Kelli Simpkins as Darcy and Rebekah Ward-Hays as Margot

The Kid Thing
The Chicago Dramatists and About Face Theatre team up to present “The Kid Thing,” the story of two couples and one impending pregnancy. This marks the beginning of About Face’s fifteenth season.
Begins September 1 at Chicago Dramatists

Photo: Lara Goetsch

The Pitmen Painters
Inspired by the true story of miners-turned-artists in Northern England, TimeLine presents a new play by Lee Hall, the Tony award-winning writer of “Billy Elliot.”
Begins September 6 at TimeLine

Sophocles: Seven Sicknesses
The Hypocrites’ Sean Graney’s at it again—this four-hour adaptation of the seven surviving plays of Sophocles (including “Oedipus,” “Elektra” and “Antigone”) promises all the blood, incest and eye-gouging an audience member could ask for (or bear).
Begins September 7 at the Chopin Theatre

Clybourne Park
Amy Morton kicks off Steppenwolf’s season with “Clybourne Park” by Pulitzer prize winner Bruce Norris. Set in one Chicago bungalow on two afternoons fifty years apart, the play explores race relations in one of America’s most segregated cities.
Begins September 8 at Steppenwolf

In the Next Room: the vibrator play
Sarah Ruhl’s Tony-nominated Broadway hit finds a home at Victory Gardens. Female sexuality, intimacy, marriage and a medical device for the treatment of “hysterical” women take the stage in this play directed by Sandy Shinner.
Begins September 9 at Victory Gardens

Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park
See the Lyric’s stars for free in their eleventh annual outdoor pre-season concert. In honor of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the concert is dedicated to the victims of the tragedy, their families and the men and women of the armed service. Featured artists include René Barbera, Jamie Barton, Anna Christy and Lyric Creative Consultant Reneé Fleming.
September 10 at 7:30 at the Pritzker Pavilion

Love, Loss and What I Wore
Based on Nora and Delia Ephron’s best-selling book of the same name, the show uses accessories, clothing and a rotating cast to present “an intimate collection of stories.” And Loretta Swit brings her “Hot Lips” to a run of the shows.
Begins September 14 at the Broadway Playhouse

Still in Play: A Performance of Getting Ready
The Museum of Contemporary Art’s Stage series begins with this devised piece with the Curious Theatre Branch. Developed by Jenny Magnus during a year-long residency at the MCA, the piece features the ensemble of CTB and live music by Crooked Mouth Band.
Begins September 15 at the MCA

The Real Thing
Michael Halberstam directs Tom Stoppard’s play about a playwright blurring the lines between his work and his reality. This show opens Writers’ Theatre’s twentieth anniversary season.
Begins September 13 at 325 Tudor Court

Tea at Five
First Folio provides an intimate look into the life of Katharine Hepburn with this one-woman show set in Hepburn’s living room. Melissa Carlson plays the Hollywood star.
Begins September 14 at the Mayslake Peabody Estate, Oak Brook

The Fever Chart: Four Visions of the Middle East
Eclipse Theatre continues their season with four works exploring the political landscape of the Middle East, co-directed by Jeff Award winner Steven Fedoruk and Eclipse Ensemble member Sarah Moeller.
Begins September 15 at The Greenhouse Theater

Red
Based on the life of Mark Rothko, “Red” focuses on his two-year struggle to finish a series of murals for Manhattan’s Four Seasons restaurant and his relationship with his young assistant. Robert Falls directs.
Begins September 17 at the Goodman

Photo: Johnny Knight

Mourning Becomes Electra
Timothy Douglas truly enters Chicago’s theater scene when he directs his first show as Remy Bumppo’s new artistic director. Eugene O’Neill’s epic, set at the end of the Civil War and based on the “Oresteia,” was adapted by Gordon Edelstein.
Begins September 21 at Remy Bumppo

The Great Fire
John Musial’s “The Great Fire,” originally produced in 1999, takes the stage at Lookingglass in time for the 140-year anniversary of the Chicago fire. Musial directs.
Begins September 21 at Lookingglass

Burying Miss America
The two children of Nebraska’s only Miss America are reunited after years apart when their legendary mother passes away unexpectedly. New Leaf Theatre opens this world premiere production of “Burying Miss America” written by Brian Golden and directed by Jessica Hutchinson.
Begins September 22 at the Lincoln Park Cultural Center

Brand
Max Truax directs little-known Ibsen epic “Brand” for Red Tape Theatre this October. Brand, a priest, attempts to reform a corrupt small town to disastrous results.
Begins September 29 at Red Tape Theatre

Rodgers & Hart: A Celebration
From 1925 to 1943, Rodgers and Hart wrote some of the best-loved songs in musical theater. This production by Light Opera Works features favorites such as “Isn’t It Romantic,” “The Lady is a Tramp” and “I Wish I Were in Love Again.”
Begins October 2 at Second Stage, Evanston

Follies
This must be the season of Sondheim: First, see Sondheim’s lecture as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival, and then head to Chicago Shakespeare Theater for their production of “Follies,” directed by multi-Jeff Award winner Gary Griffin.
Begins October 4 at Chicago Shakespeare

The Jackie Wilson Story
Black Ensemble Theater celebrates the grand opening of its $19 million Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center with the return of The Jackie Wilson Story, starring Chester Gregory.
Begins November 18 at the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center

—Erin Kelsey