Get a first look at developmental plays in full productions and script-in-hand readings with the Goodman Theatre’s New Stages festival. Since its inception in 2004, New Stages has presented more than 65 plays and many of those have gone onto full runs at the Goodman Theatre and elsewhere. New Stages runs now through Sunday, Nov. 15, at the Goodman Theatre’s Owen Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St. Octavio Solis’ Mother Road, Charles Smith’s Objects in the Mirror and Lauren Yee’s King of the Yees each receive full productions in repertory. Tickets are free, although reservations are required for all performances by calling 312-443-3800 or visit www.goodmantheatre.org/NewStages.
Critics’ Picks
The Cheats, Steep Theatre, through Nov. 7. A well-off California couple’s comfortable world comes undone when their spied-upon neighbor across the way pays a visit in Hamish Linklater new comic drama. SCM
Love and Information, Remy Bumppo at The Greenhouse, through Nov. 1. Always-intriguing Caryl Chuchill considers how we give out and receive all types of information: facts, details, emotions, signals and even love. There’s no story to this total ensemble work, so don’t puzzle it out—just connect to its moments. JA
My Manana Comes, Teatro Vista at Victory Gardens Biograph, through Nov. 8. Even in the kitchen of Manhattan’s swankiest restaurant, the American Dream can go sour, making for a harsh lesson in microeconomics at the lowest and grittiest levels of our society. MSB
The Time of Your Life, The Artistic Home, through Nov. 15. A cozy West Town storefront and a company of ensemble players adept in verbal harmonies renders William Saroyan’s classic portrait of a shabby Depression-era urban landscape as colorfully enduring as a WPA mural. MSB
—By Abarbanel, Barnidge and Morgan