Throughout Women's History Month this March, many Chicago theatres are presenting productions that encourage and celebrate the vital role of women in American history.
Additional details about each of the Women's History Month offerings are available at ChicagoPlays.com and HotTix.org, Chicago's local, discounted ticketing service.
"We invite Chicagoans to celebrate women this month by taking in one of the many shows on our stages," comments League of Chicago Theatres Executive Director Marissa Lynn Ford. "Women's History Month is a reminder of women's strong voices and triumphs today and throughout history. In addition, we have a tradition of uplifting women both on and off our stages. We salute the women artists in the industry and the excellent work they create on our stages."
The following is a selection of work in Chicago available in February in celebration of Women's History:
Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really, Wirtz Center at Northwestern University
Through March 3, 2024
In this thrilling new adaptation that bounces between horror and humor, playwright Kate Hamill confronts the sexism in Bram Stoker's original work. By upending the familiar tropes of damsels in distress and dashing villains, Hamill reimagines the vampire classic as a full-throated feminist battle cry driving a gleeful stake through the heart of toxic masculinity.
Mothers, The Gift Theatre
Through March 3, 2024
Three moms, a stay-at-home dad, and a nanny watch their kids play at Mommy-Baby Meetup. One mom is the queen bee and one is here to shake things up. The dad just wants to fit in, and the nanny doesn't say a word. When catastrophe comes, the five of them have to figure out how to survive a war and each other. MOTHERS examines the primal heartache of raising children in a disintegrating world.
Richard III, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Through March 3, 2024
Tony Award nominee, Paralympic champion, and bilateral above-knee amputee Katy Sullivan makes her Chicago Shakespeare debut in Edward Hall's first production as artistic director. Full of scathing dark comedy and high-stakes family drama, a divided kingdom provides fertile ground for the charismatic, unscrupulous Richard to seize power and exact revenge—and no one is safe from his tyranny. This marks the first major US production of Richard III to feature a woman with a disability in the title role.
Plays for Women!: A collection of overlooked suffrage plays, Ghostlight Ensemble
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Ghostlight Ensemble presents Plays for Women!: A collection of overlooked suffrage plays — a reading of short suffrage works, most of them largely unknown and rarely performed, to coincide with March as Women's History Month. This is a co-production with the Richard H. Driehaus Museum and is part of Ghostlight's For Your (Re)Consideration series.
WIPEOUT, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble
Through April 6, 2024
Chicago's only Equity theatre dedicated to advancing the lives of women through the power of theatre, presents the world premiere about three women, friends for decades, who throw themselves into their first-ever surfing lesson with the help of a young instructor. As the women learn how to paddle and navigate the currents of the Pacific Ocean, they also learn how to navigate their friendships, their fears, and just how hard it can be to let it all go. Set on surfboards, WIPEOUT is a poignant comedy about friendship, grief, and the unpredictable tides of life.
Mother Courage and her Children, Trap Door Theatre
Through March 9, 2024
Mother Courage becomes a parasite of war as she, hell bent on her own survival, celebrates the Thirty Years War as the source of her prosperity. Considered one of the greatest plays of the 20th century, Wartime virtues become fatal to their possessors in this stark, anti-capitalist, and music filled play.
Flood, Shattered Globe Theatre
Through March 9, 2024
An apartment on the 19th floor. All Edith wants — it's not too much to ask, is it? — is to sit and have some tea with her husband, someday, when he's done with building his masterpiece. The kids don't call enough, and when they do, they seem full of accusations. Meanwhile, outside their apartment, the waters are rising, rising, rising... This Chicago Premiere is a dynamic comedy about love and companionship across gender and generational divides.
Meditations on Being, Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble
March 1 - 9, 2024
Stories from and about our community. It is told through dance, storytelling, poetry, music, video installations, and art. What do we know about the people we see every day, the nature that surrounds us, and the gift of the moment? What do we remember? Playing with our friends on the playground, the sound of water or the beating of our heart when in solitude.
ECHO, Chicago Sinfonietta
March 15-16, 2024
Join the Chicago Sinfonietta in celebrating Women's History Month with ECHO, a stunning program featuring a lineup of works that highlights the artistry and creativity of women in music.
Pretty Woman, Broadway In Chicago
March 12 - 17, 2024
Pretty Woman: The Musical, based on one of Hollywood's most beloved romantic stories of all time, springs to life with a powerhouse creative team led by two-time Tony Award®-winning director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell (Hairspray, Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde).
My Fair Lady, Broadway In Chicago
March 12 - 17, 2024
Boasting such classic songs as "I Could Have Danced All Night," "The Rain in Spain," "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" and "On the Street Where You Live," My Fair Lady tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flower seller, and Henry Higgins, a linguistics professor who is determined to transform her into his idea of a "proper lady." But who is really being transformed?
La Pinche India, Aguijón Theater Company
Through March 17, 2024
Gigi is an upper-class girl who one day wakes up turned into an indigenous woman. Given her new appearance, her life changes completely and she begins to realize all the privileges she had as a green-eyed blonde. Her search for a new identity leads her to discover a great secret that had always been there: racial discrimination.
Silent Sky, Citadel Theatre
Through March 17, 2024
When 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt began work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, she wasn't allowed to touch a telescope or express an original idea. Instead, she joins a group of women "computers," charting the stars for a renowned astronomer who has no time for the women's probing theories. As Henrietta, in her free time, attempts to measure the light and distance of stars, she must also take measure of her life on Earth, trying to balance her dedication to science with family obligations and the possibility of love. SILENT SKY explores a woman's place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries, when women's ideas were dismissed until men claimed credit for them.
