What's new on stage
Ÿ The Building Stage concludes its season with an original adaptation of “Life is a Dream,” a 17th century Spanish play by Pedro Calderon de la Barca about a prince imprisoned from birth by his father the king, who fears a prophecy that the son will bring ruin to the kingdom. Building Stage sets the play about fate and free will in a present day dive bar during a rock show. Previews begin Friday, May 18, at 412 N. Carpenter St., Chicago. The show opens Sunday, May 20. (312) 491-1369 or thebuildingstage.com.
Ÿ The Neo-Futurists offer students enrolled at Chicago-area colleges a $5 admission discount to their long-running “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: 30 Plays in 60 Minutes” on their school's dedicated weekend. Columbia College students receive the discount Friday, May 18, to Sunday, May 20. North Park University students received the discount Friday, May 25, to Sunday, May 27. Shows are at 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 7 p.m. Sunday at 5153 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago. (773) 275-5255 or neofuturists.org.
Ÿ Oracle Productions artistic director Max Truax directs Bob Fisher's world premiere adaptation of the E.T.A. Hoffman short story from 1816, “The Sandman,” about a student who believes he has met the incarnation of the man who murdered his father, setting off an obsessive investigation into his father's death. Truax incorporates puppets and video projections into the show, which opens Saturday, May 19, at 3809 N. Broadway, Chicago. Admission is free through Oracle's public access theater, but donations are welcome. See oracletheatre.org for more information.
Ÿ Previews begin Saturday, May 19, for Pine Box Theater Company's “The Jammer,” a 60-minute, roller derby inspired drama by Rolin Jones. Artistic director Vincent Teninty directs the show, which the company describes as “the ‘King Lear' of roller derby plays.” The show opens Thursday, May 24, at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. (773) 935-6875 or pineboxtheater.org.
Ÿ Previews begin Sunday, May 20, for Mortar Theatre Company's world premiere “Bombs, Babes and Bingo,” an experimental show whose scene order is determined by the pull of a bingo ball. It's about a scientist and bomb maker whose family copes with the destruction his inventions create. The show opens Thursday, May 24, at Luna Central, 3914 N. Clark St., Chicago. Rachel Edwards Harvith directs the play by Merri Biechler. (773) 819-5862 or mortartheatrecompany.org.
Ÿ The producers of the long-running jukebox show “Million Dollar Quartet” offer buy one, get one free family discounts on select Sundays May 20, June 24, July 22 and Aug. 12, with one child under age 17 admitted free with each purchase of an adult ticket. The show is in an open run at the Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 935-6100, milliondollarquartetlive.com or ticketmaster.com.
Ÿ The Music Theatre Company toasts the 1960s as part of its annual gala to be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, May 20, at the Highland Park Community House, 1991 Sheridan Road, Highland Park. Tickets are $75 and include a wine sampling, performances, music and a silent auction. (847) 579-4900 or themusictheatrecompany.org.
Ÿ Performances begin Monday, May 21, for The Hypocrites' “Romeo Juliet”adapted and directed by Sean Graney from William Shakespeare's tragedy and Felice Romani's libretto from the Vincenzo Bellini opera “I Capuleti e I Montecchi.” Performances run through July 1 at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. (773) 989-7352 or the-hypocrites.com.
Ÿ For this year's benefit, Theater Wit hosts a “Haiku Hootenanny,” from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday, May 21, at 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The event includes poetry, bluegrass music and special beverages. Tickets are $75. (773) 975-8150 or theaterwit.org.
Ÿ Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble members Robert Breuler, Ora Jones, Alan Wilder, Ian Barford and Martha Lavey will participate in a staged reading on Monday, May 21, of the Studs Terkel book “Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Death, Rebirth and Hunger for a Faith,” in honor of the centenary of the author's birth. Hallie Gordon directs the reading and Robert Reddrick serves as musical director for the event, which takes place at 7 p.m. at 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. Admission is free but reservations are required. (312) 335-1650.
Ÿ A college graduate who vowed to become a millionaire by 35 has an interview for his dream job but oversleeps and wakes to a life in never imagined in “I Am Going to Change the World,” by Chicago Dramatists' resident playwright Andrew Hinderaker. Jonathan Berry directs the Chicago Dramatists production, which begins previews Thursday, May 24, at 1105 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. The show opens June 1. See chicagodramatists.org/box-office for tickets.
Ÿ The Gift Theatre co-founder and playwright William Nedved returns to Chicago to appear along with Adam Silver in his company's Chicago premiere of his play “Fact & Fiction,” which runs for a limited engagement beginning Thursday, May 24, at 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The play unfolds as a double monologue to examine the “true-ish” tales we tell about ourselves. Performances run through May 26. (773) 283-7071 or thegifttheatre.org.
Ÿ Newcomer (re) discover theater presents “An Evening of Beckett: Play — Not I — What Where,” Thursday, May 24, through June 2, at the Heartland Studio, 7016 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago. See rediscovertheatre.com for more information.
