If you go to see “The Yellow Wallpaper” out of a love for the groundbreaking short story about postpartum depression (as I did and suspect many audience members will), at least do yourself a favor and arrive half an hour late during intermission, so that you will miss the warm-up: truly cringe-worthy poetry (by a woman who inexplicably takes off her shoes and plays with her scarf while reading lines like “those were the days of cornbread”) and physical theater (a trash-clad woman offers cookies to audience members out of a garbage can lid while singing “fancy” over and over). That said, the relationship between Chicago Danztheatre’s adaptation and the Charlotte Perkins Gilman story is parasitic at best, and a travesty most of the time. Any sense of narrative coherence is one of the many casualties of this production, which mostly consists of a chorus of young women breathing heavily, rubbing themselves against strips of fabric hanging from the ceiling, and crawling around the stage and aisle in their most feline manners (my baffled neighbor wondered if one woman did so to keep us from being able to escape), while the protagonist goes mad Sideshow-Bob style, but without the funny red hair. Overacting and underperforming all around. Not recommended. (Monica Westin)

At Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N Milwaukee, (773)-598-4549. Through October 12.

RECOMMENDED
When it comes to the French-Canadian “Cirque du Soleil” franchise, there are two groups of people: those who drool and give an imprimatur to everything that the ultra chic “Cirque” does, and those who wonder what all the fuss is about, who don’t “get it,” as a “Cirque” lover likes to say. Having seen a couple of early shows, I definitely was a major and rather bored detractor early on, but the last “Cirque” show, “Corteo,” was so compelling a concept that I got hooked. I wondered if “Cirque,” or me, or both, had changed coming into “Kooza,” the latest “Cirque” show. Well, a bit of both. The early “Cirque” shows done here were done in theaters, and “Cirque” loses far too much in that environment. The tent idea really works, and amazingly, it is a tent more comfortable and climate-controlled than most theaters but more to the point, it showcases the acts in spectacular and sharp relief where no one is ever far away from the proceedings. This not only greatly enhances audience involvement—brought to a new level with “Kooza” where members actually become part of the show in some hysterically clever ways—but also means that the performers and the acts themselves are shown to their spatial and three-dimensional advantage. The constant Eurocentric perspective of earlier shows has given way to a looser, often more improvised “jazzy” quality, including the music itself, which has gone from trendy Europop to live cutting-edge jazz-rock that is allowed to dynamically explode during the climax of acts. But most importantly, “Kooza” is continuing the tradition of setting the “Cirque” acts against some sort of overall dramaturgy, which is a healthy development even if at nearly three hours, this show could be more tightly focused a la “Corteo,” which was shorter, but more breathtaking. And while popcorn is a great traditional American circus treat, where’s the cotton candy? (Dennis Polkow)

United Center Parking Lot K, 1901 Madison (at Damen), (800)678-5440. $55-$125. Through August 24.

RECOMMENDED
I concede: it is as impossible to describe with words as it is to believe with your own eyes the dizzying and dazzling acrobatic acts performed by the colorful and thrilling troupe that is Cirque Shanghai, now back in Chicago at Navy Pier for their third year in a row with “Cirque Shanghai: Gold.” Since this type of entertainment defies a critical act (and not that there’s anything to criticize given its universal appeal, high entertainment factor and perfect running time of sixty-five minutes), I instead offer the reader a random array of (hopefully entertaining) thoughts that struck me throughout the performance: 1) It is estimated that there are 450 million bicycles in China. So why twelve Chinese would have to share one of them is beyond me. But it is amazing to watch them try. 2) Throughout several of “Cirque Shanghai”’s unbelievable contorting, nerve-racking plate-spinning and gravity-defying balancing acts I thought ‘Why, what’s the point?’ After all, just because you can balance a dozen wine glasses filled with water on each limb doesn’t mean you have to. Show-offs. 3) Unlike the American and European circus aesthetic, the Chinese one seems closer to the Moscow State Circus of the Russians: beauty never sacrificed for the wow factor. You’ll see what I mean when two couples glide and slice through the Navy Pier sky suspended only by giant silk ribbons—as beautiful as it is breathtaking. 4) Following her controversial Chinese earthquake comments, actress Sharon Stone will probably lose her East Asia Dior contract and need a new project to endorse. So should a future installment of the Cirque series be subtitled “Shanghai of the Stars,” Stone should consider full participation, because nothing says “I’m sorry” to someone you’ve offended like allowing them to balance you precariously atop a twenty-foot tower of chairs. 5) Remember the glitzy show “Dynasty”? “Cirque Shanghai” featured more sequins than the entire run of that popular 1980s series. More dazzling, however, were the moves. 6) Who knows how much the cost of jet fuel will be by Olympics time. If the athletes here are any indication of what Americans will have to compete against in Beijing, we don’t stand a chance. Let’s concede and help the economy by staying home. You can gather that “Cirque Shanghai: Gold” comes highly recommended. And that you should take not just your family and friends, but a chiropractor you love. Top off the evening with dinner in Chinatown, and you have great dinner theater, not to mention the best summer family entertainment money can buy. (Fabrizio O. Almeida)

