Onstage antics collide with offstage foibles in Steppenwolf’s production of Noises Off, the classic comedy that writes an ingenious, slapstick and zany tribute to “theatre-people” everywhere.

Retta and Reggie are enjoying their usual evening on the porch when a longtime neighbor is pulled over by the police just before turning into his driveway. Everything goes as expected—until the unexpected happens. Tensions escalate, and eventually erupt, transporting us to a startling conclusion in Ms. Howard’s powerful new work. Lileana Blain-Cruz, a “master of curating chaos” (The New York Times), directs.

Meet Kenneth, a 38-year-old longtime bookstore worker, who is perfectly content with his after-work routine: a mai tai (or two) at the local tiki bar. But when his employer decides to close the store, Kenneth must also turn the page and choose a new direction—including some daring steps into a world he has evaded. BOLD Artistic Producer Malkia Stampley makes her Goodman directing debut with this “tender, delicately detailed portrait” (The New York Times) about new beginnings.

Two lost souls meet at a crossroads, in the dead of night, deep in the Mississippi of it all.

In a sweltering motel room in the Mojave Desert, May and Eddie lick their wounds and get ready for another relentless round. This brawl is eternal and infernal.

A wildly imaginative new play that traces the touching, hilarious, heartbreaking saga of one man’s illness and his unlikely caretaker’s pursuit of her dreams.

Grace looks for the good in everything, but a want for goodness cannot unwind the past, as this taut family reunion explodes in all directions.

The “perfect Chicago holiday tradition” (Chicago Parent) that has enchanted generations over four decades. Jessica Thebus returns to direct in this must-see, “moving and meaningful” (Chicago Sun-Times) annual production.

Emma, Robert and Jerry have history. The “eternal triangle” takes center stage in an inventive retelling by the Nobel Prize-winning playwright. As Emma’s marriage to Robert comes to an end, she reconnects with Jerry, her former lover—and her husband’s best friend. The action unspools backward in time, uncovering hidden truths and revealing how little we know about those we think we know so much about.

It’s a celebration of life, hope and the healing power of love! The musical stage adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning novel is a heart-rending, yet ultimately joyous, story of a young woman’s perilous journey of personal awakening in the American South. Come ready to shout in church, stomp at the juke joint, laugh and cry with unforgettable “come-to-glory gospel hymns, down-and-dirty bump-and-grinds, jazz that stutters, dips and dives, and gorgeous alto arias” (Chicago Sun-Times).

“This is what I was raised in: pig guts and bad choices.” As Juicy grapples with his identity and his family at a backyard barbecue, his father’s ghost shows up asking for revenge—on Juicy’s uncle, who has married his widowed mom—bringing his quest for joy and liberation to a screeching halt. James Ijames has reinvented Shakespeare’s masterpiece, creating what the New York Times hails as “a hilarious yet profound tragedy, smothered in comedy,” where the only death is the patriarchy.

At the Museum of Late Human Antiquities, the curators are fiercely committed to bringing a lost civilization to life again: What were humans really like? What did they wear, what did they eat, how did they die out? By casting us into the far future, Jordan Harrison’s new play gives us an uncanny view of the present moment, as we straddle the analog world that was and the post-human world to come.

Marvin has left his wife, Trina, for his male lover; Trina has married Marvin’s therapist; and their son, Jason, is grappling with his parents’ divorce and his looming bar mitzvah. Everyone’s world has been upended and now they must explore what their new lives may hold. Featuring a sung-through score and set against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic, Falsettos is a humorous and heartbreaking web of ex-spouses, co-parents, new lovers, and the lesbians next door.

As the Youngers await their recently deceased patriarch’s life insurance check, they allow themselves to imagine a bigger life – a life with room to breathe – until those plans are thrown into jeopardy. Hansberry’s language rings as wise and prescient as ever in her moving answer to Langston Hughes’s question, What happens to a dream deferred?

Fascism is taking hold; revolutionaries are organizing; creatives are trying to capture the ineffable nature of their changing city; and – as everything falls apart – everyone is faced with a choice: abandon Berlin or fight to survive.