Theater events: Gift Theatre starts 17th season with 'Hang Man'

Gift Theatre premiere

Residents of a small Southern town are forced to confront their complicity in an African-American man's lynching in The Gift Theatre's world premiere of "Hang Man" by Stacy Amma Osei-Kuffour. Described as both heartbreaking and humorous, Osei-Kuffour's play examines American history, racism and sexism. Victory Gardens and "Hamilton" resident director Jess McLeod helms the production, which inaugurates The Gift Theatre's 17th season. Previews at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 2-3, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 4, at 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The show opens Thursday, March 8. $30-$40. (773) 283-7071 or thegifttheatre.org.

Border wars

Sideshow Theatre Company begins its 11th season with the Chicago-area premiere of "You for Me for You," Mia Chung's comedy about North Korean sisters who are separated at the border when they try to escape. Their attempts to reunite are confounded by bureaucracy, language barriers and cultural incompatibility. Artistic associate Elly Green directs the production, which features Helen Joo Lee and Jin Park as sisters Minhee and Junhee. Previews at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 4, and 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 7, at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The show opens Thursday, March 8. $20-$30. (773) 871-3000, victorygardens.org or sideshowtheatre.org.

On stage at Zanies

Chicago-area native Mike Lebovitz, who first got laughs when he took clowning classes at a local Jewish Community Center, headlines Zanies St. Charles this weekend. A contestant on the 2015 season of NBC's "Last Comic Standing," Lebovitz also contributed regularly to WBEZ's weekly current events-inspired "The Paper Machete" featuring stand-up, improv, sketch comedy and more. 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, March 1-2, and 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. 21-and-older show. $22, plus a two-item food or beverage minimum. (630) 524-0001 or zanies.com.

Other theater events

• Broken Nose Theatre launches its season with the world premiere of "Kingdom" by resident playwright Michael Allen Harris. Previews begin Friday, March 2, for this kitchen-sink comedy about an African-American, LGBTQ family living in Orlando, Florida. The play, directed by Kanome Jones, opens Monday, March 5, at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. See brokennosetheatre.com.

• Previews begin Friday, March 2, at 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago, for City Lit Theatre's premiere of Paul Edwards' adaptation of "The Picture of Dorian Gray." Edwards sets Oscar Wilde's drama about a man who sells his soul in exchange for "unaging beauty" in 1970s New York City at the start of the AIDS and crack cocaine epidemics. "Paul's new adaptation sees Dorian as Patient Zero who shows none of the results of either epidemic, they show up in the picture instead," said artistic director Terry McCabe in a prepared statement. Andrea J. Dymond directs the production, which opens March 11. See citylit.org.

• Circle Theatre examines rape culture in its world premiere of "The Condition of Femme," Lauren Marie Powell's play based on interviews she conducted with survivors of various forms of sexual abuse. Previews begin Friday, March 2, at Pride Arts Center 4147 N. Broadway, Chicago. The production, directed by Amanda Jane Long, opens March 7. See circletheatrechicago.org.

• "I'm Falling in Love All the Time," a solo show written and performed by Jack Schultz, premieres Friday, March 2, courtesy of The Agency Theater Collective. The adults-only show examining love's high and low points, runs at The Pendulum Space, 1803 W. Byron St., Chicago, through March 31. (773) 680-4596 or wearetheagency.org.

• Lookingglass Theatre artistic associate Atra Asdou debuts her new solo sketch-comedy show "A Poodle in People Clothes" on Friday, March 2, at iO Chicago, 1501 N. Kingsbury St., Chicago. (312) 929-2401 or ioimprov.com.

• BoHo Theatre presents Michael Hollinger and Aaron Posner's "Cyrano," adapted from Edmond Rostand's romantic, 17th-century swashbuckler "Cyrano de Bergerac" in a translation by Hollinger. Previews begin Saturday, March 3, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. Ensemble member Steve O'Connell directs the play about a soldier/poet with a large nose whose romantic intentions toward the beautiful Roxane are thwarted by a fellow handsome soldier. It opens March 10. (773) 975-8150 or bohotheatre.com.

• Greenhouse Theater Center's second free Solo Performance Lab takes place Saturday, March 3, at 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The lab is part of Greenhouse's commitment to helping develop new solo performances. This weekend's performances include Erin Austin's "Miss Major Cushman" in which an actress and failed union spy tells her story and Nora Leahy's "Squeaky!" in which would-be presidential assassin Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme performs a variety show from her prison cell. See greenhousetheater.org.

• The Annoyance Theatre revives its adults-only burlesque comedy show "Burlesque is More" beginning Saturday, March 3, at 851 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The show combines neo-burlesque dancing with comedic monologues and improv. It runs through April 28. Comedians Mike DiBiccaro and Kate Learson host the Academy Awards sendup "The Javier Awards: An Oscar Award Winning Parody" at 5 p.m. Sunday, March 4. Red carpet attire encouraged and the audience is invited to stick around after the show to watch the 90th Annual Academy Awards broadcast. Also at The Annoyance, Huggable Riot opens its new production, "Million Dollar Misery," Wednesday, March 7. A mashup of the jukebox tuner "Million Dollar Quartet" and Stephen King's "Misery," the darkly comic "Million Dollar Misery" is about a band held captive by a deranged fan. (773) 697-9693 or theannoyance.com.

