Theater events: 'Defacing Michael Jackson,' 'Hurricane Damage' make premieres this week

• The Story Theatre, a Chicago newcomer, presents its inaugural production, “Leave Me Alone!” It's a “contemporary, queer adaptation of Anton Chekhov's ‘Ivanov' that examines mental health, queer identity and existential exhaustion.” It's also funny, said co-founder and writer Paul Michael Thomson in a prepared statement. The last preview is Friday, July 27, at Heartland Studio, 7016 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago. The show opens Saturday, July 28. See thestorytheatre.org.

• Flying Elephant Productions concludes its inaugural season with the Chicago-area premiere of “Defacing Michael Jackson,” Aurin Squire's satire about a group of African-American teenagers whose Michael Jackson fan club is disrupted when a Caucasian teen asks to join. The preview is Friday, July 27, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. The show, directed by Alexis J. Roston, opens Saturday, July 28. (773) 327-5252 or stage773.com or flyingelephantproductions.com.

• Members of the all-female ensemble Improvised Jane Austen conjure a two-act play in the style of the famed 19th-century writer on Saturday, July 28, at the McKaw Theater, 1439 W. Jarvis Ave., Chicago. Additional performances take place Aug. 4, 11 and 25. See improvisedjaneausten.com.

• Chicago Dramatists hosts a reading at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 28, for resident playwright Scott Woldman's in-development play “Mah Jongg Swingers Club,” about the residents of a retirement community who establish a secret swingers society. The reading is at 1105 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago. (312) 633-0630 or chicagodramatists.org.

• Pride Films and Plays premieres “Hurricane Damage,” Kevin Brofsky's dramedy about aging gay men, as part of its five-show PAC Pride Fest. The story centers on longtime partners and Florida Gulf Coast residents Dennis and Oscar, who along with their live-in handyman Ford, welcome old friend Norman. Previews begin Wednesday, Aug. 1, at 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago. The show opens Aug. 3. Also, Pride Films and Plays announced its production of “(Expletive) Men” will have a 10:30 p.m. curtain time on Fridays and Saturdays beginning Friday, July 27. Sunday's curtain is at 8 p.m. The run continues through Aug. 26. (800) 737-0984 or pridefilmsandplays.com.

• The League of Chicago Theatres' next Theatre Thursday event takes place Thursday, Aug. 2, at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, where Promethean Theatre Ensemble presents “Bliss (Or Emily Post is Dead!).” Jamie Brandli's play is a re-imagined version of a Greek tragedy in which heroines such as Clytemnestra and Medea are New Jersey housewives and Antigone is the teenage girl next door in love with an African-American boy. Tickets are $22 for the event, which begins at 6:30 p.m. with a preshow reception with director Anna Bahow and the production's designer. The performance is at 8 p.m. followed by a talk back with the cast and creative team. See chicagoplays.com.

• In other theater news, Manual Cinema band members play post-show concerts following Saturday performances of “The End of TV,” running through Aug. 5 at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. Marques Toliver plays Saturday, July 28, and Maren Celest plays Aug. 4. See manualcinema.com.

• Elise Marie Davis has been named the new artistic director of Broken Nose Theatre. Davis, an ensemble member for five years, succeeds founding artistic director Benjamin Brownson. Additionally, Broken Nose has named Rose Hamill to the newly created position of managing director.

• Otherworld Theatre, an ensemble dedicated to performing works of science fiction and fantasy, announced its first season in its new home at 3914 N. Clark St., Chicago. The 2018-2019 season begins Sept. 26 with the Midwest premiere of Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons' “All I Want is One More Meanwhile ...” It's about an artificially engineered superhero who gives up her power to become a mother and 20 years later finds herself estranged from her daughter and losing her battle to maintain her physique. Otherworld's Paragon Play Festival, showcasing 40 science-fiction and fantasy works, takes place Nov. 17 and 18. That's followed by the world premiere of Joseph Zettelmaier's “The Winter Wolf” (Dec. 6-Jan. 5, 2019), about a young girl who preserves the life of her elderly grandfather by trapping the wolf who stalks people in the winter of their lives. The world premiere of Elizabeth A.M. Keel's “Corona” follows on April 5, 2019, and runs in repertory with “Medusa Undone.” “Corona” is about a spaceship captain who transports individuals destined to be sacrificed to a fearsome bull, who reconsiders her duties after connecting with two of her passengers. The season concludes with Bella Poynton's examination of rape culture and sexual abuse “Medusa Undone” (April 10-May 18, 2019, running in repertory with “Corona”). It's about the onetime sea-nymph Medusa who's violated by Poseidon after she rejects his advances. Admission for all performances is pay-what-you-can. See otherworldtheatre.org.

• Promethean Theatre Ensemble looks to the past to understand the present during its 13th season, which begins with Tom Stoppard's time-jumping “Arcadia” (Nov. 16-Dec. 16 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago). The play examines love and sex, order and chaos, classical and romantic thought against the backdrop of natural history, literature and physics. That's followed by Moises Kaufman's “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde” (Feb. 15-March 24, 2019, at Strawdog Theatre Company, 1802 W. Berenice Ave., Chicago). This marks a remount of Promethean's 2016 production of Kaufman's play, which examines the 19th-century writer, imprisoned for his homosexuality, through a contemporary lens. Jamie Bragg stars as Wilde. The season concludes with the Midwest premiere of “Mad Beat Hip & Gone” (April 26-June 1, 2019, at The Edge Theater, 1133 W. Catalpa Ave., Chicago). Steven Dietz's 1950s-set drama is about a couple of friends who meet Jack Kerouac in a bar and decide to follow him and the other Beat poets to California. See prometheantheatre.org.