Spotlight: Pop artist Andy Warhol inspires two-hander at Northlight Theatre
The artist & the activist
After reinventing himself as a portrait painter of celebrities, pop art icon Andy Warhol traveled to Iran in 1976 to photograph the Shah of Iran's wife in preparation for the painting. In Brent Askari's fictionalized account of Warhol's experience, "Andy Warhol in Iran," the artist encounters a young revolutionary whose ideas upend his world view. Artistic director BJ Jones directs Rob Lindley and Hamid Dehghani in the 2022 two-hander.
Previews at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 20-21; 2:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, Jan. 24 and 26; and 1 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. The show opens Jan. 27. $35-$73. Masks required for those sitting in rows A and B; masks recommended for all others. (847) 673-6300 or northlight.org.
Family comedy
Steel Beam Theatre's season continues with "This Random World," Steven Dietz's comedy about intersecting lives and missed connections that centers on an ailing woman and her two adult children. Artistic director Marge Uhlarik-Boller directs.
Opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20, at 111 W. Main St., St. Charles. $22-$28. Masks recommended. (630) 587-8521 or steelbeamtheatre.com.
Family drama
In 1950s Ireland, a young woman abandons her dreams of attending a university to care for her widowed father, then wonders if she made the right choice in "And Neither Have I Wings to Fly" by Ann Noble. First Folio Theatre's revival of the family drama features co-founder and executive director David Rice and his daughter, artistic associate Hayley Rice.
Previews at 3 and 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, and 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, at Mayslake Peabody Estate, 1717 W. 31st St., Oak Brook. The show opens Jan. 28. $29-$59. Vaccinations and masks required. (630) 986-8067 or firstfolio.org.
In other news
Check with venues about COVID-19 precautions.
• Comedian Chris Fleming, known for his YouTube series "Gayle," headlines The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 20-21. Also at The Den is "Updating," a dating and comedy show in which two singles are on blindfolded first dates. Shows are at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25, and 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26. Masks recommended. (773) 697-3830 or thedentheatre.com.
• Broadway veteran and Chicago-area favorite David Girolmo hosts the latest in Porchlight Music Theatre's "New Faces Sing Broadway" series at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, at Evanston Space, 1245 Chicago Ave., Evanston, and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24, at The Arts Club of Chicago, 201 E. Ontario St., Chicago. The latest version, "New Faces Sing Broadway 1951," features songs from "Guys and Dolls," "The King & I" and "Paint Your Wagon," among other shows. (773) 777-9884 or porchlightmusictheatre.org.
• Stage Left Theatre continues its online play reading series Off Stage Left at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, over Zoom. The play is "The Knotted Truth," a dystopian, sci-fi tale by Peter Jake Ruiz about a 16-year-old girl living 75 years in the future in a society where white supremacy dominates. See stagelefttheatre.com.
• Cut to the Chase, The Artistic Home's 20th annual one-act play festival, runs Thursday through Sunday, Jan. 26-29, at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. The 10-minute plays featured include: "Intermission," Will Eno's play taking place during the intermission of a fictional play; "Fifty Years" by Marie Mayingi, about a governor's daughter who wants an abortion when the procedure is illegal; "Hi," Will Dunne's play about a man accused of harassment who accuses his accuser of discrimination; "The Matter With Family," Amy Tofte's comedy about four women staging the "extraction" of one woman from her affair with a married man; "Unheard" by Glenn Alterman, about a dying father reconciling with his son; and "Tipping" by Jillian Blevins, about a "bad***" teaching a "sad sack" how not to be pushed around. Masks recommended. (773) 697-3830 or thedentheatre.com.
• Chicago Opera Theater presents Benjamin Britten's comic opera "Albert Herring," about a young man selected by the village matriarch to be the May queen. Performances are Thursday, Jan. 26, and Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 28-29, at the Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago. See chicagooperatheater.org.
• Pegasus Theatre Chicago has received a $20,000 National Endowment of the Arts grant to help support its Young Playwrights Festival. The longest running festival of its kind, it showcases one-act plays by Chicago-area high school students. The 36th incarnation runs through Jan. 28 at Chicago Dramatists, 765 N. Aberdeen, Chicago. "The NEA's grant greatly supports our mission of sharing the stories of today's youth while engaging and encouraging their creativity," said executive and producing director Ilesa Duncan in a prepared statement.