Theater Spotlight
Get a possible glimpse at a future season of Victory Gardens Theater via its 2015 IGNITION Festival of New Plays. Seven new play readings are on the roster, and a few have celebrities attached. For instance, Tony Award-nominee and out actor Andre De Sheilds' solo show Confessions of a P.I.M.P. is based upon his own journey from inner-city poverty to a performance career. Also, Grey's Anatomy star Sandra Oh returns to appear in Julia Cho's drama Office Hour. Victory Gardens Theater's 2015 IGNITION Festival of New Plays runs from July 16-19 at the Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. Performances are free, although reservations through the box office are required; call 773-871-3000 or visit www.victorygardens.org .
Photo by Lia Chang
Critics' Picks
Bad Jews, Theater Wit at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Skokie, extended through Aug. 8. There's even more time to catch Joshua Harmon's lacerating off-Broadway comedy since Theater Wit's acclaimed Chicago premiere has transferred to Skokie. SCM
The Birds, Griffin Theatre at Theater Wit, through July 19. Forget Hitchcock! Mystery-loving Irish author Conor McPherson adapts Daphne DuMaurier's original story into a tense psychological thriller performed by players determined to show you a good time. JA
City of Angels, Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire; through Aug. 2. Film noir buffs won't want to miss this smart jazzy musical comedy that pays homage to hardboiled gumshoes while also spoofing the 1940s Hollywood studio system. Director Nick Bowling does a masterful job of juggling the musicals two worlds. SCM
Stick Fly, Windy City Playhouse, extended through July 19. Don't be fooled by the onstage and offstage swankeven nearly ten years after its premiere, Lydia R. Diamond's observations on privileged African-American families has lost none of their satirical insight. MSB
By Abarbanel, Barnidge and Morgan