Spotlight: First Floor Theater premieres ‘Evanston Salt Costs Climbing’
Climate and change
As winters worsen in Evanston, salt truck drivers Peter and Basil battle the ice and snow and pass the time with jokes and stories until they learn their boss plans to adapt green technology that will make their jobs obsolete in “Evanston Salt Costs Climbing” by Will Arbery. First Floor Theater ensemble member Micah Figueroa directs the company’s Chicago premiere, which stars Jelani West and Dano Duran as Peter and Basil and Ashley Neal as their boss, Maiworm.
Previews at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 15, and May 17 and 21, and 3 p.m. May 18 at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The show opens May 22. $10-$35. firstfloortheater.com.
Children’s classic on stage
The Young People’s Theatre of Chicago concludes its season with “Charlotte’s Web,” Joseph Robinette’s adaptation of E.B. White’s beloved tale about a kindly spider who saves the life of a pig named Wilbur by writing messages informing everyone how special he is. Randy White directs.
The preview is at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 10, at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The show opens at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 10, ad runs at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 11, 18, 25 and June 1, and 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. May 17, 24 and 31. Tickets start at $21.50 for kids, $30.50 for adults. (773) 404-7336 or yptchi.org.
Experimental theater piece
Theatre Y stages the Chicago premiere of “The End of Reality,” Richard Maxwell’s experimental, hyperrealistic theater work examining violence. The play centers on a ragtag crew of security guards tasked with protecting a building from an imminent threat. Co-founding artistic director Melissa Lorraine directs.
Opens at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 15; 3 and 7 p.m. May 17; 3 p.m. May 18 and through June 15 at 3611 W. Cermak Road, Chicago. Admission is pay what you can. theatre-y.com.
A daughter returns home
During the 1960s, a young woman returns to her Georgia home to eulogize the last of the women who raised her in “Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery,” Shay Youngblood’s play about the community of “Big Mamas” who prepare a girl for womanhood after her mother dies. To honor Youngblood, who died nearly a year ago, Pegasus Theatre Chicago dedicates its revival to her memory. Additionally, Pegasus will hold community engagement activities around healing and self-care. Pegasus executive and producing artistic director Ilesa Duncan directs.
Previews at 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, May 15-18, at Chicago Dramatists’ Russ Tutterow Theatre, 798 N. Aberdeen St., Chicago. The show opens May 19. $15-$35. pegasustheatrechicago.org.
A unique Shakespeare celebration
Actor Will Willhelm invites audiences to celebrate William Shakespeare’s plays “in all their original, homoerotic, cross-dressing, gender-fluid glory” in “Gender Play, or What You Will,” a solo play by Willhelm and Erin Murray. Steppenwolf Theatre stages the play as part of its LookOut Series at the 1700 Theater.
8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, May 15-17, and May 21-24, and 3:30 p.m. May 18 at 1700 N. Halsted St., Chicago. $38. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.