Spotlight: Steppenwolf opens season with ‘Noises Off,’ Goodman with ‘Inherit the Wind’
A fine farce
Steppenwolf Theatre revives “Noises Off,” Michael Frayn’s backstage farce, a play-within-a-play about a hapless theater troupe touring England’s provinces with a third-rate sex comedy. Former artistic director Anna D. Shapiro returns to helm the production. Produced in association with Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, the revival stars ensemble members Audrey Francis, Francis Guinan, Ora Jones and James Vincent Meredith. Previews at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13; 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14 and 21; 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15; and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18-20 at 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago. The show opens Sept. 22. $46-$138. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.
Brotherly love
Brothers Lincoln and Booth share more than the name of our 16th president and his assassin. They also share a passion for street cons, in particular three-card monte, and a desire to escape their crushing poverty in Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy “Topdog/Underdog.” The Gift Theatre’s revival stars Gregory Fenner as Lincoln and Martel Manning as Booth. Shanésia Davis directs. Previews at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 13-14; 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15; and 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 19-21, at Filament Theatre, 4041 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The show opens Sept. 22. Tickets start at $35, $20 for veterans, $15 for students. thegifttheatre.org.
Tell me how to get, how to get to Avenue Q
Recent college graduate Princeton, his girlfriend, Kate Monster, and their quirky neighbors navigate love and careers in the puppet musical “Avenue Q.” Williams Street Repertory revives the Tony Award-winning, R-rated, coming-of-age tale by composer/lyricists Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and writer Jeff Whitty. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13; 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14; 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15 and 19, and through Sept. 29 at the Raue Center for the Arts, 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake. $34.30-$49. (815) 356-9212 or rauecenter.org.
News headlines inspire new plays
Jackalope Theatre Company hosts its 15th Living Newspaper Festival. Inspired by the 1930s Federal Theatre Project, the festival consists of five, one-act plays featuring stories inspired by recent headlines. “In an era where misleading or false news proliferates, Jackalope is committed to engaging directly with audiences to examine current events,” said artistic director Kaiser Ahmed in a prepared statement. Featured playwrights include: Rammel Chan, Ike Holter, company member Paloma Nozicka, Ireon Roach and Madhuri Shekar. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 13-14, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15, at Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N. Broadway, Chicago. $15-$30. (773) 340-2543 or jackalopetheatre.org.
Real-life romance
Open Space Arts opens its season with the Chicago premiere of “Light Switch,” Dave Osmundsen’s dramedy about love and acceptance. It centers on Henry, a gay man with autism, who lives vicariously through the heroes and heroines of 19th-century British novels, then meets a person who may fulfill his romantic notions. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 13-14, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15, and through Sept. 29 at 1411 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago. $20, $25. openspacearts.org.
Classic courtroom drama revived
Goodman Theatre’s revival of “Inherit the Wind” stars Harry Lennix as Henry Drummond, the defense attorney for a high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in Tennessee in 1925. Alexander Gemignani plays devout Christian Matthew Harrison Brady, brought in to prosecute the case, in this 1955 courtroom drama by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee inspired by the Scopes Trial. Goodman resident director Henry Godinez directs. Previews at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15 and 21; 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18, 19 and 20; and 2 p.m. Sept. 22 at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. The show opens Sept. 23. $25-$95. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.
Idle Muse adapts ‘The Tempest’
Sorcerer and deposed duke Prospero escapes with his daughter Miranda to a remote island, where he enslaves the sprite Ariel and half man/half monster Caliban. And, after a shipwreck strands his usurper brother and his entourage on the island, Prospero exacts his revenge in William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” Idle Muse Theatre Company member Tristan Brandon adapts and directs the production. Previews at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Sept. 19-20, at The Edge Off-Broadway Theater, 1133 W. Catalpa Ave., Chicago. The show opens Sept. 21. $20, $30. (773) 340-9438 or idlemuse.org.
Trap Door remounts 2022 farce
Trap Door Theatre opens its 31st season with a remount of 2022’s “The Martyrdom of Peter Ohey,” Sławomir Mrozek’s farce about a family turned upside down when a tiger appears in their bathroom. As more unusual characters invade their home, the family must decide whether to resist or give in and join the circus in director/writer Nicole Wiesner’s adaptation. 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 19-21 and 26-28, at 1655 W. Cortland St., Chicago. The production returns June 26-28. $30. (773) 384-0494 or trapdoortheatre.com.