Review: THE ATTIC at Goodman Theatre

The Attic: Things I’ve Seen While Lying On My Back is genuinely a unique experience at the Goodman. The 7 Fingers Co-Founder Shana Carroll wrote, directed, and choreographed this world-premiere autobiographical performance piece that shares vignettes from her life story. An international company of circus artists and acrobats join Chicago actor Tyler Meredith onstage to tell much of the story through movement.

Meredith takes on the challenge of portraying Carroll’s onstage stand-in with aplomb. Fittingly, she’s a participant observer — making her a conduit to the audience and a narrator. Carroll stages many moments where Shana watches scenes from her own life. Meredith is utterly charming and performs each moment with a sense of wonder and whimsy, as if taking in each experience for the first time. Her gentle and whimsical presence mirrors the dazzling artistry of her fellow performers.

Calling this performance piece The Attic is a misnomer. Though Carroll’s childhood bedroom in the attic plays a small part, “Things I’ve seen while lying on my back” is truly this production’s refrain. Meredith literally repeats the phrase aloud several times, but it’s also the connective thread between Carroll’s experiences as a circus performer, and later, her cancer diagnosis.

Much of the spoken dialogue is abstract and has a sense of poetry. The vignettes also unfold achronologically. Music director and composer Colin Gagné also wrote some original songs for Meredith to perform. She does so gamely, though they don’t always seem a natural fit in the piece. 

Meredith has many shining moments, but I was perhaps most charmed by her monologue above the trapeze. She recounts Carroll’s early days as a trapeze artist, verbalizing her interior thoughts hanging high above the ground.

The choreography and dazzling acrobatic feats really bring The Attic to life. Fran Alvarez, Melvin Diggs, Eduardo de Azevedo Grillo, Kalani June, Anna Kichtchenko, Luna/">Nancy Luna, Santiago Rivera Laugerud, Alexandra Royer, and Lucy Tan perform acrobatic feats that appear simultaneously effortless and humanly impossible. Carroll’s choreography stunningly combines trapeze, hand-to-hand acrobatics, silks, hula hoops, aerial hoops, poles, and more.

Normally, it’s cliché to call performance jaw-dropping, but it’s true. These performers are magnetic, incredibly strong, and graceful in their movements. Carroll’s choreography not only showcases the ensemble’s many talents but provides a gorgeous metaphorical vessel for her life story.

For example, three aerialists become stand-ins for shooting stars in the night sky at the end of the first act. Indeed, watching the performers fly through the air feels entirely akin to witnessing shooting stars.

In the second act, I was particularly struck by Kichtchenko’s hula hoop act, representing the experience of having an MRI. She beautifully conveys the chaos and uncertainty with her movements, and Gagné’s music compositions are powerfully eerie and alarming. It’s a stunning way to communicate the fraught experience of awaiting uncertain medical results and dealing with the unpleasantness of an MRI machine.

For those who love acrobatics, the massive array of feats on display is reason enough to see The Attic. The show ends with an electric and seemingly gravity-defying array of hand-to-hand acrobatic sequences. Meredith watches from offstage as her fellow performers form a series of safety nets. It’s a stunning combination of artistry and athleticism. 

Carroll’s superpower is using movement and acrobatics as a storytelling vessel. Using her beloved art forms to tell her life story is powerful and engaging. The performers’ feats seem otherworldly, and The Attic succeeds in bringing the magic of the circus and acrobatics to the Goodman stage — with Meredith gamely leading the way.

The Attic: Things I’ve Seen While Lying On My Back runs through October 4, 2026 in the Albert Theatre at Goodman Theatre, 170 North Dearborn. Tickets are $34-$139, subject to change. 

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