Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf, Writers Theatre, Glencoe, through July 31. Tim Ryder and Tim Sniffen’s comic mashup of great theater dramas by the likes of Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Edward Albee and Thornton Wilder is a laugh riot. SCM
Haymarket, The Anarchists Songbook, Underscore Theatre at The Edge, through June 12. This new musical’s lilting score channels 19th-century instruments and styles in its compelling account of Chicago’s iconic 1886 Haymarket Bombing and ensuing injustices. JA
The Producers, Mercury Theater Chicago, through June 26. Go and laugh your head off at director L. Walter Sterns’ masterful stage reduction of Mel Brooks’ mammoth 2001 Broadway musical hit. SCM
Tug of War, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, through June 12. This dazzling mash-up of Edward III, Henry V and Henry VI focuses on England’s long, fruitless wars to conquer France, yet stages none of the famous battle scenes, and you needn’t follow the story. JA