Theater events: Refugee-inspired 'Objects in the Mirror' premieres at Goodman

Goodman premiere

The real-life experiences of refugee-turned-actor Shedrick Yarkpai's journey from war-torn Liberia to various refugee camps to eventual relocation in Australia inspired playwright Charles Smith's "Objects in the Mirror." Goodman Theatre commissioned the play, developed through 2015's New Stages Festival. Resident director Chuck Smith directs up-and-coming Daniel Kyri in Yarkpai's role. Previews begin at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. The show opens May 8. $20-$75. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

Literary-inspired farce

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble concludes its 30th season with "Improbable Fiction," Alan Ayckbourn's farce about a quirky group of amateur writers - all suffering from writer's block - who find themselves transported into each others' stories. Bryan Burke directs. Previews begin at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 4, at the McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn. The show opens May 5. $35. (630) 942-4000 or atthemac.org.

Gottfried at Zanies

Comedian Gilbert Gottfried, who earned fame as the voice of the parrot Iago in the Disney animated film "Aladdin," headlines Zanies clubs in St. Charles and Rosemont. 8 p.m. Friday, April 28, at Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles, (630) 524-0001, and 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at MB Financial Park, 5437 Park Place, Rosemont, (847) 813-0484. $30, plus a two-item food or beverage minimum. zanies.com.

Other theater events

• Performances continue for Raven Theatre's revival of an early Tennessee Williams' play "Not About Nightingales," based on a real event during which prison inmates rebelled against their physically abusive warden. The run ends June 4 at 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago. (773) 338-2177 or raventheatre.com.

• John Kander and Fred Ebb's "Cabaret" is the next production from No Stakes Theater Project, a company that offers actors a chance to perform roles outside their type. Performances run through May 6 at Berger Park Coach House, 6205 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago. See nostakestheaterproject.org.

• Saint Sebastian Players conclude their season with Tom Stoppard's tragicomedy "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," which puts front and center a pair of minor characters from William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" befuddled by the palace intrigue in which they are ensnared. Performances begin Friday, April 28, at St. Bonaventure Church, 1625 W. Diversey, Chicago. (773) 404-7922 or saintsebastianplayers.org.

• Lyric Opera of Chicago marks the fifth installment of its American Musical Initiative with a revival of the Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe classic "My Fair Lady," about the efforts of a phonetics professor to transform a Cockney flower girl into a lady by teaching her to speak English correctly. Richard E. Grant ("Downton Abbey," "Game of Thrones") plays Henry Higgins opposite Lisa O'Hare's Eliza Doolittle in the production, which begins Friday, April 28, at the Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago. (312) 827-5600 or lyricopera.com/myfairlady.

• The Annoyance Theatre, 851 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, remounts the adults-only "Steamworks: The Musical" with new songs and characters. About a young man looking for love who stumbles into a Boystown bathhouse, the show opens Friday, April 28. Also at the Annoyance, "Bite Size Broadway" during which six cast members deliver 10 musicals in 60 minutes. It runs at 8 p.m. Tuesdays, beginning May 2. (773) 697-9693 or theannoyance.com.

• Victory Gardens Theater announced the lineup for its Up Close & Personal Series in which theater artists share stories of family, disabilities and immigration. The series begins Saturday, April 29, with "A Little Bit Not Normal," Arlene Malinowski's examination of her own depression. Performances run through May 20 at 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. See victorygardens.org.

• Metropolis Performing Arts Centre hosts its Annual Gala Fundraiser from 5:30 to 11 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at the Rolling Green Country Club, 2525 W. Rand Road, Arlington Heights. Michael Ingersoll, of Under the Streetlamp fame, serves as celebrity auctioneer and Howard Sudberry is the celebrity emcee for the event, which includes hors d'oeuvres, open bar and dinner, a raffle and DJ. Tickets are $130 per person. Proceeds benefit the upcoming season and arts education programs. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

• "Tattered and Wincing," a new comedy by Beau O'Reilly about Mo and Motion, who observe life from a bench in Kansas. The Curious Theatre Branch production begins performances Saturday, April 29, at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave., Chicago. (773) 742-5420 or curioustheatrebranch.com.

