OPENINGS
SUNDAY
“Lookingglass Alice” — through Aug. 12 at the Lookingglass Theatre in Water Tower Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave.; $20-$58 at 312-337-0665. A reprise engagement for David Catlin’s fresh, provocative adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s iconic tale. Herein, Alice is a full-blown acrobat. With the help of the Actors Gymnasium’s circus tricks, this 90-minute show for all ages is full of highly physical but clever invention of a gutsy and droll sort.
“Criminal Hearts” — through July 15 at Apple Tree Theatre, 1850 Green Bay Rd., Highland Park; $35-$45 at 847-432-4335. Apple Tree Theatre continues its season of small-scale plays with Jane Martin’s dark, domestic comedy. Martie Sanders, Candace Taylor, Kurt Johns and Jonathan Wagner star.
WEDNESDAY
“Gaudy Night” — through July 1 by Lifeline Theatre at Theater on the Lake, Fullerton Avenue and Lake Shore Drive, $17.50, 773-761-4477. British mystery writer Dorothy L. Sayers’ “Gaudy Night” is the kind of carefully plotted whodunit that will serve as a very pleasing summer distraction for any mystery lover. But it’s also a ripe, smoldering affair, a shrewd tale of sexual repression among dons and a careful probing of the intersection between love and equality. Theatre on the Lake is re-mounting Lifeline Theatre’s justly acclaimed dramatic adaptation — one of the best shows of last year.
“An Ideal Husband” — through Aug. 5 at Circle Theatre, 7300 W. Madison St., Forest Park; $21-$24, 708-771-0700. Circle Theatre, which offers a wide variety of material, turns its hand to Oscar Wilde’s comedy. It’s a reunion of the same production team responsible for Circle’s hit 2005 production of “Design for Living.”
FRIDAY
“Les Liaisons Dangereuses” — through Aug. 5 at Actors Workshop Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.; $25, 773-728-7529. Fresh from its hit production of “Equus,” Actors Workshop revives Christopher Hampton’s classic, period tale of inter-generational sexual betrayal. A good match for such an intimate space.
CLOSINGS, last chance
SUNDAY
“Troilus and Cressida” — Barbara Gaines’ colossal, eye-popping production offers a dramatic lesson in how powerful warmongers with petty personal grievances would rather sacrifice innocents than admit their own hubristic insecurity. The show has some dull, declamatory sections where you end up wanting to see more of the whites of the actors’ eyes, but there are moments in this show that genuinely dazzle. Fine performances from Kevin O’Donnell, Stephen Ouimette and Ross Lehman. At Chicago Shakespeare Theater, 800 E. Grand Ave.; $50-$67, 312-595-5600.
“Shenandoah” — Elegantly performed, beautifully sung and tied most remarkably to profound human emotions, David H. Bell’s revival was far and away the best production at the Marriott Theatre this season. In fact, I’d say this must-see show is among the best productions I’ve ever seen in Lincolnshire. Bell is a gifted director and his fluid, lovely work here is extraordinary. His production is enough to cause a wholesale evaluation of the merits of “Shenandoah,” an early movie-to-musical transplant and a show widely regarded as a sentimental, pacifist, Civil War-buff musical without much emotional heft. Bell has found a moving wartime show that grips its audience from start to end. At Marriott Theatre, 100 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire; $42 at 847-634-0200.
“In the Continuum” — Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter’s moving, audacious and brilliantly self-performed two-woman show interweaves the story of two women whose lives are affected by AIDS. Salter’s piece tells of Nia, a haplessly pregnant teenager from South Central Los Angeles. Gurira brings alive Abigail, a television anchor in Harare, Zimbabwe. Separated by a continent and an oceanic difference in world views, Nia and Abigail end up in much the same situation and with similarly pathetic mechanisms of so-called support. Thanks to passionate acting and emotional writing from their intensely committed creators, they’ll etch themselves deep into your heart. This is a must-see production of an international tour. At the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.; $15-$35 at 312-443-5151.
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cjones5@tribune.com