At Navy Pier, 600 East Grand, (312)595-7437. Thu-Fri 2pm & 8pm/Sat 2pm & 6pm & 8pm/Sun 2pm & 4pm. $14.50-$29.50. Through September 1.

Walkabout Theatre Company takes its mission to create location-specific theater into the great outdoors this summer, with a city-wide garden tour of “War Garden: An Experiment in Patriotic Agriculture,” produced in conjunction with Neighborspace, “an urban land trust dedicated to preserving community-managed gardens in Chicago,” Led by director/co-creator Seth Bockely, Walkabout’s ensemble has tapped city history for subject matter, exploring the WWI war garden movement through the efforts of a ladies auxiliary organization who find themselves at odds with the antics of real-life Chicago shanty-town confidence man, George W. Streeter. But while the historical backdrop and community-activist ties sound ripe for a rich cultural exploration, the short performance itself (which runs approx. fifty minutes) is fairly silly and juvenile. Perhaps I was misled by the pre-show press and literature, which had me expecting a more thoughtful portrait of communities uniting in peril and “today’s urban agricultural revival,” but I was disappointed by the broadly cartoonish characters and performances—overblown and uncomfortably heavy on the kind of demonstrative mugging one would expect from a children’s sketch-comedy show. (Valerie Jean Johnson)

RECOMMENDED

You can always count on Links Hall to provide intriguing, multifaceted performances that live nowhere near inside the box. I have seen clowns, cartoons and music played on toys take the boards of this little theater that achieves big. The Link-up Artist-in-Residence program at the Hall seems to give voice to big imaginations. This time, 2004 resident Jyl Fehrenkamp is bringing us “Poonie’s Cabaret,” a one-night program she curates and hosts. “Poonie’s Cabaret” features artists working in varied creative realms including dance, music, puppetry, performance art, theater, voguing, freestyle rapping, drag, burlesque, cheerleading, stand-up comedy and more. Artists Kirby Reed, Paige Cunningham, Marc Macaranas, Amanda Timm and Breakbone DanceCo will join Fehrenkamp for the evening named in loving memory of Chicago dancer/choreographer Poonie Dodson. And if that does not sound fun enough, it is all for a great cause. “Cabaret” proceeds support the Duncan Erley Coming Out of the Closet Fund. (William Scott)

“Poonie’s Cabaret” takes place June 9 at Links Hall, 3435 North Sheffield, (773)281-0824, at 8pm. $5.

RECOMMENDED

Theatre Oobleck’s “The Hysterical Alphabet” is a beautifully nuanced mixture of historical treatise, medical discourse and poetic archive, chronicling the sometimes hilarious, often horrifying saga of the “female malady” that is hysteria throughout the centuries. Oobleck has remounted their inspired multimedia presentation at the Chopin Theatre, after premiering last fall in a one-night-only showing at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Terry Kapsalis’s remarkable text, an ABC’s of women and their wily wombs (now available in book form with fantastic drawings by Gina Litherland), is the axis material, but accompanied by Danny Thompson’s stunning video “documentary,” and John Corbett’s gratifying sound design, the sum transforms into something greater than its (private) parts. The three artists enter quietly, without fanfare, and take seats at a long table before a large projection screen. Aided by microphones, a computer/projector, record player and numerous sound folio devises, the performance/lecture takes off, with Kapsalis reading matter-of-factly, almost demurely, her lyrical chronology of ailment, while Thompson frenzy of found and original video images unfurl to the tunes (and crackles, cries and whistles) of Corbett’s manic soundscape. The trio packs an astounding amount of information into little more than an hour’s time—delivering a lesson that is wickedly funny, surprisingly heart-wrenching and not to be missed. (Valerie Jean Johnson)

At the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division, (773)278-1500. This production is now closed.

