Spotlight I
Roguish Sir John Falstaff may be too fat to see his own codpiece, but still does his best to seduce the wives of Windsor in the farce that is said to have made Queen Elizabeth I laugh. If you’re a queen, maybe The Merry Wives of Windsor will make YOU laugh, too, as presented in lavish style by Chicago Shakespeare Theatre at Navy Pier. Multiple Jeff Award-winner Greg Vinkler plays the corpulent knight. ‘Though I look old, yet I am strong and lusty,’ Shakespeare wrote in another play, and Falstaff proves the point. Sept. 10-Nov. 11; (312) 595-5600; $48-$65.
Spotlight II
Northlight Theatre launches its 30th anniversary season by presenting another theater’s work: Sex and The Second City, a world premiere musical revue compiled from the sexiest bits—or at least the funniest bits about sex—from the extensive song and skit archives of the famous improvisational comedy troupe. Sex and The Second City is a Northlight extra running for two weeks only, through Sept. 25, before Northlight opens its anniversary season proper with the October world premiere of Catfeet. At the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Boulevard, Skokie; (847) 673-6300: $35-$40.