Quixote: On the Conquest of Self, Writers Theatre through Dec. 17. Henry Godinez as the mad knight, Don Quixote, is brilliant, skilled, assured, funny, physical and profound in this less-than-perfect 90-minute contemporary Mexican play with a sappy Peter Pan-ish ending. JA
The Book of Will, Northlight Theatre, Skokie, through Dec. 17. It’s a foregone conclusion that the collected plays of William Shakespeare were published in the First Folio of 1623. But playwright Lauren Gunderson has fun dramatizing the difficulties along the way to get book published in this solid Midwest premiere that director Jessica Thebus oversees. SCM
Buttcracker: A Nutcracker Burlesque, Tom Boi Theatricals at Uptown Underground, through Dec. 27. This gender-fluid parody of the familiar holiday toe-shoes-and-tutus spectacle, while for adults only, is more ballet than bump-and-grind. MSB
A Dickens Carol, Oak Park Festival Theater at Madison Street Theatre, through Dec. 24. The better you know the original, the more fun you’ll have with Ned Crowley’s parallel-universe speculations on the inspiration for Dickens’ greatest hit. MSB
—By Abarbanel, Barnidge and Morgan