I can't believe it's the end of July already. Part of the proof is Genesius Guild's production of The Wasps, now invading Lincoln Park, so prepare to be stung – by laughter! (Yes, I'm ashamed now.) The Wasps is one of the rewritten-for-modern-audiences Greek comedies that traditionally cap the Guild's summer schedule. And this year, as in last, the season-ender was adapted and directed by Calvin Vo and T Green, otherwise known as Haus of Ruckus.

Returning to the stage for the first time since 2019, and with their new production finally being staged after a forced delay this past March, the area's much-missed verse-theatre troupe the Prenzie Players is set to make a romantic-comedy splash at Davenport's Village Theatre with their August 3 through 6 presentation of Much Ado About Nothing.

Following last summer's delights of their Aristophanes adaptation The Frogs, area-comedy favorites T Green and Calvin Vo – founders of local theatre company Haus of Ruckus – will lend their formidable skills and wild invention to another Aristophanes work during the July 22 through 30 run of The Wasps, delivering another take on classical-Greek comedy sure to delight both fans of, and newcomers to, Genesius Guild's long history of season-ending slapsticks in Rock Island's Lincoln Park.

A beloved Stephen Sondheim masterpiece whose most recent Broadway return earned the show a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical last month, the fairytale tragicomedy Into the Woods completes Countryside Community Theatre's 2023 season, its July 28 through August 6 run demonstrating why this consistent awards magnet and critical smash was lauded by Variety magazine as a show that “brilliantly hits every hilarious or somber note it needs to.”

With the New York Times stating that "the shining achievement of the musical is its winsome country and bluegrass score," and USA Today lauding the book "that's as forthright as it is smart, funny and charming," collaborators Steve Martin's and Edie Brickell's Tony-nominated Bright Star makes its area debut at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, its August 3 through 13 run treating patrons to a musical treat that Stage & Cinema called "full of unforced goodness and rewarded risk-taking."

Lauded by the New York Observer as “a hilarious musical whodunit” and by the New York Times as “ingenious” and “a snazzy double-act,” the tune-filled comedy Murder for Two closes the Clinton Area Showboat's 2023 summer season in high style, its August 3 through 13 run sure to demonstrate why NY1 called this clever, corpse-themed treat “a must-see 90-minute jolt of caffeinated creativity.”

It was a familiar sort of tale at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre on Thursday’s opening night. Girl dates boy. Boy is set to propose but girl overhears and misunderstands the situation. Hijinks ensue. And, though things inevitably turn out okay, there’s still a plot twist or two to be had. But instead of just seeing the action, we also get to hear the action that’s running through our main character’s head thanks to her five Egos.

Are you in need of refreshment? The Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse offers us an Escape to Margaritaville – just the sunny, tropical-fruit-garnished tonic for those of us who'd love a Caribbean getaway, but can't get away.

Following in the footsteps of the venue's springtime hit Sense & Sensibility, a theatre piece adapted from Jane Austen's classic novel, Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre will present a delightful stage production of Little Women July 21 through 30, reacquainting audiences with all of the beloved characters, comedy, drama, and romance adored by generations of Louisa May Alcott fans.

A modern adaptation of the 15th-century morality play Everyman, one of the first recorded stage works in the English language, author Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Everybody enjoys a July 21 through August 6 debut at Iowa City's Riverside Theatre, this beautiful, fluid, and hilarious modern riff lauded by Time Out New York as "a very meta and saucy adaptation," and by The New Yorker as a work that "fills the heart in a new and unexpected way."

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