Co-Ed Prison Sluts, Annoyance Theatre; through Aug. 29. South Park wins the gross-out war while Urinetown is a better spoof of musical theater. Still, this revival of our longest-running musical is a fine nostalgia trip and piece of Chicago theater history. SCM
Esperanza Rising, Chicago Children’s Theatre at Goodman, through Aug. 10. This large-cast stage version of Pam Munoz Ryan’s novel makes the story too simple, but the production—which kicks off Goodman’s Latino Fest—is very well told, with colorful staging and live mariachis. JA
Superior Donuts, Steppenwolf Theatre, through Aug. 24. The good guys lose plenty before they win—sort of—in this smart, ruminative, comedy set in Uptown, but that’s about as upbeat as we can expect from Pulitzer-winning playwright Tracy Letts. MSB
—By Abarbanel, Barnidge and Morgan