After the Revolution, Next Theatre, through May 19. Amy Herzog’s intelligent play is less the political tale it seems and more a family “dramedy” of how we react when our idols turn out to have feet-of-clay. It’s a top-notch cast with a delicious steely turn by veteran Mary Ann Thebus. JA
Fish Men, Teatro Vista at the Goodman Theatre, through May 6. Chess is a non-violent war game—so we’re told—but for the hustler-sharks and gullible “fish” who gather in the park to spar over the boards, the battle is as furious and bloody as the carnage it represents. MSB
Girl You Know it’s True, Pavement Group at Chopin Theatre, through May 13. The Milli Vanilli scandal is told in reverse while Bixby Elliot’s gay playwright concocts a phony persona to get his work produced in this dark and funny new comedy. It’s an incisive examination at what is real and phony in the entertainment world and how far people will lie to become rich and famous. SCM
ReSpiced: A Silk Road Cabaret, Silk Road Rising at Chicago Temple, through May 6. This musical revue presenting Western representations of Asia and the Middle East in song is an entertaining and thought-provoking ride through the cultural labeling (or misidentification) of whole groups of people. SCM
—By Abarbanel, Barnidge and Morgan