Theater events: Midsommer Flight opens 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' in Lincoln Park

• Oak Park Festival Theatre and Open Door Theater collaborate on a benefit production of "Daughters of Ire," a solo work created and performed by Savanna Rae, who channels four women from Irish legends. Carin Silkaitis directs the production, which runs Saturday, July 7, through July 29 at the Open Door Theater, 902 Ridgeland, Oak Park. (708) 300-9396 or oakparkfestival.com.

• Midsommer Flight presents William Shakespeare's comedy about friendship and loyalty, "The Two Gentlemen of Verona," opening Saturday and Sunday, July 7-8, at Lincoln Park, 2045 N. Lincoln Park West, Chicago. David Goodloe plays Valentine and Chad Bay plays Proteus, best friends who travel from Verona to Milan where they fall in love with the same woman, even though Proteus has a sort-of girlfriend back in Verona. Beth Wolf directs the production, which plays Gross Park, 2708 W. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, on July 14-15 and 21-22. The production moves to Touhy Park, 7348 N. Paulina, Chicago, on July 28-29 and Aug. 18-19, and Chicago Women's Park and Gardens, 1801 S. Indiana Ave., Chicago, Aug. 4-5 and 11-12. The tour concludes Aug. 25-26 at Lincoln Park, 2045 N. Lincoln Park West, Chicago. Admission is free. Performance are at 6 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays and are preceded by live music, which begins 30 minutes before the curtain. See midsommerflight.com.

• Folks Operetta begins its 2018 season with "The Csárdás Princess," composer Emmerich Kálmán's 1915 operetta about the love affair between an aspiring singer from the country and the son of a wealthy Viennese family. The show, with a book by Leo Stein and Bela Jenbach, played briefly on Broadway in 1917 under the title "The Riviera Girl." Performances begin Saturday, July 7, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. See folksoperetta.org.

• Family, friends and colleagues of the late Joseph Jefferson Award-winning director Rachel Rockwell celebrate her life Monday, July 9, at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The celebration of life begins at 7:30 p.m. Email memoriesofrachelrockwell@gmail.com to share memories or for information.

• Stacy Keach, whose illness last summer forced the premature closing of Goodman Theatre's production of "Pamplona," returns for the rescheduled world premiere. Keach plays Ernest Hemingway in Jim McGrath's one-man play about the author who - having received the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes for literature - finds himself in a Spanish hotel alone and in declining health, struggling to write a story about rival matadors. Previews begin Tuesday, July 10, at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. The show, directed by Goodman artistic director Robert Falls, opens July 15. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

• Previews begin Wednesday, July 11, for A Red Orchid Theatre's production of Eugene Ionesco's "Victims of Duty." Directed by Shira Piven, the production is a partial remount of AROT's 1995 production of the absurdist comedy about Choubert and his wife, whose quiet evening at home is interrupted by a detective seeking the previous tenant. Original cast members Michael Shannon and Guy Van Swearingen play the detective and Choubert respectively. The show opens July 14 at 1531 N. Wells St., Chicago. (312) 943-8722 or aredorchidtheatre.org.

• "3 Blocks From Broadway," an all-improvised musical theater sendup by the ensemble Rhyme & Punishment, opens Wednesday, July 11, at The Annoyance Theater, 851 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Running Mondays through July 16 at The Annoyance is "Horrified," Brittany Bookbinder's solo sketch show about spiders, serial killers, nuclear war and other subjects that keep her up at night. (773) 697-9693 or theannoyance.com.

• TimeLine Theatre ensemble member Janet Ulrich Brooks stars as beloved advice columnist Ann Landers in Theatre at the Center's production of "The Lady With All the Answers" by David Rambo. Rambo's behind-the-scenes look into Landers' life unfolds in 1975 in her Lake Shore Drive apartment where she shares her favorite stories while struggling to write a column. Previews begin Thursday, July 12, at 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana. The show opens July 15. (219) 836-3255 or theatreatthecenter.com.