Spotlight: Northlight, Theater Wit team up for ‘Prayer for the French Republic’
Timely drama revived
Northlight Theatre and Theater Wit team up for a revival of “Prayer for the French Republic,” Joshua Harmon’s 2022 drama about five generations of a French-Jewish family confronting antisemitism. Jeremy Wechsler directs the play, which unfolds in 1944 and in 2016 during the rise of France’s right-wing extremist Marine Le Pen.
Previews at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, April 10-12, and Tuesday, April 15; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 13; and 1 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. The show opens Thursday, April 17. $35-$91. (847) 673-6300 or northlight.org.
Stand-up comedy inspires two-hander
Gift Theatre founding artistic director and Broadway veteran Michael Patrick Thornton and Gift casting director Cyd Blackwell star in “Obliteration,” a two-hander inspired by the world of stand-up comedy written by fellow Gift ensemble member Andrew Hinderaker specifically for the actors. Revival Theater revives the play, which was staged last summer as part of Steppenwolf Theatre’s LookOut Festival. Describing the creation of the show in a prepared statement, Hinderaker said: “Our process was simple: I’d write some pages, hoping they would make Cyd and Mike laugh and/or cry. Then they’d read the pages and make me laugh and cry. Over a year, we built the play like this.”
Previews at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, April 10-11; Sunday, April 13; and Wednesday, April 16, at 906 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago. The show opens Thursday, April 17. $25-$35. the-revival.com.
Dark comedy
Peter worries that he’s destined to die early like his father and his cousin Willow is a holistic healer struggling to heal herself in “99th & Nowhere,” a new dark comedy by playwright Gary McGowan premiering at Steel Beam Theatre. Annie Slivinski directs.
7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 11-12, 18-19 and 25-26; and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 13, 20 and 27, at 111 W. Main St., St. Charles. $22-$28. (630) 587-8521 or steelbeamtheatre.com.
‘Last Supper Chronicles’ returns
Improv Playhouse remounts the “Last Supper Chronicles,” a modern retelling of Jesus Christ’s final earthly Passover with “each disciple portrayed with a modern-day vocation and defining quirk or flaw.” Tyler Ankey plays The Teacher, the character who represents Jesus. The play was written and directed by David Brian Stuart.
7 p.m. Saturday, April 12; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 13; 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, April 17-18; and 7 p.m. Saturday, April 19, at 735 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville. $10-$20. (847) 968-4529 or improvplayhouse.com.
Play examines young Holocaust survivors
Arts Judaica, a company that examines and celebrates Jewish history and culture, presents a limited run of “Survivors,” a play by Wendy Kout examining how four young people survived the Holocaust. Artistic director Elayne LeTraunik directs.
7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, April 17-19, and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 20, at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Chicago. $20. artsjudaica.com.