• Actress Sandra Delgado, creator of "La Havana Madrid," hosts Saints and Sinners, a night of storytelling showcasing Latino voices at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 30, and 7 p.m. May 8. The performance, which is part of Steppenwolf Theatre's LookOut series, takes place at the 1700 Theatre, 1700 N. Halsted St., Chicago. Speaking of "La Havana Madrid," the world premiere that re-imagines Chicago's 1960s Caribbean nightclub, has been extended. Performances run through May 28 at the 1700 Theatre. Following its Steppenwolf run, the show moves to The Miracle Center, 2311 N. Pulaski Road, Chicago, from June 2 to 11. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

• Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia brings "Brown Bear, Brown Bear & Other Treasured Stories by Eric Carle" to the Chicago Children's Theatre from Tuesday, May 2, through May 28. The hourlong performance includes the tale of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" along with other Carle stories. Performances take place at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (872) 222-9555 or chicagochildrenstheatre.org.

• The Chicago One-Minute Play Festival, showcasing works by 60 female-identified artists and inspired by the theme "Nevertheless, We Persisted," returns to the Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. Performances are Tuesday and Wednesday, May 2-3. See thedentheatre.com/events.

• The International Voices Project, showcasing plays from Spain, Romania, Serbia, India, Wales and other countries, continues at the Instituto Cervantes, 31 W. Ohio St., Chicago. Serbian playwright Dusan Kovacevic's "Kumovi" runs at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 2. German playwright Franz Xaver Kroetz's "The Nest" runs at 7 p.m. May 6. For the complete schedule, see ivpchicago.org.

• Genesis Theatrical Productions presents a staged reading of "The Trial of Herschel Green," Barbara Trainin Blank and Dean Kaner's history-based drama about the German Jew whose murder of a Nazi official in 1938 was said to have sparked the Nazi's Kristallnacht, during which thousands of Jewish businesses were destroyed and tens of thousands of Jews were forced into concentration camps. The reading takes place at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 3, at Pride Arts Center, 4147 N. Broadway, Chicago. See genesistheatricals.com.

• Haven Theatre Company concludes its fourth season with a production of "We're Gonna Die," Young Jean Lee's play with music about the one experience we all share. Previews begin Thursday, May 4, at The Den Theatre, 1335 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The show opens May 7. See haventheatrechicago.com.

• "Freaky Nasty Trash," a sketch comedy show by Reilly Willson and Shelby Quinn inspired by cult filmmaker John Waters' works, opens Thursday, May 4, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 327-5252 or stage773.com.

• Previews begin Thursday, May 4, for Theatre at the Center's revival of "Cabaret." Marriott Theatre veteran and Joseph Jefferson Award-winner Danni Smith stars as Berlin nightclub singer Sally Bowles and Patrick Tierney as writer Cliff Bradshaw who fall in against the backdrop of the Nazi's ascendancy in Germany. The show opens May 7 at 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana. (219) 836-3255 or theatreatthecenter.com.

• Tickets are on sale for Steel Beam Theatre's annual Spotlight Gala, which takes place from 6:30 to 11 p.m. May 5 at the Eagle Brook Country Club, 2288 Fargo Blvd., Geneva. The evening includes dinner, entertainment and a silent auction. Tickets are $50 per person (630) 587-8521 or steelbeamtheatre.com.

• The Hypocrites, which cut its season short after failing to reach fundraising goals, announced a new operational model in advance of its proposed 2018 premiere of "The Aristophanesathon," a production by founder and lead artist Sean Graney combining all 11 Aristophanes comedies. The company will not begin production on the show until at least 2,000 tickets are pledged or purchased. See the-hypocrites.com.

• Goodman Theatre joined Los Angeles' Center Theatre Group, London's Royal Court and National theaters and New York's Second Stage in a new co-commission partnership to develop new plays that will appear in multiple cities over the next decade. Pulitzer Prize winners Lynn Nottage and Paula Vogel, Danai Gurira and Will Eno are some of the playwrights participating in the project.

• The Greenhouse Theater Center has established The Trellis Residency Initiative, a professional development program targeting young Chicago-area playwrights and creators under 30. Six of them will be selected to participate in a one-month residency that will conclude with a performance at the Greenhouse. Submissions for the upcoming season, which begins in September, are due May 17. See greenhousetheatre.org/trellis for more information.