Cleverly named, Peter Shaffer`s ”The Private Ear/The Public Eye,” two one-acts, deal with love seen from the outside and from a more painful perspective. Opening Sunday at Interplay, the plays reveal a more comic side of the author of ”Equus” and ”Amadeus,” a quality seen most recently in his ”Lettice and Lovage.”
Directed by Greg Kolack, ”The Private Ear” tells the bittersweet story of a music lover`s misguided infatuation. ”The Public Eye,” to be staged by David Perkovich, depicts a fading marriage; it`s rekindled by an offbeat detective who is hired by the husband to report on his wife`s imaginary infidelities.
”The Private Ear/The Public Eye” runs through Sept. 20 at 1935 S. Halsted St.; 312-243-6240.
Other theater openings of note:
”Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins V,” Friday, Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. at Angel Island, 731 W. Sheridan Rd.; 312-871-0442: You could call it a theatrical Olympics. The company`s fourth annual all-day, all-night, weekend- long festival features performances by more than 20 theater companies and players. Creating a ”living room effect,” the audience members sit on risers, the floor or on set pieces. Organizer Richard Cotovsky plays the late Abbie Hoffman during opening and closing ceremonies.
”Native Speech,” Saturday, Tight & Shiny Productions at the Gallery-Chopin Theatre, 1534 W. Division St.; 312-292-1725: Eric Overmyer`s play concerns Hungry Mother, an underground disc jockey and the self-crowned king of the nighthawks. In the spirit of Eric Bogosian`s rancid talk show host, the showman bedevils his midnight callers and is besieged by invaders in the dark. Spalding Gray, Monday, Goodman Theatre, 200 S. Columbus Drive;
312-443-3800: The master storyteller returns to Goodman Theatre for one night only to read from ”Impossible Vacation,” his much-anticipated first novel.
”A Preliminary Inquiry Into the Methods Used to Create and Maintain a Segregated Society,” Monday, Bailiwick Repertory at the Theatre Building, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.; 312-327-5252: Following in the wake of its successful
”Excerpts from the Attorney General`s Report on Pornography,” this co-production by Bailiwick and Chicago Theatre Company is billed as ”a theatrical collage about life in America`s most segregated city: Chicago, Illinois.” Staged by Clay Shirky and Tanya White, it draws its indictment from such disparate sources as Amnesty International, the CHA, the Police Training Manual, Ice-T, Dan Quayle, Elijah Muhammad, Frank Sinatra, Parliment- Funkadelic and Thomas Jefferson. The politically correct cast consists of four black actors and four white actors, half of whom are women. After
”Inquiry” closes on Aug. 16 at the Theatre Building, it moves to the Chicago Theatre Company, 500 E. 67th St., where it will run through Sept. 20.
