parents and kids. Downside is hard to find parking.

The acting was great. The actors seemed liky they were the characters they were playing. The virtual technology was handled very smoothly. It was even an advantage in a play like Pride and Prejudice, to have the faces so close up with their names. We particularly liked when Elizabeth spoke one-to-one with the audience.

I have been here a couple times and the productions have been really well done literary adaptations. Cast and sets were brilliant. Well worth the trip.

Intimate & delightfully ingenious adaptations, usually these days with diverse casts that imbue classic Eurocentric (or Euro-American-centric) works with fresh, interesting dimensions.

This place does a LOT with the space they have!
We saw Neverwhere, and the set was fantastic. I booked by phone and it was easy and the tickets were at will call. The parking is at a nearby school and there is a shuttle, this was super convenient. Everyone there was friendly, kind and outgoing.
They have snacks and drinks for purchase, you cannot bring the food into the theatre.
I thought the adaptation of Neverwhere was great and so was the cast.
The seating is not very comfortable, the seats are very tight (I'm an average size person) and when the person in front of me moved around and leaned forward, I had trouble seeing. I felt like I had to wriggle around the entire time.
I will definitely go back, sit in F6 and F7!

I gave it 4 stars because I've never gone to see a play at this theater. I do know that the staff is wonderful based on my encounter with them dueing IAG's participation with the Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest event. The Lifeline Theatre's volunteer group is the best I've seen. Dorothy and Erica are an awesome team to work with. Looking forward to attending the next play/event.

Good show. Unique, creative set design. Excellent performances! After over 2 hours in our seats the bows seemed really short. We in the audience felt a bit unsatisfied: wished they had stayed longer or/and come out for an extra bow. They did a great job.

Bye Bye crocodile was a great play .... Not only for kids. I loved it

Neighborhood theater with good shows
currently going for a Story Telling Festival called Fillet of Solo.

Great theatre. Often a diverse cast. Fantastic productions.

Great place with really professional staging. Quirky. Friendly staff. Limited bathroom capacity. Limited snacks/drinks available. No alcohol. Capped beverages allowed in theater but no food.

I love how with limited space this theater does amazing work

I love this place! Close quarters cozy feel, all seats are great, blankets provided on every seat, staff is incredibly friendly, the cast is always talented, nice location, reasonably priced shows, and the plays rotate frequently. There are plenty of dinner options available after the show at all of the local eateries and bars scattered throughout the area. Very safe as well, and you are able to find parking close or nearby

Intimate professional theater in Chicago. A hidden gem!

Maybe not the same quality as at larger theaters, but an enjoyable theater with fun children's shows.

Awesome introduction to theater for kids. We just saw Bunniculla, loved it the cast was phenomenal!!!

Incredible Cast! Came to see this show for my Birthday. Our group had a great time.

I saw Neverwhere and the cast and show was amazing. The theater space itself is slightly small and was freezing but luckily they provided blankets for everyone.

Saw Bunnicula, really cute, really fun songs, really friendly.

Went to Toddler Jam, a free Saturday gathering for our young ones to get the wiggles out! Dawn Marie entertains us with a mix of kid's songs, current tunes and oldies but goodies! The children have a basket of instruments to choose from and then the dancing begins. Fun for the parents/caregivers as well as the children.

Saw Frankenstein there tonight. Excellent staging and props. Strong ensemble.

Cozy 99-seat theatre adjacent to the red line. High quality adaptations for adults and children.

If you enjoy virtuoso acting, go see Emma at Lifeline Theater. Four of the five actors perform multiple roles with seamless expertise. The main character, Emma, is played only by Emma Sipora Tyler who captures both the sweetness and manipulativeness that Jane Austin intended with more artfully than either Kate Beckinsale or Gwyneth Paltrow.
Kudos to the entire cast and crew!

Nice little theater. Innovative set design. I'll go back.

This is a great little theatre in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. I recently attended Fillet of Solo here. The box office staff was really friendly, ticketing was pretty simple (Although their website wasn't working for online sales when I tried), concessions are cheap, and the theater itself was clean and well designed. No problem seeing or hearing anything during the performances. Appreciated the blankets across the backs of chairs as well.

Intimate and fun theatre experience - specializes in staging productions based on books and literature. Easily accessible via red line train.

LIfeline is just awesome. I'm super biased, my mom took me to see shows when I was a kid, and I work in the Box Office now :)

Nice location and excellent production of Frankenstein.

Small; happy-to-see-me-and-to-help; you know your patrons.

