On stage: AstonRep revives 'Equus' & area theaters scare up Halloween-themed shows

• Performances for "Feos," a collaboration between Chilean writer Guillermo Calderon and puppet artist Aline Kuppenheim about owning up to one's faults, presented as part of Destinos, the 3rd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, has been rescheduled. It runs through Saturday, Sept. 28, at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago. In other Destinos news, after the U.S. Department of Citizenship Immigration Services denied touring visas for the cast and crew of Mexico's Once Once Producciones, the production of "La Tia Mariela" has been canceled. See clata.org.

• AstonRep Theatre Company launches its season with "Equus," Peter Shaffer's psychodrama about a teenage stableboy who inexplicably blinds six horses, and the psychiatrist who treats him. The preview is Friday, Sept. 27. The show opens Saturday, Sept. 28, at The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway, St., Chicago. Sean William Kelly plays the young boy Alan Strang and Rian Jairell plays his psychiatrist Martin Dysart. Co-artistic director Derek Bertelsen directs. (773) 828-9129 or astonrep.com.

• Just in time for Halloween, The Factory Theater premieres "Oh (expletive). It's Haunted!" a "Scooby-Doo" inspired tale about teenage friends who investigate the mystery of a supposedly haunted house. Scott Oken wrote the play, which co-artistic director Manny Tamayo directs. (866) 811-4111 or thefactorytheater.com.

• Previews begin Friday, Sept. 27, for City Lit Theater's production of "The Hound of the Baskervilles," adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tale by director Terry McCabe. James Sparling plays Sherlock Holmes and Adam Bitterman plays Dr. John Watson in the murder-mystery about the duo's attempts to protect Sir Charles Baskerville's heir Sir Henry from an evil force that reaches across the centuries to claim a victim. The revival opens Oct. 6 at the Edgewater Presbyterian Church building, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago. (773) 293-3682 or citylit.org.

• Paramount Theatre introduces a new panel series meant to foster a dialogue between theater artists, outside experts and audience members with "Newsies: The Heart Behind the Headlines." Held in conjunction with Paramount's production of "Newsies," the panel takes place from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, in the new JoAnne McKee Studio Theatre, at the Paramount School of the Arts, 20 S. Stolp Ave., Aurora. Admission is free, but reservations are recommended. (630) 896-6810 or paramountschool.com.

• Otherworld Theatre begins its seventh season with "Countess Dracula," Nick Izzo's re-imagining of Bram Stoker's tale, which unfolds during the same time period but in post Civil War America, where the titular character is an African-American woman. In this case, however, she's the hero not the villain. Performances begin Saturday, Sept. 28, at 2914 N. Clark St., Chicago. See otherworldtheatre.org.

• The final chapter of Collaboraction Theatre Company's 2019 Peacebook Festival unfolds Friday and Saturday, Sept. 28-29, at Hamilton Park, 513 W. 72nd St., Chicago. The free festival includes short works about peace by dance, theater and spoken-word artists. (312) 226-9633 or collaboraction.org/peacebook.

• The Annoyance Theatre, 851 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, gears up for Halloween with its annual horror-inspired productions. "Splatter Theater," the Annoyance's sendup of "Friday the 13th" films including such requisite characters as the high school athlete, the virgin, the class clown and the bumbling old man, returns for its 33rd year at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28. It's paired with a new sequel, "I Know What You Did Last Splatter," in which the lone survivor of a massacre is pursued by dark forces. It opens at 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28. (773) 697-9693 or theannoyance.com.

• Downers Grove native Alexa Castelvecchi plays tough girl Jo in Hell in a Handbag Productions' premiere of the musical parody "The Facts of Life - Satan's School for Girls," beginning previews Sunday, Sept. 29, at Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark St., Chicago. Ed Jones plays Edna Garrett, a house mother at an all-girls prep school whose students die mysterious deaths, in writer/composer/lyricist David Cerda and Andrew Milliken's parody of the 1980s sitcom "The Facts of Life." The show opens Oct. 4. (800) 838-3006 or handbagproductions.org.

• Metropolis Performing Arts Centre hosts its annual Sunday Soiree fundraiser from 4:30 to 9 p.m. at 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. Comedians Jeanie Doogan and Cheryl Anderson headline the event, which includes hors d'oeuvres, drinks, comedy, a swag bag and vendor booths. Tickets are $55. (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.com.

• Previews begin Tuesday, Oct. 1, for Silk Road Rising and the International Voices Project premiere of "Twice, Thrice, Frice," Fouad Teymour's comedy about three Arab Muslim women who confront adultery and polygamy after one of their husbands marries a second wife. The production, directed by Patrizia Acerra, opens Oct. 13 at 77 W. Washington St., Chicago. (312) 857-1234, ext. 201, or silkroadrising.org.

• Eclectic Full Contact Theater sets its production of William Shakespeare's "Richard III," about a twisted man's efforts to gain a crown, in a 1930s Chicago speak-easy. Andrew Pond plays the titular villain in director Natividad Uehara's production beginning previews Tuesday, Oct. 1, at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. See eclectic-theatre.com.

• Theatre L'Acadie presents its inaugural production "70 Scenes of Halloween," a 1990 play by Jeffrey M. Jones about a couple who find themselves "in the midst of pure pandemonium" on Halloween as they contend with ghosts, beasts and witches. Performances runs Wednesday, Oct. 2, through Oct. 13 at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. (773) 935-6875 or athenaeumtheatre.org.

• Previews begin Thursday, Oct. 3, for Her Story Theater's premiere of "Invisible," Mary Bonnett's examination of the roots of bigotry centered around a woman in 1925 Mississippi who begins to question her involvement in the local Ku Klux Klan chapter. Director Cecilie Keenan directs the production, which opens Oct. 10 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago. (773) 327-5252 or stage773.com or herstorytheater.org.

• Chicago native Rhonda Musak brings her solo show, "Rhonda Badonda: The Adventures of a Girl with a Pain in Her Brain," to the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Musak's autobiographical show centers on her often funny attempts to deal with undiagnosed learning disabilities that left her "lost, confused and ... determined to get to the bottom of what's wrong." The show runs Thursday, Oct. 3, through Oct. 6. (773) 404-7336 or greenhousetheater.org/rhondabadonda.

• True stories about visiting a prostitute, computer shopping, traveling to England and dreams coming true are on tap during the next incarnation of Short Story Theatre to be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, at Miramar Bistro, 301 Waukegan Ave., Highwood. Tickets are $10. Preshow dinner is available. (847) 433-1078 or shortstorytheatre.com.

• Corn Productions' Halloween-themed sendup "Nightmares on Lincoln Ave.: Slasher High" runs Thursday, Oct. 3, through Nov. 2 at 4210 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. The show follows a group of students navigating the terrors of high school while being stalked by a serial killer. See cornservatory.org.

• Steppenwolf Theatre has signed on as a partner with the Teen Arts Pass (TAP) initiative, which offers $5 tickets for live Chicago music theater and dance performances to young people ages 13 to 19. TAP registration is free at teenartspass.org. Upon registering, teens receive a digital pass at which point they will be able to access program information on the TAP app, which launches next month. Participants will receive a hard copy pass through the mail. TAP is a day-of-show program, which means teens must call the box office to ensure tickets are available and arrive 30 minutes before the performance. They must present proof of TAP membership to purchase the $5 ticket. $5 TAP tickets are currently available for Steppenwolf's production of "The Great Leap" and the LookOut Series.