Local theater: New local ensemble

New theater debuts

Alison Henderson, former co-artistic director of the shuttered New World Repertory Theater in Downers Grove, has formed a new ensemble. The Moving Image Acting Studio and Theater marks its debut with a production of “Closer Than Ever,” a revue featuring music by Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire that addresses relationships, unrequited love and working parents among other topics.

Opens Friday, Sept. 30, at Plymouth Place Dole Hall, 315 N. LaGrange Road, LaGrange Park. (630) 234-1392 or movingimage.org.

Composer salute

Light Opera Works celebrates the songwriting duo responsible for the musicals “Babes in Arms,” “The Boys From Syracuse” and “Pal Joey” in “Rodgers & Hart: A Celebration.”

Previews begin Sunday, Oct. 2, at LOW's Second Stage, 1420 Maple Ave., Evanston. (847) 869-6300 or lightoperaworks.com.

CST in London

The Chicago Shakespeare Theater is among 37 international theater companies set to perform Shakespeare's entire canon as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad accompanying next year's Summer Olympics. Beginning on Shakespeare's birthday, April 23, 2012, London's Globe Theatre will present each of Shakespeare's plays in a different language over six weeks. CST will premiere its hip hop-inspired commission “Othello: The Remix” by the Q Brothers who created the award-winning “Funk it Up About Nothin,'” which premiered at CST several years ago.

• Clock Productions second installment of its seasonal show “Seven Scary Tales” opened this week at National Pastime Theater, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago. The show runs through Oct. 31. (773) 327-7077 or npt2.com.

• Filament Theatre Ensemble begins its 2011-12 season with its original production “From the Circle: Remembering the Earth through Folktales.” Adapted from folk tales and centered on how the natural world has shaped humanity, the show also marks the latest in Filament's efforts to minimize its environmental footprint as part of a “zero-waste theater model.” Previews begin Friday, Sept. 30, at the Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. Literary manager Jack Novak directs the show, which opens Saturday, Oct. 8. See filamenttheatre.org for more information.

• Kemba Saran's autobiographical “A Dress of Steel Mesh” is the latest play to be featured as part of Silk Road Theatre Project's Al Kasida Staged Reading Series. The play chronicles Saran's experience as a survivor of domestic violence. The free readings are at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 1, and 2 p.m. Oct. 2, at the Historic Chicago Temple Building, 77 W. Washington St., Chicago. (312) 857-1234, ext. 201, or srtp.org.

• Adventure Stage Chicago hosts a free, community-based performance at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30 and 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at Vittum Theater, 1012 N. Noble St., Chicago. The show, “Neighborhood Perspectives,” is an informal event inspired by stories from members of the West Town/Humboldt Park communities who take part in programs offered by the Northwestern University Settlement House. See adventurestage.org.

• “Pinque Pony,” a sketch comedy about gay relationships by life partners Andy Eninger and John Loos, opens Friday, Sept. 30, at Second City's Donny's Skybox Theater, 1608 N. Wells St., Chicago. (312) 337-3992 or pinquepony.com.

• Clockwise Theatre hosts a fundraiser beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, at 221 N. Genesee St., Waukegan. The evening includes food, music, a raffle and other entertainment appropriate for ages 12 and older. Tickets are $40. (800) 838-3006 or clockwisetheatre.org.

• Victory Gardens Theater's Fresh Squeezed Series continues at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago with a late night cabaret called “Literally Sexy.” Spoken word artist Marty McConnell and G Boutique owner Tara Sissom host the performance, which coincides with Victory Gardens' revival of Sarah Ruhl's “In the Next Room, or the vibrator play.” (773) 871-3000 or victorygardens.org.

• The Focal Point Theatre Company opens its inaugural season with “The Against Type Project,” an event in which traditional theater scenes will be performed with nontraditional casts. Performances run Monday, Oct. 3, through Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 1770 W. Berteau, Chicago. See focalpointtheatre.com for information.

• Genesis Theatrical Productions' “The People's Choice,” a satire on politics and the spinmeisters who control everything by Philip Pinkus, opens Monday, Oct. 3, at National Pastime Theater, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago. (773) 327-7077, ext. 502.

• Gary Griffin directs Chicago Shakespeare Theater's season opening production of “Follies,” the Stephen Sondheim-James Goldman musical about the members of the fictional, once-famous Weismann Follies who reunite to confront the ghosts of their past. The all-star cast includes Chicago area favorites Susan Moniz, Hollis Resnik, Nancy Voigts, Mike Nussbaum and others. Previews begin Tuesday, Oct. 4, at Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. The show opens Wednesday, Oct. 12, (312) 595-5633 or chicagoshakes.com.

• Carrie Fisher brings her one-woman show “Wishful Drinking” to Chicago for a brief run. In the show, the star recounts her not-quite picture-perfect life as the daughter of Hollywood legends and an actress and writer in her own right. Performances begin Tuesday, Oct. 4, at the Bank of America Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com. Speaking of Broadway in Chicago, theatergoers who become a Facebook fan of the organization may be eligible to win $25 tickets to BIC shows.

• In late 19th-century Chicago, a couple of charlatans prey on rich people eager to communicate with dead relatives through seances and other supernatural methods in “The Spirit Play,” by Emily Schwartz. Jimmy McDermott directs The Strange Tree Group's world premiere of the show which begins previews on Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., Chicago. The show opens Friday, Oct. 7. (312) 742-8497 or dcatheater.org or strangetree.org.

• Citadel Theatre embraces the spirit of the season with a revival of “Wait Until Dark,” Frederick Knott's thriller about a blind woman who's targeted by criminals who think she's in possession of a doll containing heroin. Performances begin Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the Lake Forest West Campus Theatre, 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest. See citadeltheatre.org for more information.

• Theatre at the Center kicks off its Theatre for Young Audiences series with a musical adaptation of “Sleeping Beauty.” The production runs Thursday to Saturday, Oct. 6-8, at 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Ind. (219) 836-3255 or theatreatthecenter.com.

• Stage Left Theatre has extended its production of the Chicago premiere of “Farragut North,” written by Beau Willimon and inspired by his experiences working on Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign. Performances will be at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, and 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 9, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 975-8150 or stagelefttheatre.com.

• Pride Films & Plays has named Vanda's “Patient HM” as best play, about a lesbian neuroscientist mourning her lost lover who treats a man who hasn't had a new memory in more than 50 years, and Pat Branch's “Girls Out Loud,” about a lesbian disappointed in love who decides to have a baby on her own, as best screenplay as part of its 2011 Women's Work contest. Also, the organization has named its five finalists in its 2011 Great Gay Screenplay Contest. The number includes Tom Emerick of Chicago whose “Bre'gan's Fist” is about a human and magic man who've suffered profound personal loss but team up to save the planet. The five final scripts will be performed as staged readings Friday to Sunday, Oct. 21-23, at the Hoover-Leppen Theater at the Center, 3656 N. Halsted St., Chicago. See pridefilmsandplays.com for more information.