The Count of Monte Cristo, Lifeline Theatre, through Oct. 30. The author of The Three Musketeers knows how to spin an action/intrigue yarn for the ages—haven’t we always cheered the wronged hero seeking retribution? Lifeline Theatre’s adaptation delivers all of the excitement and suspense in half the time. MSB
Follies, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, through Nov. 13. Director Gary Griffin scores again staging Sondheim for CST with a intimately staged and musically rich rendition of Broadway’s classic 1971 musical that insightfully shows the disillusionment of youthful dreams and the pitfalls of nostalgia. SCM
Red, Goodman Theatre, through Oct. 30. John Logan’s crackling and intelligent play about art, artists and Mark Rothko is entertaining yet surprisingly deep. It’s essence is talk, but silence, music and physical action amplify much. Edward Gero and Patrick Andrews are wonderful. JA
A Touch of the Poet, The Artistic Home at Stage 773, through Nov. 6. The cozy studio in the freshly-rehabbed Stage 773 receives a worthy inauguration in this superbly-crafted production of Eugene O’Neill’s salute to the Irish immigrant experience and the price of upward mobility. MSB
—By Abarbanel, Barnidge
and Morgan