The Chicagoist will be launching later but in the meantime please enjoy our archives.

THREE TO SEE: This Week's Theater Recommendations

By Melody Udell in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 26, 2014 8:30PM

2014_9_26_thenightalive.jpg
'The Night Alive' at the Steppenwolf. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

Drama, both economic and cerebral, takes it place on the Chicago stage this week.

The Night Alive

Conor McPherson has been making the Chicago rounds lately, with Steppenwolf taking on the playwright’s ghostly thriller, The Night Alive. If it’s anything like Writers Theatre’s recent production of McPherson’s Port Authority, count us in. The show runs through Sunday, Nov. 16.

Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted, 312-335-1650 or online.

The Healthcare Plays

American Theater Company is producing a pair of plays—Let Me Down Easy by Anna Deavere Smith and Mercy Strain by Michael Milligan—that explore and critique the myriad of healthcare issues facing Americans. See them separately or together for a full portrait of the triumphs and ills within healthcare today. Let Me Down Easy runs through Friday, Oct. 10 and Mercy Strain runs through Saturday, Oct. 18.

American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron St., 773-409-4125 or online.

Bethany

Laura Marks’ topical drama about a financially struggling, single-mom saleswoman takes a jab at the battered middle class and the long-lasting effects of the Great Recession. The show runs through Sunday, Nov. 23.

The Gift Theatre, 4802 N. Milwaukee, 773-283-7071 or online.