By Guest Blogger Eloise Marie Valadez
Theater fans shouldn’t waste any time getting to the Goodman Theatre to secure a ticket for its latest show.
“The Attic: Things I’ve Seen While Lying On My Back” recently opened The Goodman’s 2026/2027 season. The world-premiere production continues to Oct. 11 at The Goodman’s Albert Theatre.
Written, conceived, directed, and choreographed by former trapeze artist Shana Carroll, “The Attic” serves as a memoir of Carroll’s life. It takes her from her memories of dreaming in her childhood attic bedroom to various moments in her life where she falls in love, childbirth, working as a circus artist, and lying in a hospital bed with a serious medical diagnosis.
Carroll writes in a playbill note: “It all started one day while undergoing a medical procedure. I watched the bridge of the CT scanner drifting in and out of my gaze and thought wow, I could tell the story of my life through all the things I’ve seen while lying on my back! And so it began.
“The Attic,” which stars Tyler Meredith, is superb theater and features beautiful aerial artistry in stunning musical numbers. The enchanting aerial work and circus performances are done by The 7 Fingers, a troupe based in Montreal. Carroll is the co-founding artistic director of The 7 Fingers. The troupe stars Fran Alvarez, Melvin Diggs, Eduardo De Azevedo Grillo, Kalani June, Anna Kichtchenko, Nancy Luna, Santiago Rivera Laugerud, Alexandra Royer and Lucy Tan.
The theatrical work is definitely a unique production and is a perfect way to start The Goodman’s new season. Bravo to The Goodman for presenting this soaring production.
FYI: “The Attic” continues to Oct. 11 at The Goodman, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. Tickets are $34 to $139. Visit GoodmanTheatre.org.
About Eloise Marie Valadez
Guest blogger Eloise Marie Valadez, a frequent contributor to Travel/Food, is a professional journalist/writer and editor with four decades of experience covering the arts, entertainment, and culinary industries. A native of Chicago, she has a passion for the written word.
All photos courtesy of the Goodman.
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