Fresh staging of 'Twelfth Night' at Peabody Estate

'Night' in IndiaDirector Michael Goldberg offers a unique take on Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," setting the First Folio Theatre production in 19th-century India. Minita Gandhi and Anish Jethmalani make their First Folio debuts as the shipwrecked Viola and the dashing duke Orsino.Previews begin Wednesday, July 7, at Mayslake Peabody Estate, 1717 W. 31st St., Oak Brook. (630) 986-8067 or firstfolio.org.Locals headline 'Superstar'Marriott Theatre and Drury Lane Oak Brook veterans make up the cast of Theatre at the Center's "Jesus Christ Superstar." Jeff Award winner Max Quinlan ("The Light in the Piazza," "Ragtime") stars as Judas in the production, which also features fellow Marriott and Drury Lane regulars Joe Tokarz as Judas, Larry Adams as Pontius Pilate and Audrey Billings as Mary Magdalene. Previews begin Thursday, July 8, at 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Ind. The show opens July 11. (800) 511-1552 or theatreatthecenter.com.'Desire' continuesThe hits just keep on coming for Writers' Theatre, which announced a second extension of "A Streetcar Named Desire," its hit revival of the Tennessee Williams's classic comprised of exquisitely crafted little moments courtesy of director David Cromer. Real-life husband and wife Matt Hawkins and Stacy Stoltz star as Stanley and Stella Kowalski, while the magnificent Natasha Lowe plays the doomed Blanche.Performances continue through Aug. 1 at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. (847) 242-6000 or writerstheatre.org.bull; National Pastime Theater premieres its adults-only version of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes" as the centerpiece of its annual Naked July: Art Stripped Down festival beginning Friday, July 2, at 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago. In this version by Keely Haddad-Null, a corrupt mayor hires a talented tailor who wonders why it takes so much work to get other people naked. (773) 327-7077 or npt2.com.bull; Chicago playwright Chelsea Marcantel examines love and romance through the hard sciences in "(a)Symmetry Cycle," comprised of three plays: "Numbfeel," "Dumbspeak" and "Blindsight." An ensemble of more than 40 artists, actors and directors contributed to these plays in which six characters explore the physical and emotional forces that impact their relationships. It opens Sunday, July 4, at the Viaduct Theatre, 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago. See asymmetrycycle.com or viaducttheatre.com.bull; The Chicago Park District's 58th annual Theater on the Lake season showcasing Chicago productions from the last year continues Wednesday, July 7, with the improv group Baby Wants Candy's popular all-improvised musical inspired by audience suggestions. "Baby Wants Candy: The Completely Improvised Full-Band Musical," runs through July 11 at the theater at Fullerton Avenue and Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. (312) 742-7994 or chicagoparkdistrict.com.bull; The New Colony presents the world premiere of "That Sordid Little Story," a bluegrass musical cowritten and directed by Andrew Hobgood. The play centers around Billy, who hears his life story unfold on the latest album by a band called That Sordid Little Story and seeks out the group hoping to find the whereabouts of his father. The show opens Thursday, July 8, at the Viaduct Theatre, 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago. (773) 296-6024 or thenewcolony.org.bull; Previews begin Thursday, July 8, for puppet master Blair Thomas' remount of "Hard Headed Heart," at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The show consists of three playlettes: "The Puppet Show of Don Crist#243;bal," inspired by a Federico Garcia Lorca script, involves a trickster wooing a young lady; "St. James Infirmary" is based on a New Orleans folk song; and "The Blackbird" is a shadow-puppet play inspired by the Wallace Stevens poem. (773) 871-3000 or victorygardens.org.bull; The Neo-Futurists' ninth annual staged reading series devoted to the worst screenplays ever written continues at 8 p.m. Thursday, July 8, at 5153 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago. The next installment of "Film Fest IX: The Perils of the Neo-Futurarium" features 1980's "The Apple," in which a Canadian pop duo confront the nefarious Mr. Boogalow and his international music company, BIM. (773) 275-5255 or neofuturists.org.bull; The Rogers and Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma!" runs through Sunday, July 11, at the Timber Lake Playhouse, 8215 Black Oak Road, Mount Carroll. (815) 244-2035 or timberlakeplayhouse.org.bull; Several comedy shows are wrapping up at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. "The Lost Garden," about a group of people who discover the entrance to paradise," runs Thursdays through July 15. "The Down Side of Suicide," in which Virgil guides a man through a hell much different from Dante's, runs July 3, 9, 16 and 31. "Causing a Scandal," which looks at a mayoral sex scandal through the eyes of its participants, runs Tuesdays through July 13. (773) 598-4549 or gorillatango.com.