| A Challenge for the Actor May 12 - Jun 16, 2008 |
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| Gorilla Tango Theatre |
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| Show takes participants through four distinct worlds of the human condition, creating a whole in which the through line is theme rather than plot. The Essentials are known for blending the silliness of sketch comedy with aspects of traditional theater to create a show that is hilarious and fulfilling. |
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| Raw May 13 - May 27, 2008 |
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| Peter Jones Gallery |
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| Three evenings of short plays, scenes and monologues written by members of WNEP's Write Club, a group of writers that congregates once a month at the Uptown Writers' Space, lead by WNEP artistic director Jen Ellison. Includes ten short plays by ten writers with six directors and fifteen actors. |
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| Nunsense May 14 - Jul 13, 2008 |
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| Marriott Theatre In Lincolnshire |
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| When the Little Sisters of Aptakisic discover that their cook, Sister Julia, Child of God, has unintentionally poisoned 52 of their fellow nuns, they are in desperate need of money for the burials. To raise the funds they decide to stage a wild variety show, and they take over the Marriott Theater for their venue. Headliners include Reverend Mother Regina, a former circus performer; Sister Robert Anne, a streetwise nun from Brooklyn; Sister Mary Leo, an aspiring ballerina; and the delightfully wacky Sister Mary Amnesia, who lost her memory when a crucifix fell on her head. With madcap ballet and tap dancing, a rowdy audience quiz, bingo at intermission, hysterical nun-puns, and riotous surprises, Nunsense is charming and irreverent musical entertainment for people of all ages and faiths. |
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| Kosi Dasa May 14 - May 25, 2008 |
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| Merle Reskin Theatre |
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| The lives of young couple No Eyes and Diata are changed forever as each must accept sacrifice in the name of community, family and spiritual beliefs. A coming-of-age story told through African storytelling, African and Indian dance, and Brazilian and Asian combat styles.
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| Tallgrass Gothic May 14 - Jun 3, 2008 |
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| City Lit Theater |
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| Set in the rural, stark and beautiful Americana of the Great Plains, this spare drama is a loose adaptation of the sensual and brutal Jacobean tragedy, The Changeling. The rules of this isolated small town make reason seem impossible, stifling freedom of expression, and offering no escape for the six young friends trapped there. Laura, the town beauty, finds herself the object of desire as her friends struggle with their yearning for her. Laura finds herself at a crossroads between lust, loyalty and betrayal and inevitably chooses the most violent resolution. It's a subject whose resonance has proven relevant and undeniable from the 17th century to today's headlines. |
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| On the Verge, or The Geography of Yearning May 15 - Jun 1, 2008 |
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| Victory Gardens Theater Greenhouse |
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| Brave, willing and yearning to see it all, three women explorers begin their trek to Terra Incognita in 1888, only to discover they are adrift in time. Eric Overmyer crafts a linguistic labyrinth for his heroines as they navigate through uncharted territory populated with pop culture and possibility. |
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| A Taste of Honey May 15 - Jul 5, 2008 |
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| Victory Gardens Theater Greenhouse |
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| Shelagh Delaney's poignant and comic play, set in 1950s Manchester, England, tells the story of Jo, a shy adolescent chafing against the constraints of her working class life and the demands of her selfish, irresponsible mother. Left pregnant by an itinerant sailor, Jo creates her own family. |
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| Acts Without Words May 15 - Jun 7, 2008 |
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| BoHo Theatre @ Heartland Studio |
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| An ensemble of two men and two women performs the cycle of plays in Acts Without Words, employing the utmost precision to embody human experience from the mundane to the larger-than-life. The result is an expression of the vitality and variety of the art of mime. |
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| Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs May 15 - May 25, 2008 |
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| Village Players Theatre |
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| Experience the mystery and magic of the classic Grimm's fairy tale set to music by George F. Root. This hour and fifteen minute show will captivate young and old alike as it follows Snow White on her adventures with the Seven Dwarfs and the Forest Children. Features 37 Oak Park-area students, 9-14, as well as professional singers. |
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| First Breeze of Summer May 15 - Jun 15, 2008 |
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| Court Theatre |
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| Obie Award winner and Tony-nominated “Best Play,” Leslie Lee’s rarely seen drama reveals a turbulent time in three generations of an African-American family. One hot June weekend, the family matriarch reflects on the lessons of her own youth and the three lost love affairs that shaped her life and her family while the conflict between her two teenage grandsons and their father comes to a head. |
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| Beholder May 15 - Jun 21, 2008 |
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| Trap Door Theatre |
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| Ken Prestininzi's play is inspired by the notebooks and letters of painter Paula Modersohn-Becker and her dear friend poet Rainer Maria Rilke.
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| Juno and the Paycock May 15 - Jun 30, 2008 |
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| Live Bait Theatre |
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| Juno and the Paycock captures a snapshot inside the Boyle family home as revolutionary politics and violence percolate between IRA "die-hards" and "staters" on the streets of 1922 Dublin. With her son maimed during the Easter Rising and her husband content to drink away the current
days of chaos, Juno is left to earn food for the table and keep peace in the home. Good fortune arrives for Captain Boyle in a contract promising him an inheritance from a deceased cousin. Yet the promise of another contract written in the blood of brotherhood threatens to outweigh any
sum of money able to lift the Boyle family out of the slums of Dublin for good. |
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| The Musical of Musicals the Musical! May 15 - Jun 21, 2008 |
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| Metropolis Performing Arts Centre |
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| One plot equals five times the entertainment in this hit musical. It's five mini-musicals in one. The zany, witty humor will keep you laughing and the fun-loving music will keep your toes tappin'. |
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| 8th Annual Sketchbook Festival May 15 - Jun 15, 2008 |
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| Steppenwolf Theatre |
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| A lively celebration of staged theatrical works, music and fine art, Sketchbook is a short play festival like no other. Each year Collaboraction guides more than 200 artists through an exciting collaboration where 10-20 short performances, each seven minutes or less in length, mingle with visual art and music. From a sweet story of young love meeting during a summer bike ride, to a bizarre 1920’s silent movie crossed with a 1970’s slasher flick, to a dark comedy about a soldier’s return home, this year’s roster of plays is fresh, provocative and insightful. |
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| de coraSON "From the Heart" May 16 |
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| Steppenwolf Theatre |
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| Big, vibrant show for the entire family features Sones de Mexico Ensemble, Chicago's premier folk music ensemble. The group, formed in 1994 to keep the tradition of Mexican "sones" alive in its many regional forms, was nominated for a 2007 Latin Grammy. |
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| Boys & Girls May 16 - Jun 15, 2008 |
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| Chicago Cultural Center |
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| Two one-acts. Daniel MacIvor's Never Swim Alone blows the lid off modern masculinity as it examines the lives of two childhood friends. Wendy MacLeod's In the Shallow End follows four teenage girls over the course of one summer, through the twists and turns of friendship. |
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| Spring Swing, From Bach to Duke May 16 - May 18, 2008 |
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| Athenaeum Theatre |
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| From Balanchine's classic "Concerto Barocco" to Daniel Duell's "Ellington Suite," program brings a blend of high energy and warm romance. Dancers are from Ballet Chicago Studio Company, a pre-professional troupe of exceptional students from the School of Ballet Chicago. |
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