Friday 8/27 – Thursday 9/2
“We attack with laughter and reason, in song and in mime, every form of oppression and injustice,” said Italian playwright Dario Fo when he accepted the Nobel Prize for literature in 1997. He was speaking of his collaboration with his wife, Franca Rame, and their use of satire. The pair wrote the five sexually charged monologues that make up Orgasmo Adulto Escapes From the Zoo. Italian actress Francesca Fanti stars in the one-woman show. It opens tonight at 8 at the Theatre Building, 1225 W. Belmont. Tickets are $18.50. Call 773-327-5252.
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28 SATURDAY Tickets to see the Dalai Lama speak at the Field Museum are sold out, but at press time there were still seats left for a panel discussion he’ll take part in this afternoon. Joining him to discuss “Facing the 21st Century: Bridging Personal Consciousness and Global Concerns” will be Emotional Intelligence author Daniel Goleman, University of Chicago astronomy and astrophysics chair Michael Turner, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Garry Wills. Bill Kurtis moderates; the $125 tickets benefit the Tibetan Alliance of Chicago. It’s from 1:30 to 3 in the James Simpson Theatre in the Field Museum, Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive. Call 312-665-7552 for tickets.
30 MONDAY Eight performers from Thresholds psychiatric rehabilitation center spent three months in workshops with professional actors to create It All Started With an Apple, a theater piece based on memories of food. “It was practical,” says director Larry Grimm. “The theater had another show that had a kitchen as a set.” It’ll be performed tonight, tomorrow, and Wednesday at 8 at A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells. Tickets are $5; call 773-281-3800, ext. 2705.
1 WEDNESDAY The 32 100-foot-long strings of Bill Close’s giant Earth Harp 1999 run from the top of the northwest corner of the Field Museum down to the terrace. Today through the end of September Close or other members of the MASS Ensemble will be on hand from 11 to 3 to show museum visitors how to move their hands along the strings to play it. The group will give a free performance at 8 next Saturday, when the museum opens its “Sounds From the Vaults” exhibit, in which visitors can digitally “play” ancient instruments. They’re at the Field Museum, Roosevelt at Lake Shore Drive (312-665-7100).
