The plot twists and turns, or lack thereof, are visible from a mile away in the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's production of Route 66. This boy-meets-girl musical has few surprises, and the outcome is abundantly clear from the moment Erin Churchill's aspiring writer Liz meets Kenton Fridley's freewheeling photographer Drew; they're like oil and water, but you know they're going to blend in the end. Even so, Circa '21's romantic comedy is a delight, boasting endearing charm in spades and one catchy tune after another.

I've not seen the Jimmy Stewart take on playwright Mary Chase's Harvey, so I cannot attest whether the movie's fans will appreciate the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's production. However, in the absence of any comparison, I can say that I liked this presentation and now want to see the film - though it'll have to successfully stand up against director James Fairchild's version, rather than the other way around.

A poorly written script isn't enough to derail the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's Down to Earth. While I've never before thought "Too much exposition!" as much as I did during Thursday's performance, I still enjoyed director Joe DePauw's presentation of playwright Bettye Knapp's weak "comedy fantasy" about angels coming to Earth.

Somewhere near the midpoint of Genesius Guild's Peace, the leading character Trygaeus - as characters routinely do in Lincoln Park's late-summer slapsticks - suddenly realizes that the play he's in doesn't really have a plot. One of his scene partners, though, tells him that perhaps that's a good thing. After all, if they don't have a plot, "maybe we won't get reviewed." Nice try, Guild.