Hanging Fire, Victory Gardens, through Dec. 19. Playgoers who cheered on the two elderly dames in Claudia Allen’s Fossils in 2001, will revel in the flinty banter of the squabbling sexagenarian sisters planning their futures in Allen’s newest work. MSB
Jane Eyre, Circle Theatre, through Dec. 19. Music, the most emotional of the arts, melds well with Charlotte Bronte’s literary classic, which remains the prototype for romantic fiction. Sarah Swanson is magnificent in the title role in this musical adaptation. MSB
One Arm, About Face at Steppenwolf, through Dec. 19. An exciting amalgamation: Moises Kaufman (I Am My Own Wife and The Laramie Project) directs his own adaptation of a screenplay by Tennessee Williams about a one-armed hustler. RR
Self Defense, Rivendell at Steppenwolf Garage, through Dec. 19. Playwright Carson Kreitzer’s chronicle of the demise of Aileen Wuornos serves up some provocative questions and boasts an amazing performance by Tara Mallen as the Florida killer. RR
— By Mary Shen Barnidge and Rick Reed