By Lauren Emily Whalen
This October, regional stages deliver what we’d hope for: substance with a pulse. Our five picks for October include fearless female perspectives on revolution and immigrant experiences, an off-the-cuff solo show where anything goes, and both old and new classics celebrating the human experience via newly out gay dads to booksellers-turned-bank tellers hungry for connection.
It wants better content.
‘Wish You Were Here,’ Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
Shows about war are having a moment. (Wonder why?) Most center the male experience. Not the case with Wish You Were Here, a tragicomic Chicago premiere from Pulitzer Prize winner Sanaz Toossi (English) and one of the city’s finest storefront companies, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. It’s 1978, and a group of female best friends in suburban Iran trade blue humor and wedding planning tips. But as revolution comes over the next decade, each faces the ultimate decision: stay or go?
Performances through October 19, 2025. Chicago, IL
‘The Heart Sellers,’ Studio Theatre
Thanksgiving is a fraught holiday for many, but what if you’re new to the country and your husband has to work? Upon meeting at a grocery store in 1973 (after the Hart-Cellar Act created a new path to U.S. citizenship), gregarious Luna and wary Jane decide to celebrate together. Along with wine and frozen turkey, everything’s on the table in The Heart Cellars, from disco to Disney to the American Dream. If you’re hungry for more live entertainment, DC Theater Week runs through late October.
Performances through October 26, 2025. Washington, DC
SET YOUR ALARM ⏰
• John Lithgow heads to Broadway to unleash the real Roald Dahl—and it’s no children’s book
• WATCH: Broadway’s next hit musical might be about… running errands?
‘Primary Trust,’ Guthrie Theater
Since its 2023 off-Broadway debut, Eboni Booth’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Primary Trust has become a regional favorite and is one of the top 10 most produced plays of the 2025-26 season, with 21 productions nationwide, including Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and the Tony Award-winning Guthrie Theater. Booth, making her Guthrie debut, theorizes Primary Trust’s popularity stems from its emphasis on community, telling American Theatre, “We need each other, and I think that’s important. To be able to let people in is crucial.”
Performances through November 16, 2025. Minneapolis, MN
‘ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,’ Pasadena Playhouse
Want your problems solved in front of a live audience—or at least, reenacted? Look no further than award-winning performer Julia Masli, who brings her unpredictable solo show, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, to LA after not winning the Nobel Peace Prize in Edinburgh, Melbourne, New York, and Washington, DC. Script? Safety net? Any real plan? Who needs ‘em? In this Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company touring production directed by Kim Noble, nothing is sacred and everything is weirdly, wrenchingly funny.
Performances through November 9, 2025. Pasadena, CA
‘Falsettos,’ Arden Theatre Company
Celebrate the late, great William Finn, who passed away last spring, with a new production of Finn’s 1990s classic. The Tony Award-winning composer-lyricist, whose later work included The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Spoiler! An all-star Off-Broadway revival opens November 7), was one of the early theatermakers to tackle the AIDS epidemic with humor and heartbreak in this musical tribute to the messiness of love and family.
Performances through October 26, 2025. Philadelphia, PA
