Theater spotlight: Lifeline stages 'The Man Who Was Thursday' satire

Posted February 12, 2019 5:00 am

20th-century satire

Lifeline Theatre presents G.K. Chesterton's 1908 satire about a group of gentlemen in turn-of-the-20th-century London who have vowed to overthrow the world in "The Man Who Was Thursday." Scotland Yard enlists undercover officer Gabriel Syme to infiltrate the anarchist group and before long he ends up on the supreme council where no one is who he seems. Downers Grove native Bilal Dardai adapted the absurdist tale first produced in 2009 under the direction of Jess Hutchinson. Together Dardai and Hutchinson revisit the story at Lifeline. Ensemble member Eduardo Xavier Curley-Carrillo plays Syme/Thursday and Algonquin native Corrbette Pasko plays Wednesday.

Previews at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15 and 22; 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 and 23; and 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17, at 6912 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago. The show opens Feb. 24. $20-$40. (773) 761-4477 or lifelinetheatre.com.

Romance comedy

Schaumburg's Laugh Out Loud Theater sends up modern romance with post-Valentine's Day improv shows titled "Love Me Tinder." Early shows are suitable for all ages. Late shows are adults-only.

7:30 (all ages) and 9:30 p.m. (adults-only) Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15-16, at 601 N. Martingale Road, Schaumburg. $12-$20. (847) 240-0386 or laughoutloudtheater.com.

Liam Brennan, foreground, plays Inspector Goole in The National Theatre of Great Britain's production of J.B. Priestley's thriller "An Inspector Calls." Courtesy of Mark Douet

Classic thriller

The National Theatre of Great Britain brings its award-winning, international touring production of JB Priestley's "An Inspector Calls" to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater for a limited run. Stephen Daldry ("The Crown," "Billy Elliot") directed the thriller about the impact the death of a destitute young woman has on the members of a wealthy British family whose dinner party is interrupted by the mysterious Inspector Goole who informs them of the death.

The preview is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, at Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago. The show opens Wednesday, Feb. 20. $35-$88. (312) 595-5600 or chicagoshakes.com.

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