The diverse Chicago theater scene allows play-goers to explore many different worlds, from the land of Oz to Osage County. But as any proud Chicagoan knows, there are plenty of stories to be told right here in the city. Grab a ticket to one of these locally focused shows, and watch your town take center stage.
"I Saw You"
8 p.m. Mondays (ongoing) at The Spot (Bruised Orange Theater Company)
Most Chicago residents have read—or regularly read—The Reader. And even though the paper was recently sold and doesn't weigh nearly as much as it used to, it still has its special place here in the city. Flip to the back for the hilarious "missed connections," personal ads and—our favorite—X-rated requests. Each week during "I Saw You," you'll be able to catch dramatic readings from this section. You're guaranteed to laugh hard—until you realize it's your ad getting the comedic treatment.
"Fast Forward"
Runs through August 2 at Center on Halsted (About Face Youth Theatre)
Every summer, Chicago's only theater company committed to LGBTQ issues rallies up queer youth from the city and the suburbs, helps them write about their own experiences and then transforms them into actors performing their own work on the stage. This year, Youth Outreach Director Paula Gilovich and her crew focus on connections between the lack of sex education in schools today and the ways that HIV and AIDS have impacted the youth community. The enlightening show, set against the backdrop of high school, delves into the current state of gay-straight alliances, the backwards abstinence-until-marriage ideologies present in today's sex education, the gay prom phenomenon and cyber-bullying.
"Superior Donuts"
Runs through August 24 at Steppenwolf Theatre
Tracy Letts follows up on his acclaimed play, "August: Osage County," with this new piece set in Chicago's quickly gentrifying Uptown neighborhood. Arthur Pryzbyszewski owns a run-down donut shop that his Polish immigrant father opened years ago. But as the neighborhood undergoes changes—and his Russian neighbor continuously asks to buy the store from him—Franco, a black teenager from the neighborhood, strolls into Arthur's life. Franco wants to change the store for the better, but it isn't so easy to change Arthur's attitude toward the dying donut store.
Aqui Estoy
August 12 (one night only) at the Goodman Theatre (Albany Park Theater Project)
Back for one night only during the Goodman's 2008 Latino Theater Festival, this twice-remounted Albany Park Theater Project play showcases the true stories of undocumented immigrants living in Chicago. Directors David Feiner and Maggie Popadiak focus on two stories by ensemble members about their experiences. "Amor de Lejos" looks at the difficult lives of day laborers from Central American and Mexico. And "Nine Digits" follows a Chicago teen who has lived as an undocumented immigrant since his parents brought him to the U.S. from Columbia at age six. It's a fearless foray at the corrosive national immigration debate.
Solo Homo—an Evening of Solo Performances
7:30 p.m. July 23, 24 and 30 at Chemically Imbalanced Theatre
Chicago's thriving LGBTQ community needs some lovin', too. After all, us homos are everywhere, from Andersonville to Boystown, but also scattered throughout other, less-gay areas of the city. In this new series at the improv-tastical North Side theater, the NewTown Writers—a Chicago-based gay and lesbian writers' salon—shares works-in-progress. Eventually, it'll publish the literary anthology Off the Rocks and the e-zine Swell.
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