To paraphrase Martha and the Vandellas, summer’s here and the time is right for sitting in the seats. Chicago’s conventional theater season may still (roughly) follow the September-to-June academic calendar, but festivals have burgeoned—along with outdoor Shakespeare—to fill up the warm-weather down period. For example: A physical theater festival called Physical ran here earlier this month, as did the Drekfest rotten-play competition. The three-day Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins performance marathon begins this Friday. Next comes A Jangleheart Circus, promising 111 improv and sketch comedy acts. And the Chicago Fringe Festival dances summer out with 48 shows, starting Labor Day weekend.
Hushabye concerns Erika, the troubled, twenty-something daughter of African-American parents who made a fortune in Chicago real estate and died in a car accident Erika apparently caused. The trauma led to a stay in a psych ward, after which Erika boarded for a while with her married older sister, Cynthia. Now, as the play begins, Erika’s been deemed well enough to move into her own loft apartment in a converted industrial building in Pilsen. As you might expect, she’s got a few issues still to deal with.
Something similar happens in Daniella Topol’s mounting of Ironbound by Martyna Majok, the difference being that Majok supplies a more complete play with a more nuanced character, Darja, at its heart.
Through 8/24: Tue-Fri 8 PM, Sat 1, 4:30, and 8 PM, Sun 4 and 8 PM contact theater for repertory specifics Steppenwolf Theatre 1650 N. Halsted 312-335-1650steppenwolf.org $20
