I had a marathon theater day a couple weeks ago, during which I saw three plays by three different theater companies, all at the Garage Theatre at Steppenwolf. The theater is literally a space carved out of the parking garage, and it’s a decent attempt by an established theater company to lay claim to some of the edginess of fringe theater groups and spaces. The plays themselves varied widely, though they were all meant to focus on “an inquiry into the divide between the public/private self,” according to the program. They succeed to varying degrees. My favorite by far was the first one I saw, “The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen,” with “Heddatron” coming in an uneven second and “Sonnets for an Old Century” a distant third. Here’s a snippet of the review:

The humorous rhythm of the play is badly interrupted by the Ibsen scenes, which play far too sitcom-ready (“Take my wife! Please!”). The best part is the surreal scene just before Jane’s kidnapping, when all three timelines bleed into one another and humans and robots dance across the stage to the undeniable “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

Read the rest of the review here. The shows run through April 24, so you have plenty of time to head on over and spend $20 on an hour or two of quality entertainment. Enjoy!