• An 18-year-old named Dontrell Jones the Third ventures into the Atlantic Ocean to search for an ancestor lost during the Middle Passage in Nathan Alan Davis' "Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea." The play is described as a "modern-day hero's quest" in which a man seeks redemption for past injustice. First Floor Theater stages the Chicago-area premiere under director Chika Ike. Previews begin Sunday, March 4, at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The show opens March 7. See firstfloortheater.com.

• The LIVINGroom commences its 2018 solo performance season at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 4, at the Colvin House, 5940 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago. Eight solo artists perform autobiographical pieces centered on the theme of new beginnings Sundays through March 25. See livingroomsolo.com.

• Remy Bumppo Theatre hosts its annual benefit dubbed Think Timeless, Think Timely beginning at noon Sunday, March 4, at The Union League Club of Chicago, 65 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago. The event includes cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, lunch, live and silent auctions and a performance. Tickets cost $100 and $200. See remybumppo.org.

• Porchlight Music Theatre alums Sharriese Hamilton and Lorenzo Rush Jr. (both of whom appeared in its production of "Ain't Misbehavin'") reunite for "They're Playing Our Song," the next installment in the theater's "Porchlight Revisits" series showcasing infrequently produced musicals. Performances run Tuesday through Thursday, March 6-8, at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (773) 777-9884 or porchlightmusictheatre.org.

• Imprisoned in Iran for his homosexuality, Razi arrives at his sister's Chicago doorstep and proceeds to upend the life she and her American husband have created in "Through the Elevated Line" by Novid Parsi. Silk Road Rising presents the play's world premiere under director Carin Silkaitis beginning previews Wednesday, March 7, at The Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington St., Chicago. The show opens March 17. (312) 857-1234, ext. 201, or silkroadrising.org.

• Performances begin Thursday, March 8, for Oil Lamp Theatre's revival of the two-hander "Mass Appeal," a comedic examination of faith and relationships by Bill C. Davis. Tim Kough plays Father Tim, a complacent parish priest and R.J. Cecott plays Mark, the idealist, young seminarian determined to challenge the status quo. The production runs through April 8 at 1723 Glenview Road, Glenview. (847) 834-0738 or oillamptheater.org.

• Three Crows Theatre concludes its season with Timberlake Wertenbaker's "Our Country's Good" about the inmates of a penal colony in 1789 Australia who put on a play under the direction of an enthusiastic second lieutenant in the Royal Marines. Performances run Thursday, March 8, through March 25 at the Piven Theatre Workshop at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston. (312) 469-0274 or threecrowstheatre.com.

• Goodman Theatre has extended its Chicago-area premiere of "The Wolves," Sarah DeLappe's Pulitzer Prize finalist dramedy about the members of a girls' high school soccer team. Performances run through March 18 at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org.

• The Chicago Magic Lounge opened recently at 5050 N. Clark St., Chicago. The new venue showcases close-up magic performed by Chicago-area headliners David Parr ("Penn & Teller: Fool Us") creator of The Magic Cabaret and The House Theatre of Chicago's Dennis Watkins, among others. See chicagomagiclounge.com.

• Performing arts students in their senior year of high school or who are college undergraduates can apply for a 2018 scholarship from the Bernie G. Yvon Memorial Fund, founded to honor the acclaimed Chicago-area actor-singer-dancer who died in a 2014 car accident on the way to a rehearsal. The scholarships, to be awarded in the spring, assist students pursuing careers in the theater. Apply online at bernieyvon.com/application.

• The Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, seeks local theater companies to partner on co-productions during the 2018-19 season. "Partnering with outside companies and artists underscores GTC's core mission of growing Chicago theater," said executive director William Spatz in a prepared statement. "During our critically acclaimed, 16-show Solo Celebration! Series in 2016, we staged four successful co-productions ... We hope to build on that dynamic by inviting Chicago companies and artists to bring their unique artistic visions to the Greenhouse." Company representatives can contact Spatz at (312) 637-5323 or wmspatz@gmail.com.

• The National Endowment for the Arts awarded a $10,000 Art Works grant to Chicago Dramatists to support its resident playwrights program and the Tutterow Fellowships, named for Russ Tutterow, the company's late, longtime artistic director and champion of Chicago writers.

• A world premiere adaptation of a Saul Bellow novel, the 10th play in August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle and a multimedia interpretation of Mary Shelley's horror tale are on tap for Court Theater's 2018-2019 season. Court's 64th season commences on Aug. 30 with Wilson's "Radio Golf," about a real estate developer turned mayoral hopeful whose efforts to revive his neighborhood may cost him politically. That's followed by the performance collective Manual Cinema's world premiere adaptation of "Frankenstein" (Nov. 1-Dec. 2) featuring puppetry, music and cinematic techniques. Vanessa Stalling directs "Photograph 51," Anna Ziegler's tale of British chemist Rosalind Franklin whose research contributed to the discovery of the DNA double helix. It runs Jan. 17-Feb. 17, 2019. Seret Scot, a member of the play's original Broadway cast, helms Court's revival of "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enough" (March 14-April 14, 2019). A play with music and dance, "For Colored Girls ..." showcases the life stories of seven women. Court's season concludes with the world premiere of "The Adventures of Augie March," a David Auburn play based on Saul Bellow's novel of the same name. The picaresque tale centers on the Depression Era-born Augie, an Everyman making his way in an often alienating world. It runs May 9-June 9, 2019. Performances take place at 5535 S. Ellis Ave., Chicago. Three-, four- and five-play subscriptions range from $96 to $300 and are available at the box office, (773) 753-4472 or courttheatre.org.