Spotlight
Jay Torrence's Burning Bluebeard, an artful meditation on Chicago's deadly 1903 Iroquois Theatre Fire in which 600 people died, returns for a very short run at in the space where it originally debuted: The Neo-Futurarium. The production may take on more of a mournful tone this time around, especially in light of recent tragic events in Oakland, California, plus the news that the performance rights have been pulled for the venue's signature show, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. The Ruffians' acclaimed production of Burning Bluebeard plays three shows only at Dec. 16-18 at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland Ave. Tickets are $35-$40 and $25 for students. For more information, call 800-838-3006 or visit BrownPaperTickets.com .
Anthony Courser, Molly Plunk, Leah Urzendowski, Pam Chermansky, Jay Torrence and Ryan Walters in The Ruffians' Burning Bluebeard. Photo by Evan Hanover
Critics' Picks
A Hedda Gabler, Red Tape Theatre at the Pride Arts Center Buena, through Dec. 17. This is not your classroom Ibsen, but a vividly expressionistic reinterpretation making a plea for a Victorian Bad Girl driven to violence by a suffocating marriage. MSB
Crazy for You, Drury Lane Theatre, Oakbrook Terrace, through Jan. 8. The late, great Gershwin brothers' showtunes once lifted spirits during the Great Depression. These songs are once again put to expert and escapist use for anyone still suffering post-election blues in this solid revival of the 1992 Broadway musical comedy smash hit. SCM
Give It All Back, Sideshow Theatre Company at the Biograph, through Dec. 18. Calamity West's hero may look and walk like a Bob Dylan, but his crisis is that of all successful artists throughout history. MSB
The Last Wife, TimeLine Theatre, through Dec. 18. Big, meaty-but-intelligent performances drive playwright Kate Henning's tale of a woman's survival and power in a man's world, ostensibly about King Henry VIII and Catherine Parr, the only one of Henry's wives to survive him, but very much a modern work. JA
By Abarbanel, Barnidge and Morgan