OPENINGS
Saturday
“August: Osage County” — Through Aug. 26 at Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.; $20-$65, 312-335-1650 and www.steppenwolf.org. Fresh from the success of the movie “Bug,” Chicago playwright Tracy Letts unleashes a major new epic drama with a starry (Jeff Perry, Rondi Reed) Steppenwolf cast and an expansive heartland canvas. Set in rural Oklahoma (a familiar Letts stomping ground), the play follows a rambling Midwestern family in crisis.
“Pratfall of Civilization” — Open run at the Second City, 1616 N. Wells St.; $19-$24, 312-337-3992. Second City’s e.t.c. cast has the tough assignment of following the Barack Obama-themed mainstage show — one of the biggest hits in Second City’s history. But the word is that the e.t.c. crew has created an all-new show that’s an entirely different kind of comedic beast.
Tuesday
“The Light in the Piazza” — Through July 22 at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Congress Pkwy.; $18-$70, 312-902-1400 and www.broadwayinchicago.com. One of the most gorgeous and melodic Broadway shows of the past decade returns to Chicago (where an earlier version was seen at the Goodman Theatre), following a long and successful Broadway run. With a book by Craig Lucas and incomparable music by Adam Guettel, “Piazza” tells the story of a trip to Italy by an American mother and daughter in the 1950s, and the daughter’s encounter with a Florentine man. Haunting and emotional, the show ponders one of parenthood’s trickiest dilemmas — how much risk do you let your children take?
Wednesday
“Roustabout: The Great Circus Train Wreck” — Through July 15 by the Neo-Futurists at the Theater on the Lake, 2401 N. Lake Shore Drive (at Fullerton); $17.50, 312-742-7994 and www.chicagoparkdistrict.com. On June 22, 1918, just outside Hammond, Ind., an empty military train with a sleeping driver plowed into the traveling quarters of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, killing 86, including strongmen, trapeze artists and, mostly, roustabouts recently hired in Michigan City. The dead — many with gravestones marked only by “Baldy,” “4 Horse Driver” and the like — reside in the Showman’s Rest plot in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park. Despite some self-indulgent flaws in its first production last summer, Jay Torrence’s piece about this crash still packed an emotional punch. It takes the ring once again.
Thursday
“Short Shakespeare! The Taming of the Shrew” — Through Aug. 12 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave.; $16-$20, 312-595-5600 and www.chicagoshakes.com. A reprise engagement for David H. Bell’s 80-minute Commedia-style rendition of the Shakespearean comedy, first seen last winter. Bell’s solid cast delivers an enjoyable, well-spoken, crystal-clear show with plenty of physical comedy for the youngsters and — remarkably, given the issues in the play — a genuinely warm and inclusive atmosphere.
