BLKS, Steppenwolf Theatre, through Jan. 28. Life is never easy for young, bright, urban hipsters confronting their future in all its high-velocity kaleidoscopic contradictions, but queer playwright Aziza Barnes shows us the exhilaration in the angst. MSB
Flamingo and Decatur, Block St Theater Co. at Theater Wit, through Feb. 18. This visiting theater company may hail from Fayetteville, Arkansas, but Chicago audiences will connect immediately with Todd Taylor’s pinpoint-accurate, but always compassionate, portrait of Las Vegas low-rollers. MSB
For the Loyal, Interrobang Theatre Project at Athenaeum Theatre, through Feb. 4. However certain your moral principles regarding football coaches and teenage boys, think twice—or, like Lee Blessing’s characters, several times—about the consequences before acting upon them. MSB
The Light, The New Colony at The Den Theatre, through Feb. 4. A loving African-American couple have to face some shattering truths in Loy Webb’s emotional drama that powerfully speaks to our troubled times. Highly recommended. SCM
—By Abarbanel, Barnidge and Morgan