Theater

Spotlight: TimeLine, Broadway in Chicago stage Chicago premiere of Tony-winning ‘Eureka Day’

Posted January 06, 2026 1:29 pm

Broadway in Chicago and TimeLine Theatre team up to produce the Chicago premiere of “Eureka Day,” Jonathan Spector’s Tony Award-winning satire featuring Jürgen Hooper, left, Gabrielle Lott-Rogers, PJ Powers, Rebekah Ward and Aurora Adachi-Winter. Courtesy of TimeLine Theatre

Chicago premiere

TimeLine Theatre and Broadway in Chicago mark their fourth collaboration with the regional premiere of “Eureka Day,” Jonathan Spector’s Tony Award-winning satire on “wokeness” about parents and administrators at a progressive California school confronting a mumps outbreak. Joseph Jefferson Award-winner Lili-Anne Brown directs a cast that includes TimeLine artistic director PJ Powers as the school administrator.

Previews at 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, Jan. 13-16, and Jan. 20; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17; and 2 and 6:30 p.m. Jan. 18 at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St., Chicago. The show opens Jan. 21. $30-$90. boadwayinchicago.com.

Stacey Lind, left, plays the titular Prospera and Janice Rumschlag plays her servant Ariel in Otherworld Theatre's premiere of “Prospera,” a sci-fi adaptation of William Shakespeare's “The Tempest.” Courtesy of Erin Bonham

Sci-fi Shakespeare

Otherworld Theatre premieres “Prospera,” writer/director Tiffany Keane Schaefer’s sci-fi reimagining of William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” In Schaefer’s version, Admiral Prospera is exiled to a dying planet. Twenty years later, her enemies crash-land on her doorstep where they encounter a vengeful woman in possession of powerful technology.

Previews at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 9-10, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 11, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The show opens Jan. 15. $30, $15 students and seniors. theaterwit.org.

John Judd plays an avian enthusiast in A Red Orchid Theatre’s Chicago premiere of “Birds of North America” by Anna Ouyang Moench. Courtesy of Jeffrey L. Kurysz

Father-daughter drama

Playwright Anna Ouyang Moench examines the relationship between a father and his daughter who share an avian passion in “Birds of North America,” whose Chicago premiere comes courtesy of A Red Orchid Theatre. Ensemble member John Judd and Cassidy Slaughter-Mason star in the two-hander, which unfolds over a decade during which two people attempt to understand each other. Artistic director Kirsten Fitzgerald directs.

Previews at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 15-17, and Jan. 22 and 23, and 3 p.m. Jan. 18 at 1531 N. Wells St., Chicago. The show opens Jan. 24. $33-$55. (312) 943-8722 or aredorchidtheatre.org.

‘A Beautifully Gruesome Production’ at Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf Theatre kicks off its spring LookOut Series with the second installment of the Edward Gorey-inspired, dark comedy anthology “The Uncanny Attic: Chapters E-H” told through puppetry, clowning, dance, music and animation.

7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Jan. 15-16, and 3 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17 at 1700 N. Halsted St., Chicago. $43. (312) 335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

Trap Door examines war in absurdist ‘Green Corridors’

Trap Door Theatre presents “Green Corridors,” Ukrainian playwright Natalka Vorozhbyt’s absurdist, darkly comic examination of a world torn apart by war and reflects upon the resulting displacement, resistance and survival of the inhabitants. The cast includes Marzena Bukowska, Dan Cobbler, Jen Connor, Nicole Garneau, Emma Mansfield, Manuela Rentea, Gus Thomas and James Wheeler. Kay Martinovich directs the production, which inaugurates the company’s 32nd season.

8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 15-17, and through Feb. 21; also Feb. 1, 8 and 15 at 1655 W. Cortland St., Chicago. $32. (773) 384-0494 or trapdoortheatre.com.