Pictured: Rohina, the playwright behind Unveiled.
Outside of a certain flying nanny now in residence in the Loop, Northlight and Writers' theaters have the don't-miss marquee premieres this spring, with ( respectively ) the Midwest debut of the Lieutenant of Inishmore and the first-ever opening of The Minister's Wife. But throughout Chicago—and even Berwyn—there are plenty of other brand-new ( or new to the area ) works to check out. Below, our picks for spring's most intriguing new offerings.
—The Lieutenant of Inishmore ( Midwest premiere ) , April 29-June 7, Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie, Skokie. 847-673-6300. www.northlight.org: There is no question that this is the don't-miss premiere of the season. Check out this killer cast: Matt DeCaro, John Judd, Cliff Chamberlain and Kelly O'Sullivan and Jamie Abelson. Better still, they're in the service of the Great and Terrible Martin McDonagh. This time, the author of The Cripple of Inishmore and the shoulda-won-the-Oscar In Bruges begins his twisted tale with the death of a hitman's beloved pet cat. Uh-oh. Expect equal parts stomach-turning violence and pitch-black humor.
—The Minister's Wife ( world premiere ) , May 19 ( previews through June 3 ) -July 19, Writers' Theatre, 325 Tudor, Glencoe, 847-242-6000. www.writerstheatre.org: Josh Schmidt, the composer of Writers' award-winning The Adding Machine has said he has no use for conventional musicals. So don't expect tidy chord structures and button endings as he turns his pen to George Bernard Shaw's "Candida." Also making this a must-see: Austin Pendleton ( "Orson's Shadow" ) directs. With that kind of talent on board, the plot almost doesn't matter. But for those who crave details, the story deals with a young poet intent on rescuing the title character from what he believes to be the tedium of her daily life.
—Jimmy Gamble ( Midwest premiere ) , April 2-10, Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co. at Angel Island, 735 W. Sheridan, 773-871-0442, www.maryarrchie.com: Written, directed and starring Gary Bairos, Jimmy Gamble is a 70-minute, one-man show about the life and times of a man who lives to bet on horse races. A California native, Bairos' focuses on an obsession with playing the ponies by a man who considers himself the greatest handicapper in the country. The winner of an L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for his performance in The Indian Wants The Bronx, Bairos recently completed the feature film version of Jimmy Gamble.
—Mrs. Hyde and the Case of the Gaslight Buggerings ( Midwest premiere ) , April 2- 26, Even and Odd Theatricals at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport, 312-902-1500, www.evenandoddtheatricals.com: Of course, we know about the violent Mr. Hyde. Now meet the super-sexed Mrs. Hyde. Expect dragalicious gender-bending wackiness to ensue as Henry Jekyll's lab experiments unleash a Victorian cougar on 1880s London.
—Parlour Song ( Chicago premiere ) , April 2-May 9, Steep Theatre, 1115 W. Berwyn, 312-458-0722, www.steeptheatre.com: A romantic triangle involving man who blows up buildings for a living, a woman inappropriately named Joy and a neighbor with a handy library of self-help sex tapes. What could possibly go wrong? Jez Butterworth's comedy deals with combustion that's sexual, emotional and demolition-al as well as a husband who is "jumpier than a crow on roadkill." Robin Witt, who drew kudos for her work helming Steep's Breathing Corpses, directs.
—Disappearing Acts: Stories By Nokolai Gogol ( world premiere ) , April 25-May 31 ( previews through April 26 ) : Stephen Fedo has long been Piven Theatre's go-to guy for adaptations. Having done able work translating prose by Anton Chekhov, Bernard Malamud and Isaac Bashevis Singer into pieces for the stage, he now takes a turn at Gogol. Genre-defining masterpieces The Nose and The Overcoat established Gogol as the father of absurdity. "We all come out of Gogol's 'Overcoat,' " Dostyevsky reportedly said. He wasn't exaggerating. The Nose tells the story of a man who wakes up one morning to find his proboscus gone missing. The Overcoat is the cautionary comedy of a poor man who splurges—far more than he realizes—on a magnificent winter coat.
—Unveiled ( world premiere ) , April 30-May 23, 16th Street Theatre, 6420 16th, Berwyn. 708-795-6704. www.16thstreettheatre.org: Amy Eaton directs the world premiere of a one-woman drama depicting five Muslim woman. Playwright Rohina ( no surname ) includes a Pakistani woman, a white American woman, an Arab-American woman, a South-Asian Londoner and a Middle Eastern woman in a story of racism, love, culture and language that unspools as the women serve chocolate chai, mint tea of Morocco, Kashmiri Chai and Kahwe Saide. The piece is part of 16th Street's Words in Motion Festival.
—Busman's Honeymoon ( world premiere ) , May 1-June 21 ( previews through May 10 ) , Lifeline Theatre, 6912 N. Glenwood, 773-761-4477. www.lifelinetheatre.org: Chicago's standard-bearers when it comes to literary adaptations, Lifeline revisits amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey and novelist Harriet Vane in Frances Limoncelli's take on Dorothy L. Sayers' detective classic. Those who saw Gaudy Night know Limoncelli is a pip when it comes to transferring Sayers from page to stage. Count on crackling suspense, sparkling banter and the occasional corpse to keep things extra-interesting. Jenifer Tyler and Peter Greenberg reprise their roles as ( respectively ) as Harriet Lord Peter.
—Love Person ( Midwest premiere ) , May 15-June 14, Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln, 773-871-3000. www.victorygardens.org: Two lesbians walk into a bar... Not the most promising beginning for a love story, right? Think again. Playwright Adidit Brennan Kapil uses four languages, three cultures and two couples to tell an unconventional tale of barriers, romance and communication. Sandy Shinner directs the collage of English, Sanskrit, e-mail projections and American Sign Language.
