How indie band THE FAMILY CREST is using their music to retell Shakespeare’s most-loved tragedy

After having debuted on the Chicago theatre scene earlier this year with My Name is Rachel Corrie, Jacaranda Collective is teaming up with Ryan Martin and The Den Theatre to co-produce and present Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. How do you sell the greatest love story ever told to a jaded generation who connects with one another by swiping left on a handheld screen? Audacious newcomer Jacaranda Collective’s solution is simple, but not easy: it’s truth. And how are they proposing to present a production of Romeo and Juliet rooted in truth? Answer: with an ensemble of actors and dancers performing in an immersive space accompanied by a live soundtrack performed by The Family Crest, featuring songs you already know and love, or will love after being introduced to the band.

Remember Me 4Ever and Ever

Language of Angels – Three Crows Theatre

As Autumn leaves begin turning color and pumpkins start transforming into jack-o-lanterns, Three Crows Theatre kicks off their fourth season of always entertaining, thought-provoking stories. Their opening production is a psychological ghost story, just in time for Halloween. Written by the prolific and generously awarded playwright, Naomi Iizuka, this haunting one-act is, like most of her work, non-linear. First produced in San Francisco nineteen years ago, Ms. Iizuka’s drama plays with the conventions of time and space, with its nine characters telling their stories both in the past and present. The result is a sometimes confusing, but very well-acted production that will leave audiences thinking long after the lights fade to black.

An Almost Enthralling Ghost Story

Tippy: Stories From the River – The Impostors Theatre Company

Housed in the Flat Iron Arts Building, this fledgling theatre company is both creative and full of positive energy, a winning combination for any arts organization. They strive to “Embrace the Art of Pretend.” In accomplishing this, they’ve raised storytelling to new heights through the dramatization of all kinds of tales. Now in their second year, the company opens a new season of original, story theatre plays beginning with this interesting new drama by archivist and playwright, Kayla Belec. 

“Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead” by Hundo4U Productions

Have you had enough of men? Have you had enough of anger? Have you had enough of angry men? Well, the men in Hundo4U Production’s Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead have had enough of being angry and men too. Since you and the characters have something in common, don’t let this production slip past you! For a limited two-night engagement, Donterrio Johnson is taking the stage as all of the angry men in the Chicago premiere of Eric Bogosian’s one-man play, directed by Jon Dambacher. 

Fanfare For the Man in the Mirror

A Man of No Importance – Pride Films & Plays

Mild-mannered, middle-aged, Alfie Byrne, works as a ticket agent on a Dublin bus. It’s 1964, back when acceptance and equal rights were something only dreamed about by members of the gay community. But Alfie harbors a secret love for Robbie Fay, the handsome, young bus driver with whom he works side-by-side every day. Unable to share his buried emotions with anyone else, Alfie secretly communes with the spirit of Oscar Wilde, his literary idol and imaginary confidante.

With One Look

Sunset Boulevard – Porchlight Music Theatre

I’m not sure if this is “The Perfect Year,” as Norma Desmond optimistically sings in just one of her gorgeous songs, but Michael Weber has assembled the perfect cast and supporting crew for his perfect production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s heartbreaking musical. And this role is the perfect character for Chicago favorite, Hollis Resnik, to play. I predict that Porchlight Music Theatre’s ravishing production will be remembered and talked about for decades to come.

Trial by Jury

Bloody Bathory – The Barrens Theatre Company

In the early 1600s, in an isolated castle in the forests of Hungary, Countess Elizabeth Bathory is reputed to have murdered literally hundreds of her servant girls for the purposes of bathing in the blood of virgins to maintain her youth and beauty. It sounds like a story made up to scare children, but there was a real Countess and she was really convicted for countless murders, and bricked up in a room in her castle and left to die. Of course, the murder accusation may have been a plot cooked up by the monarchy to take her castle from her and eliminate a huge debt it owed to her family, but details, details, right?

Humor Amongst the Heartbreak

Twice, Thrice, Frice – Silk Road Rising

In this polished and beautifully performed world premiere production, Fouad Teymour’s captivating story of a relationship between three Muslim women bursts with life and love. In a mere 100 minutes, the playwright introduces the Western world to the often controversial Islamic practice of men taking more than one wife. Teymour’s drama is laced with an abundance of humor, which helps soften the heartbreak that the ladies will  experience. 

An Attempt to Make History Accessible

Richard III – Eclectic Full Contact Theatre

Sparked by the rise of alcoholism, family violence and political corruption, the United States entered a period of history called Prohibition. Between 1920 and 1933, a strict ban on alcoholic beverages made the production, importation and sale of liquor illegal. However, this attempt to impose healthier living and sound morals on the nation also encouraged a rise in crime and illegal activity. Bootleg booze and secret nightclubs that served liquor, called speakeasies, became popular in large cities. Criminal gangs, who controlled the underground alcoholic beverage supply, became the rulers of metropolitan areas, like Chicago. This is the background for Eclectic Full Contact Theatre’s imaginative vision for Shakespeare’s history/tragedy drama.

Another Story

Comfortable Shoes – The Neo-Futurists

Most of us are probably familiar with the story of One Thousand and One Nights. The king has promised to execute his wife Scheherazade at dawn, so she tells, but does not finish a story, hoping he will spare her another night and another and another. It works, and a new show at the Neo-Futurarium, written and performed by ensemble member Ida Cuttler, uses it as a jumping off point to explore how and why women have to tell their own stories over and over again.