SPRING THEATER & ARTS PREVIEW

direction of Marti Gobel. Twins Racine and Anaia receive a letter from the mother they believed to be dead. They head out from “the Dirty South” to the California desert, bent on vengeance for her and for themselves. Harris’s play draws on an array of influences, including hip-hop, spaghetti westerns, Afropunk, and ancient tragedy. 4/6-5/28, A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells, 312-943-8722, aredorchidtheatre.org, $15-$40

The Porch on Windy Hill Northlight offers up “a new play with old music” by Sherry Lutken, Lisa Helmi Johanson, Morgan Morse, and David M. Lutken, conceived and directed by Sherry Lutken. Set during the COVID-19 shutdown, the story follows Mira, a young biracial classical violinist who decides (along with her boyfriend, who just happens to be a folk song collector) to ride out the early days of the pandemic by retreating from Brooklyn to her ancestral home in North Carolina. There she finds out about family secrets and rediscovers a love of Appalachian music. 4/13-5/14, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, 847-673-6300, northlight.org, $30-$89 ($15 students)

London Road

Shattered Globe nabs the U.S. premiere of this musical by Alecky Blythe (book and lyrics) and Adam Cork (music and lyrics). The residents of Ipswich in the UK band together to protect their community after five sex workers are killed by a serial killer. Based loosely on the true story of Steve Wright (known variously as the Su olk Strangler and the Ipswich Ripper), the musical uses verbatim elements of interviews conducted with the residents, sex workers, and reporters caught up in the case. Elizabeth Margolius directs and choreographs, with musical direction by Andra Velis Simon. 4/21-6/3, Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont, 773975-8150, sgtheatre.org, $10-$52

We Are Proud to Present a Presentation

About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly

Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915

Jackie Sibblies Drury’s 2012 drama provides a darkly sardonic view of the fate of the Herero people of Namibia, who faced genocide at the hands of the Germans. The event was largely forgotten by the west—as most genocides of African people by colonial forces have been— but the Germans used their attacks on the Her- ero to help create the monstrous framework they’d later use in “the Final Solution.” The play questions the nature of representation itself in telling such horrific stories, as the actors delivering the “presentation” undergo their own racial and interpersonal conflicts. Drury’s play got its first reading in 2010 at Victory Gardens Theater and received its world premiere there in 2012 as part of the Ignition Festival of New Plays. It’s now the first full production for Theatre Y in their new North Lawndale venue; Kezia Waters directs.

4/21-5/21, Theatre Y, 3611 W. Cermak, 773908-2248, theatre-y.com, free

Fairview

More Drury: Definition Theatre continues its season at Hyde Park’s the Revival, which opened with Micah Ariel Watson’s Alaiyo, with the Chicago premiere of Drury’s 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning Fairview, directed by company cofounder and artistic director Tyrone Phillips. A birthday party for the matriarch of the Frasier family is not what it appears to be. To say more would be to spoil a key twist in Drury’s story, but su ce it to say that she’s taken the tropes of the middle-class family drama and reexamined them through the lens of white supremacy. 4/27-5/21, The Revival, 1160 E. 55th St., definitiontheatre.org, $35

Bayanihan: The Spirit of Solidarity

Links Hall presents this event, a variety show combined with a health fair and community resources, that “makes space for collective grief and celebrates creativity with the Chicagoland Filipinx/a/o community,” drawing from storytelling work created over the years by AFIRE (Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment). HL Doruelo curates as part of Links’s Co-MISSION Curators-in-Residence program. 5/5-5/6 Fri-Sat 7 PM, Links Hall, 3111 N. Western, linkshall.org, $16-$42

The Gospel at Colonus Court Theatre closes out its season with Bob Telson and Lee Breuer’s celebrated 1983 musical retelling of the story of Oedipus through the device of an African Pentecostal church service. The Broadway production in 1988 and the Goodman production in 1990 both featured the Five Blind Boys of Alabama as the chorus. The Court cast, directed by Mark J.P. Hood and artistic director Charles Newell, includes men and women in the chorus, with Kelvin Roston Jr. as Oedipus and Aeriel Williams as Antigone. 5/12-6/11, Court Theatre,

5535 S. Ellis, 773-753-4472, courtheatre.org, $28.50-$82

COMEDY AND VARIETY (Kerry Reid)

Second City’s 111th Mainstage Revue

The show doesn’t have a title yet, but Carisa Barreca, a vet of several revues at Piper’s Alley and a director of Second City touring companies, makes her mainstage directorial debut with this latest collection of sketches, featuring several performers from Second City’s stellar last mainstage show, Do the Right Thing, No Worries If Not. Opens 4/4 in an open run, 1616 N. Wells, 312-337-3992, secondcity. com, $39-$79

Satirical Race Theory

After shutting down during COVID, iO came back full strength last fall. This new improvised show, “a farce on the American classroom,” features an all-Black cast of over a dozen seasoned performers and aims to explore popular academic subjects through a Black lens. The dance troupe the Puzzle League will open each performance. 4/15-7/1, Sat 8 PM, iO Theater, 1501 N. Kingsbury, ioimprov .com or seetickets.us, $30 ($15 student)

So Fucked It’s Funny

If you’re having trouble laughing in post-Roe America, maybe this show will help. Comedian

Deanna Ortiz hosts this evening of “righteous anger and riotous laughter” as a fundraiser for Midwest Access Project. Thu 4/27, 8 PM, Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee, 773-6973830, thedentheatre.com, $26-$57.50 (18+)

Newport Peek-Easy

Newport Theater has been reinventing the rules of burlesque and variety, and you can see some of those results for yourself in this ongoing showcase of burlesque, drag, and variety (including digital content). Open run Sat 7 PM, Newport Theater, 956 W. Newport, 773-270-3440, newporttheater.com, $20-$30

The Showcase at Chicago Magic Lounge

If you need to put some magic into your weeknights, the Chicago Magic Lounge has you covered. On Tuesdays, they turn over the stage to a rotating lineup of regular practitioners of prestidigitation, o ering a glimpse of the “close-up” magic that Chicago made famous. The Magic Lounge also o ers a cool cocktail bar up front where you can order interesting concoctions from a bartender who is also happy to practice a few tricks of the trade. The Showcase, open run, Tue 7 PM, Chicago Magic Lounge, 5050 N. Clark, 312-366-4500, chicagomagiclounge.com, $35-$40 v

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