Never underestimate the power of an all-consuming, heartbreaking love story. We don’t always get to be with the one we love the most. The Chicago Shakespeare Theater offers a fresh take on the painfully timeless story of Brokeback Mountain.
The film became a cultural phenomenon, both positively and negatively. However, no one can deny that Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar’s story haunts you most breathtakingly. Ashley Robinson and Jonathan Butterell’s version of Brokeback Mountain is a playful and heartbreaking tale of two lovers forever forbidden from being together.
Ennis and Jack have a story that isn’t overly sentimental, but that makes it feel more authentic. Two macho men aren’t going to express their emotions so openly. It’s going to be subtle looks, things said in between the lines, and giving in to raw desires.
inspired the Academy Award-winning film. May 28 – June 28, 2026, in the Courtyard Theater at Chicago Shakespeare. Photo by Kyle Flubacker.
This play spends the majority of its time in the initial relationship stages. It wants us to follow and fall in love right beside them.
We watch them go from strangers to friends to the great loves of each other’s lives. Then Ennis and Jack must battle their identities. They each attempt to deny their feelings, conform to society, but constantly end up back in each other’s arms.
The structure of the play works well because it helps the audience grow attached to them individually and as a pair. It’s beyond their control. It also heavily reflects the time and culture in which Ennis and Jack grew up.
In 2026, they would be allowed to be together, but some prejudices still exist. However, it’s a more open and accepting society. This helps make these men’s love story more heartbreaking.
If only they were born in a different time, in a different culture. They could have had their happy ending.
Brokeback Mountain captures this feeling of an all-consuming love in a world that doesn’t allow it to exist. It grips you and doesn’t let you go. The tale of Ennis and Jack should be up there with the great fictional love stories of all time, and this play makes that more clear than ever.
The reimagining and adaptation of the story is what sells this concept the most. It doesn’t completely copy the movie, because it has many interesting, cool changes. The biggest one is the original songs that accompany the play.
They help tell the tale of a forbidden love story that changed lives. This gives it a more folksy quality, almost like the legend of Ennis and Jack.
It also has a lot more humor than the movie. This makes the story more dynamic. It’s not just a tragedy but a layered love story.
A romance that has all the elements that move you to your core.
Harrison Ball and Jack Cameron Kay as Ennis and Jack are perfectly matched. Kay brings the lighthearted goofiness to Jack, while Ball gives Ennis the brooding that he needs. They play off each other, and their chemistry is more raw than you may see in some romantic comedies or dramedies.
Brokeback Mountain is the perfect play to kick off Pride month: It’s one of the most well-known and beloved gay romantic stories. The Chicago Shakespeare Theater team gives it a new life that captures the enthralling nature of the story, while being funny, heartbreaking, and unforgettable.
It’s a play that makes you appreciate the story in a way only live theater can.
Brokeback Mountain is playing at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater until June 28th.
