National Pastime Theater

Since 1994, this company has produced some venturesome productions in what in former incarnations was a ballroom, then a speakeasy with secret entrances. One recent prime offering was the sleekly abstract dramatization of Franz Kafka's "The Trial." Another characteristically communal effort: "Servant of the People: The Rise and Fall of Huey P. Newton and the Black Panther Party." 1997's "Yuba City" took a dark look at the taming of the West. The smoke-filled lobby is decorated with colorful neon signs, a legacy of the sign store that used to be there. The theater rents out, as well; Prop Theater recently debuted "Fatzer: Demise of the Egotist," an obscure early work by Brecht. The romp "The Midnight Circus" debuted here, Defiant Theatre offered "The Mystery of Irma Vep" and Wig Theatre revived Stephen Dietz's "Ten November."

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Uptown theaters, Chicago theaters