Previously produced by the Aardvark theater company, this festival of women’s theater has been taken over by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs in conjunction with Prop Thtr. Running through May 10, the festival features artists in the fields of theater, performance, poetry, dance, and music. Two programs remain, both at the Storefront Theater in the Gallery 37 Center for the Arts, 66 E. Randolph; tickets cost $12 and can be purchased by phone at 312-742-8497 or on-line at www.ticketweb.com; more information is available at www.estrogenfest-chicago.com.
Following is the schedule through April 24; a complete schedule is available on-line at www.chicagoreader.com.
THURSDAY, APRIL 17
Female Identity 2: Flexible Hold
Milkbaby Primitive, an “experiment in sound” performed by Barry Bennett, opens and closes this program, which also features Laura McKenzie’s solo piece Laura McKenzie Feels Like Making Love. “Hip and electric, [McKenzie] zips with wicked precision through a host of unnamed characters. [She] has the rare gift of inhabiting a character with her entire body, and as a result can hold an audience’s attention even when her writing begins to drift,” said Reader critic Kim Wilson when she reviewed this show in an earlier run. Also on the bill: “Express Yourself,” a musical number featuring Karol Kent and the evening’s entire cast; Yolanda Androzzo performing two poems; Jill Elaine Hughes’s comic monologue Buying Buddhahood; choreographer Cindy Brandle’s Searching for Super Girl, Installment 1; Showgirls, a showcase of “raunchy fighting” performed by Babes With Blades; June Bride, Brett Neveu’s short play (directed by Joanie Schultz) about two women of different generations discussing marriage and divorce; Nana Shineflug’s solo dance Truth; and The Yellow Wallpaper, adapted by Laurie Larson from a story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and directed by Jessica Thebus. Storefront Theater, 7:30 PM.
FRIDAY, APRIL 18
Female Identity 2: Flexible Hold
See listing for Thursday, April 17. Storefront Theater, 7:30 PM.
SATURDAY, APRIL 19
Female Identity 2: Flexible Hold
See listing for Thursday, April 17. Storefront Theater, 7:30 PM.
THURSDAY, APRIL 24
Female Identity 2: Flexible Hold
See listing for Thursday, April 17. Storefront Theater, 7:30 PM.