Match: Playwright Stephen Belber’s fascination with recorded conversations (and the deeper human truths the machine can’t quite capture) first came up in his play “Tape,” later turned into a film. In 2004’s “Match,” Belber pits Tobi Powell, a decidedly strange dancer/choreographer with a penchant for knitting and collecting nail clippings, against a young couple bent on interviewing him about his years spent abroad. As the cat-and-mouse game unfolds, all three of the characters end up revealing far more than they planned. Steve Scott directs the production starring Mark Douglas-Jones, Michelle Courvais, and Raymond L. Chapman (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text).
Previews Friday and opens Saturday at Apple Tree Theatre, 1850 Green Bay Rd., Highland Park. Through April 6. Tickets are $38-$48 at 847-432-4335.
Sylvia: It’s the old story. A guy hits middle age. His career is going nowhere, the nest is empty, and the marriage is as stale as yesterday’s doughnut. What else can he do but go out and find a cute, energetic new female “friend” to restore his youth? So what if she sheds all over the couch and demands to be walked several times a day? A.R. Gurney’s comedy about a restless Manhattanite and the canine who comes between him and his wife turns the Metropolis into an indoor dog run, under the direction of Noble Fool artistic director John Gawlik.
Opens Thursday at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights. Through April 26. Tickets are $22-$42 at 847-577-2121 or www.metropolisarts.com.
Flanagan’s Wake: It’s like “Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding,” only Irish. And with a corpse. The long-running interactive Irish wake returns to Noble Fool in time for St. Paddy’s day, with stories, toasts, and tearful anecdotes about the late, lamented Flanagan.
Through March 29 at Noble Fool Theatricals, Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. Tickets are $27 at 630-584-6342 or www.noblefool.org.
Put the Nuns in Charge!: It’s Miss Manners in a habit. Vicki Quade’s spin-off of the mega-hit “Late Night Catechism” finds Sister taking on the latest scourge of secular sins, from iPods to wardrobe choices.
Through March 30 at the Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora. Tickets are $27 at 630-896-6666 or www.paramountarts.com.
Corpse!: Gerald Moon’s farcical murder mystery about a man with evil designs on his identical twin.
Through March 30 at Steel Beam Theatre, 111 W. Main St., St. Charles. Tickets are $25 at 630-587-8521 or www.steelbeamtheatre.com.
Crimes of the Heart: Kathleen Turner just directed a high-profile Broadway revival of Beth Henley’s Pulitzer-winning tale of three Southern sisters who are having a really bad day. Lenny, Meg, and Babe are also in residence in Naperville this month courtesy of Grounded Theatre, dealing with their sturm und drang (it sounds better with a drawl).
Through April 19 at the Comedy Shrine, 22 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville. Tickets are $20 at 630-803-2845 or www.groundedtheatre.org.
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