I grew up listening to ABBA's Gold: Greatest Hits (thanks, Mom!), so I felt right at home at Friday’s opening-night performance of Mamma Mia! at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse. But loving the iconic ABBA is not a prerequisite to enjoying director/choreographer Michael Matthew Ferrell’s fun-filled production.

It’s not often that I walk away from a show thinking about who I am as a person and how I can do better. Yet that is exactly what happened Friday night after the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's production of Clybourne Park, and director Alexander Richardson should be proud of his thought-provoking, darkly comedic production that demands more of its audience than the usual area-stage fare.

Heat-advisory warning notwithstanding, Genesius Guild's staging of Prometheus Bound in Rock Island’s Lincoln Park was an experience not to be missed. As with most Greek tragedies, there is a moral dilemma that can give audiences insight into their lives, and director Michael Callahan staged a meaningful production that remains relevant 2,500 years after it was was written. (Who would have guessed we’d still be battling tyrants?)

Garson Kanin’s Born Yesterday was a Broadway hit in 1946, and while the subject matter holds up 72 years later, it isn’t strictly necessary that it does. While there are some parallels to be drawn from the Timber Lake Playhouse’s production and today’s society, the audience at Friday night’s performance didn’t seem to dwell on them, as director Chuck Smith put forth a straightforward comedy that elicited some chuckles but probably not intense political discussions.