Eighteen theater companies are presented in six different programs of two to four plays each, organized along loose thematic lines by producer Doug Bragan and associate producer Judith Easton. That’s two more companies and two more programs than last year, when Bragan first stepped in to revive this non-Equity showcase founded and then discontinued by the League of Chicago Theatres. At the Theatre Building, through June 2. Wednesdays-Fridays, 8 PM, Saturdays, 6:30 and 9:15 PM; Sundays, 3 PM. Each program $12 in advance, $15 at the door; single plays $5 in advance, $8 at the door. The schedule is as follows:
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“ISN’T IT ROMANTIC!”: PARENTHESES, SEX LIVES OF SUPERHEROES, and FORECAST First: Confrontation turns to courtship when an angry father visits his child’s first-grade teacher, Bailiwick Repertory presents Bill Wine’s comedy, which Reader critic Lawrence Bommer calls “tedious, talky, cloying.” Second: Stephen Gregg’s comedy about relationships on and off the comic-book pages, performed by the Griffin Theatre, is “a delightful discovery–a four-star charmer,” says Bommer. Third: A young astronaut encounters a thick-skinned peasant woman, in Elizabeth Wray’s play presented by Blind Parrot Productions; Bommer calls this “an oddly poetic series of cryptic blackout scenes that brims with unforced but almost antiromantic feelings.” Wednesdays, 8 PM.
“WAR STORIES, DOG STORY”: THE LETTER, NEXT, and DOG STORIES First: Mina Sama No, a theater company devoted to the Asian-American experience, presents the world premiere of Suzy Nakamura and Connie Munoz’s drama about a family’s reaction to the U.S. government’s reparation payments to Japanese-Americans confined in internment camps during World War H. Reader critic Mary Shen Barnidge calls the play “a thoughtful exploration of a problem too often ignored.” Second: Terrence McNally’s Vietnam-era comedy about a middle-aged man’s encounter with a sadistic female physician during the man’s draft physical is performed by the BDI Theater Company; “George Lugg as the unfortunate draftee is spectacular,” says Barnidge. Third: Phoenix Productions presents Keith Huff’s comedy, which Barnidge calls “a series of vignettes satirizing the extraordinary affection many modern Americans have for their pets” buoyed by a group of good performances. Saturdays, 6:30 PM.