Ÿ The Next Theatre has extended its production of Amy Herzog's “After the Revolution” with Fredric Stone taking over for Mike Nussbaum. Performances run through Saturday, May 19, at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston. (847) 475-1875, ext. 2, or nexttheatre.org.
Ÿ Lifeline Theatre has announced an extension of its adaptation of Jane Austen's “Pride and Prejudice.” Performances run through July 8 at 6912 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago. The theater hosts talkbacks following the May 27 and June 10 matinees with adapter Christina Calvit, director Elise Kauzlaric and members of the Jane Austen Society of North America. (773) 761-4477 or lifelinetheatre.com.
Ÿ Raven Theatre will begin its 2012-2013 season of power plays with Clifford Odets' “The Big Knife” (Sept. 11 to Nov. 11), inspired by the playwright's experience in 1950s Hollywood about an idealist who compromises his artistic integrity for a career. Next up is Rebecca Gilman's “Boy Gets Girl” (Jan. 15, 2013 to March 2, 2013), about a woman whose blind date turns into a nightmare. That's followed by Charles Fuller's “A Soldier's Play” (Feb. 12 to March 30), a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about racism, self-hatred and personal responsibility which unfolds on a Louisiana army base during the investigation of a black sergeant's murder. The season concludes with Neil Simon's semi-autobiographical “Brighton Beach Memoirs” (rights pending, April 30 to June 29), the first in the trilogy about a young boy named Eugene Jerome growing up in Brooklyn just before World War II. Performances take place at 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago. Subscriptions are available as are anytime flex packages. (773) 338-2177 or raventheatre.com.
Ÿ Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs announced its upcoming season at the Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., Chicago. The Sideshow Theatre Company opens the season with the U.S. premiere “Idomeneus” (Aug. 18 to Sept. 23), translated by David Tushingham from Roland Schimmelpfennig's drama inspired by the Greek myth. Next up is WildClaw Theatre's world premiere of “The Life of Death” (Oct. 4 to Nov. 4), adapted by Charley Sherman from Clive Barker's short story about a woman who becomes fascinated by death as a serial killer terrorizes London. Backstage Theatre Company concludes the season with the Chicago premiere of “The Language of Trees” (Nov. 14 to Dec. 16), about an Arabic translator for a company who is kidnapped and held hostage in the Middle East, leaving his wife and son to cope with the situation. The Studio Theater, in the Chicago Cultural Center at 78 E. Washington St., Chicago, will host the Incubator Series showcasing in-development works. Companies featured as part of the series include The Ruckus Theatre Company, Route 66 Theatre Company, The Theatre Exchange and Praxis/High Concept Laboratories. Tickets are available by phone (312) 742-8497 or online at dcatheater.org.
Ÿ Harvard University named Redmoon Theatre's co-artistic director Jim Lasko as a 2013 Loeb Fellow. The university awards the fellowship to 10 people in mid-career in the areas of architecture, urban design and landscape architecture and occasionally art. The award includes a one-year residency at Harvard's Graduate School of Design. In a prepared statement, Lasko said he plans to use the fellowship to expand his “understanding of public celebration as a form of ephemeral urban planning.” Throughout his career, Lasko has created spectacles, parades, site-specific performances and traditional theater designed to encourage cultural participation.
Ÿ Chicago Children's Theatre is sponsoring a book drive in conjunction with its production of “A Brown Bear, A Moon and A Caterpillar: Treasured Stories by Eric Carle,” to benefit early childhood literacy programs in Chicago. Books will collected at performances, which continue through Sunday, May 27, at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. All children's books collected will be turned over to the not-for-profit Open Books bookstore which will sell them to fund its community literacy programs. (773) 871-3000 or chicagochildrenstheatre.org.
Ÿ Steppenwolf Theatre Company partners with the Chicago Public Library and the civic organization Facing History and Ourselves on a yearlong campaign to curb youth violence and intolerance. To that end, the organizations will cooperate on special projects that include the One Book, One Chicago selection, “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak, which will be adapted for the Steppenwolf stage as part of its 2012-2013 young adults season. The season begins on Oct. 16 with Heidi Stillman's adaptation of “The Book Thief” about a young German girl during World War II who takes refuge from the Nazis by reading. Miles Harvey's “Oral Histories,” comprised of the accounts of young people who have experienced violence first hand, will run in February and March. See steppenwolf.org for more information.
Ÿ American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wis., announced this year's repertory season running from June 9 through Oct. 21 in two theaters. The season includes “Shakespeare's “Twelfth Night,” “Richard III” and “Troilus and Cressida;” “Heroes,” about World War II veterans' retirement home high jinks; George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's “The Royal Family;” David Hare's “Skylight” about former lovers reconnecting; J.M. Barrie's comedy “The Admirable Crichton;” “Shakespeare's Will,” Vern Thiessen's look at what Will's wife thought about her husband; and “In Acting Shakespeare,” adapted by James DeVita from Ian McKellen writings chronicling his 1987 U.S. tour. (608) 588-2361 or americanplayers.org.
— Barbara Vitello