It’s June. All the Pride flags are happily flapping in the wind and summer has finally arrived here in Chicago.

But June also means a well-rounded host of queer theatre. That’s why we picked six of our favorite upcoming or ongoing shows to ride the rainbow with. So call up your best friend, don your cutest rompthem, and get ready for a gay olde time.

Bright Half Life at About Face Theatre

This Lambda Literary Award-winning play charts the complexity of commitment, relationships, and marriage by following the ups and downs of a modern lesbian couple as their story is told through a series of fast-moving, fragmented memories – from elevator rides as strangers to steamy workplace romances, from heartache to building a family. Snag tickets here.

Hir at Steppenwolf Theatre

*Hir* at Mixed Blood Theater; photo credit Rich Ryan

Taylor Mac’s classic dysfunctional family drama has just crashed through into a wholly original place. Meet Paige, a wife and mother liberated from an oppressive and abusive marriage; Max, her newly out transgender son; and Isaac, Max’s PTSD-addled older brother, who discovers a brand new war zone when he comes home from Afghanistan. Hir’s crusade to shake up the patriarchy is disarmingly funny, absurd and surprising as it looks at an American family forced to build a new world out of the pieces of the old.

The Nance at Pride Films & Plays

*The Nance* on Broadway; photo credit Sara Krulwich

Douglas Carter Beane’s “heartfelt new play” (New York Times) recreates the naughty, raucous world of burlesque’s heyday and tells the backstage story of Chauncey Miles and his fellow performers. Chauncey’s uproarious antics on the stage at a time when it is easy to play gay stand in marked contrast to his offstage life.

Make America Gay Again – An LGBTQ+ Sketch-travaganza at Under the Gun Theater

Embark on a PRIDE-filled comedic journey through America as gender is thrown out the window, microaggressions are ridiculed in the spotlight, and gay myths are debunked (and sometimes confirmed)! Featuring a new LGBTQA+ solo opener each night, as well as sketches and improv from Anissa Cristerna, Matt Fox, Abby Gillette, Tricia Hewson, Emily Hyatt, Tatiana Nadiya, and Danielle Solzman. Get tickets here.

The Infinite Wrench at The Neo-Futurarium

The Neo-Futurists’ new flagship show is a mechanism that unleashes a barrage of two-minute plays for a live audience, be they funny, profound, elegant, disgusting, topical, irrelevant, terrifying, or put to song. All of the plays are truthful and tackle the here-and-now, inspired by the lived experiences of the performers, and for Pride weekend, all 30 plays will be queer! Grab tickets here.

Naked Boys Singing! at Eclectic Theatre

And last but certainly not least, this title says it all. This well-natured musical revue features eight actors who sing and dance in their birthday suits (well, they’re fully naked 90% of the time, to be exact). There’s no plot, really, just a bunch of skits and songs about gay life and male nudity—silly ditties about topics like circumcision and getting aroused in public as well as more emotional songs about finding love. Get tickets here.

So what better way to put pride into practice this month than to immerse yourself in entertaining, moving, and sexy LGBTQ+ stories? See you at the theatre with TodayTix.

june

6 Plays Just in time for Pride