Theater & Performance Tomorrow – The Short List (Theater)
The Hunting of the Snark
Through 5/28: Sun-Tue 8 PMTheater & Performance
Lewis Carroll's 1874 poem, about a boatload of ill-prepared would-be huntsmen tracking a never seen but possibly deadly creature, may be a heavily coded memorial to his uncle, a lunatic-asylum inspector killed by a patient a few months before the poem's creation. Or it may be pure nonsense. Whatever it is, its exacting rhyme scheme creates a giddy tension between formality and fancy, giving the cryptic work its power. Director Josh Sobel packs ample Carrollesque fancy into Strawdog Theatre Company's 50-minute adaptation, his childlike 12-person cast embarking on spontaneous adventures and inventing ingenious images out of suitcases, bits of rope, and handheld lights. But they play the silliness, never the seriousness—forgetting that Carroll himself delivered whimsy with an unwavering poker face. —Justin Hayford $15
773-528-9696Chicken Little
Through 5/31: Mon-Fri 10:30 AMTheater & Performance
A children's tale about a young chicken who believes the sky is falling and gathers his friends to tell the king. Showtimes vary. See website for full schedule. $12
Seek and Ye Shall Find
Through 6/8: Sat 3 PM, Sun 7 PM, Mon 7:30 PM, Wed 7:30 PM; no show Sun-Mon 5/26-5/27, additional show Tue 5/28, 7:30 PMTheater & Performance
Sentell Harper's one-man show, presented by Mortar Theatre Company, takes on too much in an effort to deconstruct the black gay community. The show follows its protagonist, also called Sentell, on an unexpected el ride that lands him in black gay alternate universe, where he's confronted head-on by the community he feels alienated from. Numerous characters pass through, telling stories of coming out, reconciling church and sexuality, secret relationships, and HIV scares. Harper is a charismatic performer, bringing humor and humanity (and some song and dance) to sympathetic characters, but each man's story felt garbled when mixed with so many others'. The message that we are all "worth keeping" is admirable, but might've been better presented through a single man's journey toward self-acceptance. —Marissa Oberlander $10-$15
Ivywild: The True Tall Tales of Bathhouse John
Through 6/16: Fri-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, Mon 7:30 PMTheater & Performance
"Bathhouse John" Coughlin and Michael "Hinky Dink" Kenna, turn-of-the-20th-century coaldermen of Chicago's vice-heavy 1st Ward, made fortunes squeezing payoffs from gamblers and pimps. Coughlin dressed extravagantly, fancied himself a poet, wrote one hit song, and built an amusement park that burned to the ground six years after it opened. Kenna dressed conservatively. That's about all playwright and performer Jay Torrence's 90-minute script has to say about its central figures—and does it so disjointedly that it's difficult to glean even these basic facts. Director Halena Kays's shadowy, carnivalesque Hypocrites production features winning design and engaging performances (Torrence's impish Coughlin is a marvel). But there's no meaningful context to give the onslaught of fragmentary images any significance. —Justin Hayford $28
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Through 8/16: various times, see websiteTheater & Performance
A family-friendly show about a young girl who discovers a bears' house in the woods. $12
