Friday 21
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Not only can you see “five world premieres in two hours” at the Chicago Dramatists Workshop, but if you see ’em this weekend you can also do it for half price. The workshop’s sixth annual Playwrights for the ’90s showcase includes: Mary Had, by Roger Rueff, Strangers in the Night, by Evan Blake; Sub Rosa, by Marv Bonnett, Anchors of Love, by Mark Guarino, and Luna for Short, by Johannes Marlena. The five plays’ 20 roles are handled by a ten-actor ensemble; the showcase runs through February 27. Previews tonight, tomorrow, and Thursday, all at 8, are $6; after the opening next Friday, January 28, tickets are $12. Chicago Dramatists Workshop is at 1105 W. Chicago. Call 633-0630 for details.
The Field Museum is striking a blow against arachnophobia today with what’s billed as a “family workshop” called Spiders: The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful. There’ll be everything from specimens of all sorts of the beasts themselves, both benign and poisonous, to storytellers versed in Indian, African, and Japanese spider myths and folklore. It runs from 10 to noon at the museum, Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, and costs $9, $7 for museum members. Advance registration is required; call 322-8854.
Documentarian Robert Flaherty, says critic David Thomson, “had the defects of a romantic faith in the noble savage and an eye for the picturesque.” But he also “asked all the intriguing questions about documentary. Is it enough to film actuality? Or is actuality modified by the filming process?” You can savor this paradox in a showing of Flaherty’s first and most famous film, Nanook of the North, a seminal example of its genre. It shows at 2 today at the Chicago Historical Society, Clark and North. It’s free with admission to the museum, which is $3, $2 for seniors and students, $1 for kids. Call 642-4600 for more.
Wednesday 26
While the Lorena Bobbitt trial is increasing public awareness of the plight of battered women who fight back, the Illinois Clemency Project for Battered Women doesn’t want to forget about all the women who are already incarcerated. The project pursues clemency petitions for women who were convicted of killing or injuring their batterers without getting any consideration for the extenuating circumstances. The group is holding a fundraiser tonight at the HotHouse, 1565 N. Milwaukee, starting at 7. A couple of hours of cocktails will be followed by performances by bands Sabalon Glitz, Falstaff, and Stamen. Tix are $9 in advance, $12 at the door, $10 with a student ID “or a good excuse.” Call 583-8016.