On Your Feet!, Broadway In Chicago
March 19 - 24, 2024
ON YOUR FEET! is the inspiring true story about heart, heritage and two people who believed in their talent—and each other—to become an international sensation: Emilio and Gloria Estefan.
Notes from the Field, TimeLine Theatre Company
Through March 24, 2024
This strikingly intimate piece presents snapshots from a variety of real people, documenting their intersections with the American dream and the obstacles that work to block them from it. Utilizing verbatim dialogue pulled from more than 250 accounts from students, faculty, prisoners, activists, politicians, and victims' families, Notes from the Field takes audiences on an emotional journey through the faults and injustices of an American criminal justice system that seems more focused on incarceration over education. Deeply human, profoundly moving, and full of moments of humor, compassion, and resilience, it's a masterful work that asks you to observe, be present, and join the call for urgent and necessary change.
Party at the Pantheon: A Modern Greek Stoner Comedy, The Factory Theater
Through March 23, 2024
Orpheus is still big mad after his girlfriend, Eurydice, died. It wasn't his fault. Good thing his friend, Dionysus, can throw a sick party. Hopefully Sisyphus can keep these two on speaking terms long enough for the disco ball to drop. Now all they gotta do is find some food, some drink, and some music for this thing. Peep them and a cast of characters straight out of English Class, in this modern take on the ancient classics.
The Penelopiad, Goodman Theatre
March 2 - 31, 2024
It's her turn. Penelope has waited 20 years for her husband to return from the Trojan War. Now, as authorial control shifts to Odysseus' long-suffering wife—and the 12 faithful maids who have long tended to her—we discover a new perspective on the domestic vigil. This ancient tale told anew by "one of the most admired authors in North America" (NPR) gives voice to those left behind.
Love Song, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
March 21 - April 21, 2024
Beane has always been different. Joan, his sister, is his only real bridge to the outside world, but she is consumed with her own life, climbing the corporate ladder and sparring with her husband, Harry. When Beane falls madly in love with Molly, Beane's world suddenly expands, and the seismic shift forces all of them to reexamine their own relationships and discover new facets of human connection. An off-kilter romantic comedy, Love Song by John Kolvenbach is a quick-witted exploration of the countless complexities of love and the endless capacity of the heart.
The Good, Curious Theatre Branch
March 29 - April 20, 2024
What is goodness? How are we supposed to be good and interesting? Is the pressure to be good, to be proper, to not hurt others, to not transgress, actually a way to hold one down? Can someone be not good but in tiny ways no one might notice? And what about the word, "virtue"?
Inanimate, Theater Wit
March 22 – May 4, 2024
Erica has never quite fit in. She was never popular in high school and—as the years have gone by—she's felt more and more disconnected from the people in her life. Even her sister seems more preoccupied with her political ambition for town counsel than their mother's recent passing. Normally, that would be just fine with Erica, but she's been asking herself if this was all she could expect: a job at the local grocery and evenings alone.
A Streetcar Named Desire, Paramount Theatre
March 13 - April 21, 2024
NEW ORLEANS. The heat is sweltering; the liquor flows, and the secrets are thick as humidity. Pull up a chair and join the high-stakes game of cards. To your left is Stella Kowalski, married, loves her husband and will do anything for him. On your right is Stanley Kowalski, hard drinking, hard playing and hard fists that get used a lot. Across from you is Blanche DuBois, vulnerable, alone and ready to break. Streetcar confronts us with the tenuous relationship between reality and illusion, hope and despair and the brutal battle for beauty and tenderness when the world feels like it's conspiring against you. The players are in place. The cards are dealt. Hold on for your life.
Improvised Jane Austen, iO Theater
Saturday Evenings at 8pm, Tickets currently on sale through June 1
Improvised Jane Austen tells a tale, on the spot, in the style of the most beloved 19th-century author. In each original story, you may be introduced to headstrong heroines, steadfast suitors, meddling mothers, charming cads, auspicious aunts, silly sisters, boisterous brothers, verbose vicars, fastidious fathers, and any number of Austenesque auteurs! The audience can expect to laugh heartily, be wooed to tears, and be made to think on how much, and how little, has changed in two hundred-plus years.
For a comprehensive list of Chicago productions, visit the League of Chicago Theatres website, ChicagoPlays.com. Available half-price tickets will be listed at HotTix.org. Chicago theatres prioritize safely gathering. Patrons are encouraged to confirm current protocols at each theatre. Shows and protocols are subject to change.
About Chicago theatre
Chicago theatre is the leader in the U.S. with more than 250 theatres throughout Chicagoland, comprising a rich and varied community ranging from storefront, non-union theatres to the most renowned resident theatres in the country, including 6 which have been honored with Regional Tony Awards, and the largest touring Broadway organization in the nation. Chicago's theatres serve 5 million audience members annually and have a combined budget of more than $250 million. Chicago produces and/or presents more world premieres annually than any other city in the nation. Each year Chicago theatres send new work to resident theatres across the country, to Broadway, and around the world. For more information, visit www.chicagoplays.com.
The League of Chicago Theatres' Mission Statement
Theatre is essential to the life of a great city and to its citizens. The League of Chicago Theatres is an alliance of theatres, which leverages its collective strength to support, promote and advocate for Chicago's theatre industry. Through our work, we ensure that theatre continues to thrive in our city.
