Baker's Aliens and other fleeting visits

It snuck up on me, but Coal Mine has finally announced their season.  To be honest, it doesn't hold much attraction for me, aside from the lead-off play -- Annie Baker's The Aliens.  I'll likely end up going to the preview night in Sept., though I need some flexibility in terms of scheduling my own night of theatre.  In terms of the rest of their season, it's starting to look like Soulpepper East with a concert show where they recreate Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.  Not exactly cutting edge...

I'm a bit torn about Hart House's new season.  I don't really care for Miller's The Crucible, but I probably should take my son.  I'm not all that interested in Hedwig and the Angry Inch either, but it might be interesting to see what Hart House does with it.  I can pass on the rest, particularly Titus Andronicus, which I've never rated very highly (just too bloody and kind of shapeless).

George Brown has just announced its season.  I'm sure I'll see the shows in rep (Brecht's Fear and Misery of the Third Reich and Vanburgh's The Provoked Wife).  I haven't seen either of them.*  I would say it is an odd pairing.  In the past season, they paired a comedy (A Flea in Her Ear) with a dramatic piece (The Penelopiad), but there are moments of humour in Atwood's piece.  My understanding is that the Brecht is pretty grim.  I'm likely to go see the updated version of Candide by Mark Ravenhill, particularly because getting 3 tickets means it's a subscription, and then you can switch tickets if necessary.  That reminds me that while there isn't a lot going on in Chicago on my upcoming trip, I'll probably go see Ives's The School for Lies, which is an update of Moliere's Misanthrope.  I don't know that I've ever seen the original Candide.  I'm fairly sure that I saw The Misanthrope in Chicago a few years ago.

Somewhat unfortunate for me, the late fall looks very good for theatre in Chicago with the most interesting plays being Gina Gionfriddo's Becky Shaw, Ayad Akhtar's The Invisible Hand and Wallace Shawn's Evening at the Talk House all playing.  While it is unlikely I would travel just to see these plays, if I have to be in Chicago for some other reason...  Actually, I poked around, and The Invisible Hand is playing in Hamilton next March, so I'll try to go (and perhaps even round up a few actors/friends to see if they want to go down on the bus).

I still have a long running list of plays I want to see, and I am sad to say that there still are no productions of American Hero or Yankee Tavern on the horizon anywhere near me.  I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled.

* Actually I saw half of Erin Shields's The Millennial Malcontent, which was based off of The Provoked Wife, but I hated what the author had done and left at intermission.  I expect that I'll enjoy the original more.