This annual showcase of experimental theater, performance, and music from Chicago’s fringe, coproduced by Curious Theatre Branch and Prop Thtr, runs through 11/4. This year features two full-length trilogies, “The Madelyn Trilogy” by Beau O’Reilly and the “Danger Face Trilogy” by Idris Goodwin. Admission is $15 or “pay what you can,” except where noted. Performances take place at the Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston, and the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport, and elsewhere as noted below. An installation by Jamie Rey, Reconciliation, will be up in the Prop’s lobby for the course of the festival, along with a display of memorabilia of early off-Loop theater curated by Rick Paul. For information and reservations, call 773-539-7838 or visit rhinofest.com.
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Black Box–A Play Crash The Billy Goat Experiment Theatre perform their play within a play in the tradition of the Marx Brothers. a Through 10/25: Thu 7 PM, no show 10/11, Athenaeum Theatre.
Danger Face Idris Goodwin’s “Danger Face Trilogy” kicks off with this tale of two outlaws storming into a coffeehouse. a Thu 10/11, 9 PM. Prop Thtr, south theater, $15; $20 for the full trilogy.
Girl Go Boom! Two short plays: Ferine, Carey Friedman’s update of Lysistrata, and Joe Meno’s Don the Army Blue, about a couple of army brats looking for “something resembling love.” a 10/5-10/13: Fri-Sat 9 PM, Thu 10/11, 7 PM, Athenaeum Theatre.
Madelyn Dangles the Noose The first part of Beau O’Reilly’s “The Madelyn Trilogy” introduces the McGuffin siblings at the funeral of Madelyn Glass, who was married to two of the brothers before committing suicide. O’Reilly has a unique feeling for the weird yet lyrical. The first two acts complement each other, but the third seems largely unnecessary. (JHa) a Through 10/5: Fri 7 PM, Prop Thtr, north theater. Then Fri 10/19 and 10/26, 7 PM, Athenaeum Theatre. $15; $20 for the full trilogy.
Railroad Backward Kestutis Nakas’s play is about a Chicago man’s bizarre trek through frontier Illinois. Nakas creates a playful but puzzling journey that often wanders too far from a discernible path. Yet his handful of well-placed references to Vietnam and Iraq do create a sense of the United States’ robust history of ruthless profiteering. (JHa) a Sat 10/6 and 10/13, 3 PM, Athenaeum Theatre.