Lifeline's adaptations of books into plays are fantastic.

This is a wonderful little theater! My husband and I were there last night to see a Tale of Two Cities and were very impressed. Although small and in a slightly odd location (down an alley off of the red line stop in Rodgers Park), the venue is very cute inside and the acting was excellent. As a fair warning, it does get cold inside the theater, but there are blankets available in some of the seats to bundle up. Parking is also tricky, but we noticed there seemed to be a shuttle available (we managed to find parking nearby after circling around for awhile). We are planning on going back in the future!

Intimate theatre. Apparently can be very chilly but they provide blankets!

I can always count on Lifeline Theatre to have top quality performances and experiences whether it's their kid series or adult shows. An incredible asset to the community their "big stories up close' ensemble created plays and musicals are not to be missed.

A wonderful little theatre, tucked away on the far north side of the city, that adapts novels into plays and always finds clever ways to make the most ambitious stories -- Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, Treasure Island -- come to life brilliantly. Dinner at Heartland Cafe (just down the street) followed by a play at Lifeline usually makes a solid evening plan.

Small and intimate. The actors are talented and the staff was lively. Greater experience for all ages!

Small, intimate theater that creatively makes the most of what they've got to stage quality productions.

I'm a huge fan of Chicago theatre, and I plan to return here often. My daughter and I saw Emma tonight. It was one of the best adaptations I have ever seen.

The Bunicula show was fantastic. Best $15 show in Chicago. Loved it.

I visited Lifeline to get a preview show of China Mievelle's play The City & The City. The theatre itself is small, very homey, and the parking is a devious situation. They have a lot you can park in and take a small van to the theater from, which solves one minor inconvenience.
They don't sell much in the way of food, but the amazing performances - even for a preview - in an intimate setting make a lovely night of it. The tightness of their performance spaces provides a challenging stage, but I enjoy the closeness.
I would definitely attend again.

Nice little theater with interesting shows. Free parking a few blocks away with a free shuttle service to it.

This theatre has some extraordinary talent and I look forward to seeing more plays here. The Frankenstein production took such a unique and fresh perspective on Mary Shelley and her work, with a lot of interesting twists and staging. Very moving. Applause!

We love gp8ing to this theatre! It's always great fun. I love the fact that our autistic son gets to enjoy plays specially designed for those with sensory issues

I did not enjoy the gratuitous images of gore and sewage there seemed to be no plot to follow.
The "place" LifeLine I ve enjoyed for years. Just this play and one ab superheroes I cd not suspend reality to go along

Intimate theater experience with great acting ability and stage craft. It's a small stage, with seating right down to stage level. They use the stairs between the sides of the seating area as well as a stage entrance behind the seats at the top of those stairs to good effect, making it really seem like you're in the middle of the show at times.
Definitely looking forward to coming for other performances in the future.

I wonderful theater space with a well produced play. We saw Emma and had a wonderful time.

We had the extreme pleasure of seeing the riveting feature of Mary's Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN. The cast represented in this performance. The depiction of true grief and loss was done well and we all wanted to comfort Victoria in her tragic loss. The theater does incredible work in this intimate space. Support live theater!! Lifeline does not disappoint!

Went to see Anna Karenina for my birthday and absolutely LOVED it!!! They even have free parking with shuttle to the theater! I wish I could give 10 stars!

My wife and I were just there to see a Tale of Two Cities. Excellent performance by all actors involved, try to make this show before it ends. Easy to miss this theater since it is down the alley but very unique inside. The narrow theater has about 100 seats and all have a good view. We loved our experience here and would go back for another show.

This is one of the gems of Rogers Park. A terrific community theatre space that is intimate and inclusive. Very convenient off of the Morse red line and 155 bus stop.

Great acting and accommodating in fidget toys for stimming (which actually helped our ASD child through the first 30min). It was Just small, and I was under the impression there would be more space our child was fidgeting and we were afraid they d hit someone. Didn t work out too well for us as their quiet space wasn t private and felt a meltdown would be disruptive to others. They have snacks and a distraction basket. The part of the play we did watch we loved! Glad we were able to experience a play if only briefly! Was much more accommodating than any other place for us. So we appreciated even the attempt.

Outstanding performances in intimate space. Helpful box office staff and house manager. Nice selection of snacks and beverages in lobby. Free shuttle to parking lot. Close to CTA Morse Red Line L stop. Plenty of restaurants and bars nearby.

A must go to in Chicago! Loved the productions of Emma and neverwhere