Sandbox Theatre Collective Presents STAGE FRIGHT Review - Are You Afraid of the Dark? (and the Rise of AI? And Forced Pregnancy? And Your Hometown)?
TLDR: Reminiscent of books with short horror stories, Stage Fright is a collection of ten short plays each with their own modern horror sub-genre. The Sandbox Theatre Collective ensemble members pull double duty as stagehands and acting in the plays that create individually distinct scenes to transport us into each one.
Modern Horrors
Did you do the ritual yet?
Asks one of the actors in this exasperated director’s cast. She is barely hanging on by a thread and opening night is right around the corner. They’re performing the Scottish play and every actor is more concerned that the director keeps saying the dreaded “M” word than they are with learning their lines. A fitting start to a show entitled Stage Fright.
What comes after this first play, is a series of more short plays all with the central theme of modern day horrors. There’s ten plays in total and we’re taken through a variety of times and places for scares and terrors in different situations.
Two figures enter an abandoned cabin, one supporting the other limping towards a chair. It’s a country Western where these two are on the run from a sheriff on a dark and stormy night.
Heading to a college classroom, a surprising twist awaits the criminal psychology professor when one of his students isn’t who she claims to be.
A dinner party in the 1950s starts as what looks like a quintessential evening with a wife preparing dinner for her husband and husband’s work friend and wife that turns into an Eldritch horror.
Stage Fright feels like that one book everyone passed around in middle school where each one is a frightening tale that ends with a dark twist. There’s a mix of themes from body horror, to sci-fi, to thriller, to murder mystery so by the end we feel like we’ve covered the entire spectrum of horror.
A True Team Effort
The collective is a stacked team with 20+ members that each pull their weight both as stage crew and actors. With a smaller team, they may not have been able to transport us as much as they did. Each play calls for a full changeover of the set because they’re all meant to be in a wide variety of times and places. But with that many people, they’re able to bring on multiple set pieces and change the stage over in record time.
Then when it’s time for themselves to change over from crew, the collective also excels at their acting roles, sometimes playing multiple roles in different plays.
Caleb Ryan Jones absolutely kills with his physical comedy and deadpan line deliveries. As the gas station attendant, he flips back and forth between apathetic night staff to a small town creep who knows everybody’s business in “Neon.”
We feel absolutely terrified alongside Kylie Reuter as she wakes up in a prison-like maternity ward in “Twilight Sleep,” and has no idea she’s pregnant.
And you’ll wonder if you’re right to be suspicious when you notice Amanda Wright drinking water bottle after water bottle in “Friend.”
Stage Fright is truly a team effort that doesn’t go unnoticed as Sandbox pulls together these ten individual plays.
The After Party Thoughts
Each story brings its own unique perspective and feels like there’s something for everyone. That’s what makes it the perfect show to go to with all your Halloween-loving friends. Though there were some tech issues during the performance that did impact the flow and atmosphere of the show, I’d say that after a few more runs under their belt the team could iron those out.
If you’re not looking for a collection of short works all about the horrors of being human, then this wouldn’t be the show for you. However, if you loved Scary Stories to Read in the Dark or you’re just in the mood for some bite-size scary tales the Stage Fright would be a good fit for you!
RECOMMENDED
P.S. You might also like House of the Exquisite Corpse VI: Lullabies
When
Now through November 1, 2026
Where
Raven Theatre
6157 N Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60660
Runtime: 2hrs 30min, including intermission
Tickets
$30+
Tickets can be purchased through the Sandbox Theatre Collective website
Photos
Courtesy of Sandbox Theatre Collective
Find Allie and The After Party featured on Theatre in Chicago
THE PLAYS
The Scottish Play
Written by Audrey Napoli
Directed by Caleb Ryan Jones
Featuring Laura Bouxsein, Tony Pajakowski, Jorge Salas, Becca Duff, Seneca Jo Sims, and Kylie Reuter
Another Funeral
Written by Francis Brenner
Directed by Seneca Jo Sims
Featuring Lexy Weixel and Kelly Hogan
Friend
Written and Directed by Casey Huls
Featuring Lauren Canfield, Amanda Wright, and Bill Chamberlain
I Am Somebody's Daughter
Written by Riley Vance
Directed by Josiah Motok
Featuring Kelly Hogan, XingXing Shou, Michael Applebaum, and Fiona Ross
Make Me Nice Again
Written by Helena Scholz-Carlson
Directed by Becca Duff
Featuring Alice Ryan, Alex Albrecht, Julia Clavadetscher, and Caleb Ryan Jones
Twilight Sleep
Written by Mary-Helen Pitman
Directed by Erin Ellis
Featuring Kylie Reuter and Laura Bouxsein
The Professor
Written by Alice Ryan
Directed by Ellen Adalaide
Featuring Lexi Thomsen and Aaron Kramer
Knock Knock
Written by Aaron Ortega
Directed by Hannah Keeler
Featuring Kylie Reuter and Julia Clavadetscher
Sins of the Father
Written by Michael Simpson
Directed by Eve Pahoresky
Featuring Frank Rodriguez, Blaire Prince, and Alex Albrecht
Neon
Written by Gavin Mueller
Directed by Emma Marie Montoya
Featuring XingXing Shou and Caleb Ryan Jones
CREATIVE
Audrey Napoli (Creative Director)
Gavin Mueller (Producer/Sound Designer)
Cait Kelly (Producer/Costume Designer)
Ellen Adalaide (Stage Manager)
Jessie Shaw (Stage Manager)
Helena Scholz-Carlson (Directing Mentor/Fight Choreographer)
Mary-Helen Pitman (Playwriting Mentor)
Emma Marie Montoya (Technical Director)
Francis Brenner (Board Operator)
Jerome Michael Jones (Props Design)
Nina D'Angier (Set Design)
Nathan Keiller (Lighting Design)
Riley Vance (Makeup/SFX)
Lexi Thomsen (Hair)
Steve Yandell (Fight Choreography)
Charlotte Davies (Crew)
Dugan Kenaz-Mara (Crew)
Anna Robinson (Crew)
Alexander Coronado (Crew)