RECOMMENDED

I could never get high enough to understand “Tron,” the 1982 movie that is basically a laser light show inside a computer.  It featured weird costumes and doofy video-game theatrics.  That’s all I know.  And now, for the love of all things 1980s and kitsch, comes “Tran: The Atari Musical,” a show that is as semi-coherent as its inspiration.  This is the latest project from the Scooty & JoJo Show (a.k.a. Scott Bradley and Jonny Stax), a team that generated big buzz last fall with “The Carpenters’ Halloween,” a show that spliced together John Carpenter’s slasher flick, the music of The Carpenters and Muppety puppets.  With “Tran,” the puppets are back, and so is 1982, when “computers were confusing and scary,” and Commodore 64s were all the rage.  Flynn (the Jeff Bridges character, played here with game spirit by Jefrey B. Wilkerson) is the human computer programmer who gets sucked inside the circuitry and joins forces with Tran, the tranny cyber-something, to do who knows what.  Wilkerson has a vague Matthew Broderick quality, and as he stands there in his cropped leather jacket (love the jacket!) working on his computer to a hilariously incongruous manual typewriter sound effect, it’s like “War Games” and “Real Genius” rolled into one.  In fact, I just saw “Hackers” recently, and even though it came out in 1995, I’m telling you, it qualifies as an eighties movie with all its faux hi-techiness.  That’s the kind of thing that gets skewered here, along with eighties animation and trashy white unitards that come equipped with a penis drawn on the crotch; Tran’s has a big question mark.  That’s funny.  The show (written and directed by Bradley, who also plays Tran in a green wig the color of a McDonald’s shamrock shake) is like a runaway train—anything can happen, it feels, and mistakes are a good thing in an environment where extra points go for double entendres and a version of Styx’s “Renegade” somehow becomes a sing-along.  Oddly, in a show like this, there are considerable dead spots.  Less exposition, more Tran please.  (Nina Metz)

At The Spot, 4437 N. Broadway. This production is now closed.

RECOMMENDED

What is it like to be one of Reagan’s kids? Get a glimpse this President’s Day. Chicago Opera Vanguard presents the world concert premiere of “Reagan’s Children: An Opera-Oratorio” by Chicago composer Eric Reda. The piece sets to music the eulogies presented at Ronald Reagan’s June 10, 2004 interment ceremony by his three surviving children, along with sections of the requiem text, patriotic standards and Tennyson’s poem “Crossing the Bar,” creating a requiem for the man who was, in many ways, the father of our modern political climate. Relatively small by operatic standards, “Reagan’s Children” is scored for four soloists, a treble, a sixteen-voice male choir, three pianos and a string quartet. Hosted by Martyrs’ Pub, usually a home for live music, Reda’s alternative opera is a perfect event for those looking to satisfy an intellectual curiosity on a national holiday while satisfying a thirsty belly on a day off from work. (William Scott)

At Martyrs’, 3855 N. Lincoln, (773)404-9494

Fans of the phantasmagorical take note. Tantalus Theatre Group’s “Dreadful Penny’s Exquisite Horrors” now inhabits the attic at Bailiwick. The climb to the space, through the scene shop and very old, very narrow stairs, sets the perfect tone for a look into the darker resources of one’s soul. The attic itself makes your skin crawl a bit. Once settled in though, the performance is too rigid to really have the desired effect. That is to say that there are many components of a core-shaking horror show but the mark is missed in the way it engages the audience. Structured as a macabre variety show presided over by the title character, an ensemble of mutilated women each take a turn demonstrating their skills and each one meets an ultimate demise of body or spirit. Alexandra Herryman’s script, written with director Glen Cullen, strives to engage the audience in an uncomfortably intimate way. It wants to get murky and personal but it is presented as a play instead of an environmental event that allows the horrific acts to unfold around an unsuspecting ticket holder. There the play dies. (William Scott)

At the Bailiwick Arts Center, 1229 W. Belmont, (773)549-8080. This production is now closed.

RECOMMENDED

If you’re looking for an inexpensive and family-friendly, temporary tropical-holiday getaway, spend a couple of hours this week at the Chicago Theatre with “Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy.” Not to be confused with the Cirque du Soleil moniker, Cirque Dreams is a separate franchise of elaborate touring shows that mixes the European circus or cirque tradition with Broadway-style musical entertainment. This particular incarnation, which is having its Chicago premiere for a special one-week-only set of shows, uses a lush, tropical environment as the backdrop for an enchanted forest full of an international array of graceful aerialists, spine-bending contortionists, vine-swinging characters, strongmen and balancers that together with stage designs, special effects, choreography, puppeteering and “Lion King”-like costumes all set to an original musical score. (Dennis Polkow)

At the Chicago Theatre, 175 North State, (312)263-1138. This production is now closed.