Theater spotlight
More than 400 funny ladies are on hand for the Chicago Women's Funny Festival. Billing itself as the nation's largest female comedy festival, the Chicago's Women's Funny Festival features the return of Katie Rich ( Saturday Night Live ) with Holly Laurent ( Onion News Network ) in their sketch duo show Joan and Ro, comedic dance troupe Matter Dance, transgender comic and writer Dina Nina Martinez, Kansas City improv group 5'10", Chicago's own LGBTQ sketch comedy troupe GayCo and many more. The 5th annual Chicago Women's Funny Festival runs from Thursday, June 16, through Sunday, June 19, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Call 773-327-5252 or visit Stage773.com for more information.
Caption: Transgender comic and writer Dina Nina Martinez is featured in the 5th annual Chicago Women's Funny Festival. Photo by Roberto Amezcua
Critics Picks
Constellations, Steppenwolf Theatre, through July 3. The intricacies and variables of life are compellingly jam-packed into British playwright Nick Payne's heady and hilarious tragic drama, now receiving a marvelously performed Chicago premiere under Jonathan Berry's fine direction. SCM
The Producers, Mercury Theater Chicago, through June 26. Go and laugh your head off at director L. Walter Sterns' masterful stage reduction of Mel Brooks' mammoth 2001 Broadway musical hit. SCM
Prowess, Jackalope Theatre at Broadway Armory, through June 25. Watch for the unexpected gay twist in Ike Holter's visceral comic tragedy about South Sider Chicagoans who take up self-defense fighting before taking on violent gangs in their neighborhood. SCM
Spinning, Irish Theatre of Chicago @ The Den Theatre, through July 3. Irish plays traditionally feature strong women and weak men. Spinning follows suit to a degree, but this contemporary work really concerns emotional meltdown and its effect on random acquaintances. JA
By Abarbanel, Barnidge and Morgan