Theater spotlight
Following his previous world-premiere play Chewing on Beckett for Artemisia, playwright Ed Proudfoot reteams with the same theater company for the world premiere of Visiting. This time Proudfoot explores the effect of Bipolar Disorder on four generations of women. Visiting finishes out its run on Sunday, May 7, at The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway. Tickets are $25; call 312-725-3780 or visit ArtemisiaTheatre.org .
Artemisia's Visiting plays The Edge Theater in Chicago. Photo of Sarah Wisterman and Julie Proudfoot by Kat Tushim
Critics' Picks
Aladdin, Cadillac Palace Theatre, through Sept. 10. This national tour is a corporate Disney product, no doubt. But most audiences nostalgic for the blockbuster 1992 animated feature probably won't care since Aladdin delivers as a wowing, big-budget stage spectacle. SCM
Beyond Caring, Lookingglass Theatre Company, through May 7. The company that usually transports us skyward to the realms of fantasy this time plummets us to the depths of minimum-wage squalor for a bleak 90 minutes and dares us to remain detached. MSB
Into the Beautiful North, 16th Street Theatre, Berwyn, through June 3. A young woman travels north seeking heroes to protect her dusty Mexican village of Tres Camarones ( "three shrimp" ). Karen Zacarias' adaptation of Luis Albert Urrea's comic picaresque novel blends fancy and contemporary truth, colorfully staged with vigor and charm. JA
Linda Vista, Steppenwolf Theatre, extended through May 28. If you're fond of Steely Dan songsor maybe your life resembles oneyour empathy with the flawed hero of this latest dispatch from the eclectic Tracy Letts is assured. MSB
By Abarbanel, Barnidge and Morgan