SATURDAY
The Laboratory of Your Mind: In this experimental new work from a new company, a fellow finds himself trapped within the confines of his own noggin.
Through July 19 by New Beast Theatre Works at The Building Stage, 412 N. Carpenter St.; $10, 312-491-1369 and www.buildingstage.com.
The Melville Boys: Kurt Naebig directs a new production of Norm Foster’s Canadian play. The drama deals with the travails of two brothers and two sisters, all trapped in an isolated cabin on a lake in the northern reaches of Michigan.
Through July 27 at the McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage, Fawell and Park Blvds., Glen Ellyn; $22-$30 at 630-942-4000 or www.cod.edu/ArtsCntr.
WEDNESDAY
Cadillac: A reprise engagement for Bill Jepsen’s enjoyable Chicago drama set in a local auto dealership. “Cadillac” is a play about salespeople. The familiar types are present — the flashy egotist, the desperate veteran — and there’s even a Mamet-like leader board to motivate the employees of Lindy Motors. But what saves Jepsen’s well-made and well-researched play from being overly derivative is a sophisticated awareness of the tension between the two contradictory sides of a sales job — the sense of mission that comes from helping customers and the profit-soaked need to talk them into buying more than they need.
Through July 13 by Chicago Dramatists at Theater on the Lake, 2401 N. Lake Shore Drive (at Fullerton); $17.50, 312-742-7994 and www.chicagoparkdistrict.com.
