What's new on stage

'Caveman' returns

The battle of the sexes resumes with the arrival of "Defending the Caveman" at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre. Rob Becker's frequently revived one-man show satirizing male-female relationships is part of Metropolis' comedy series, which also includes a performance of "Flanagan's Wake" on March 17.

8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27; 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

What's Dixie selling?

The off-Broadway hit "Dixie's Tupperware Party," a combination play, drag show and honest-to-goodness Tupperware party hosted by three-time divorcee Dixie Longate (creator Kris Andersson), comes to Aurora's Copley Theatre as part of its national tour. This is an adults-only show, so leave the kids at home. But bring your checkbook, the Tupperware's for sale.

Runs Thursday, March 5, to Sunday, March 15, at 8 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora. (630) 896-6666 or paramountaurora.com.

A philatelic comedy

Wheaton's Rick Snyder has a lot on his plate these days. His production of Yasmina Reza's "Art" opened recently at Steppenwolf Theatre and his staging of Theresa Rebeck's "Mauritius" is in previews at Northlight Theatre. Snyder makes his Northlight debut directing the comedic potboiler about half-sisters who inherit rare stamps, one of which may be the crown jewel coveted by philatelists who are willing to do anything to get their hands on it.

Opens Thursday, March 5, at 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. (847) 673-6300 or northlight.org.

• Lake Forest's Citadel Theatre Company stages Lake Forest native Ann Noble's play "And Neither Have I Wings to Fly," about two sisters (one of whom is torn between two men) and their recently widowed father in 1950s Dublin, Ireland. The production opens Friday, Feb. 27, at the Gorton Center for the Performing Arts, 400 E. Illinois Road, Lake Forest. (847) 735-8554 or citadeltheatre.org.

• "Schoolhouse Rock Live!" - the play about a young teacher preparing for his first class and based on the 1970s cartoon series that taught children about adverbs and how a bill becomes a law - comes to Centre East, at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. Performances are at 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28. (847) 673-6300 or centreeast.org.

• 500 Clown member Molly Brennan hosts a variety show dubbed "500 Clown Madame Barker's Cabaret" at 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave., Chicago, (773) 383-9429. The performance serves as a type of preview of 500 Clown's next show, "500 Clown and the Elephant Deal," opening in June at Steppenwolf Theatre.

• Redtwist Theatre artistic director Michael Colucci plays the lead in his company's production of Edward Albee's "The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?" a dark comedy about a successful, middle-aged architect who confesses to his wife that he's fallen in love with a most unusual partner. The production opens Monday, March 2, at 1044 N. Bryn Mawr, Chicago. (773) 728-7529 or redtwist.org.

• The 1997 murder in Canada of Reena Virk, a 14-year-old Indian teenager bullied by her classmates, who then kept silent about the crime for days, inspired Joan MacLeod's one-woman show, "The Shape of a Girl." Pegasus Players continues its 30th anniversary season with the Chicago premiere of the play starring Alice Wedoff as 15-year-old narrator Braidie. Previews continue through Sunday, March 1. The production opens Monday, March 2, at Truman College's O'Rourke Center, 1145 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago. (773) 878-9761 or pegasusplayers.org.

• The Beatles tribute "Rain" opens Tuesday, March 3, at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Congress Parkway, Chicago. (312) 902-1400 or broadwayinchicago.com.

• Solo performer Heather Woodbury brings "The Last Days of Desmond 'Nani' Reese: A Stripper's History of the World" to Steppenwolf Theatre for one performance at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 3. The post-apocalyptic play chronicles the relationship between a young academic and her subject, a 108-year-old stripper who lives in a shack with 27 cats. Steppenwolf is at 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

• "The Secrets Project," which examines the personal, social and political secrets people share and keep, marks the debut of newcomer the Genesis Ensemble. Previews begin Wednesday, March 4, at the Peter Jones Gallery, 1806 W. Cuyler, Chicago. The show opens Saturday, March 7. For information, see genesisensemble.org.

• IO Chicago celebrates the life of its late co-founder Del Close on the occasion of his 75th birthday with a weeklong celebration that includes the return of iO alum Andy Dick. It begins Wednesday, March 4, with a screening of a documentary on Close. A staged reading of iO co-founder Charna Halpern's untitled screenplay for a Close biopic follows on Thursday, March 5, along with a performance of Dick's new one-man show. The celebration also includes reunion performances by Close's first Harold team, Barron's Barracudas, at 10:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 7. Performances continue through March 10 at 3541 N. Clark St., Chicago. (773) 880-0199 or ioimprov.com.

• Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. presents the Chicago premiere of R.L. Lane's adaptation of Herman Melville's novella "Bartleby the Scrivener," about a successful lawyer in mid-19th-century New York, who hires an enigmatic and troubled scribe who upsets the balance of the office when he refuses to do any work. Previews begin Tuesday, March 3, at Angel Island, 735 W. Sheridan Road, Chicago. The production opens Thursday, March 5. (773) 871-0442 or maryarrchie.com.

• The real life stories (and recipes) of Arabs and Israelis living in the West Bank inspired playwright Robin Soans' "The Arab-Israeli Cookbook," a play that details life in that conflicted part of the world. Previews begin Thursday, March 5, at the Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., Chicago. The production opens Saturday, March 7. (312) 742-8497 or dcatheater.org.

• "Everything Freezes: another winter's tale," a take on Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale" - in which jealousy disrupts a friendship, resulting in mistaken identities and the blossoming of a romance - marks the next production by Sideshow Theatre Company. Performances continue through Thursday, March 5. The production opens Friday, March 6, at Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. See sideshowtheatre.org for ticket information.

• Performances of Toneelgroep Amsterdam's multimedia production of "Rouw Siert Electra" ("Mourning Becomes Electra"), Eugene O'Neill's take on Aeschylus' "The Orestia" continue through Saturday, Feb. 28, at Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. The Dutch theater company performs as part of Goodman's "Global Exploration: Eugene O'Neill in the 21st Century." (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.