It’s been almost a decade since I attended a show at Augustana College. Since I was there last, Augie has built the gorgeous Brunner Theatre Center, where a dear friend and I were fortunate enough to attend Tuesday night’s dress rehearsal of playwright Bess Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds.

With the New York Times calling it "an enchanting play" that is also "a model of ingenuity," playwright Bess Wohl's dramatic comedy Small Mouth Sounds enjoys a March 16 through 19 area debut at Augustana College, the show lauded by Variety as a "minimalist piece of experimental theatre that casts the audience as voyeurs in an entertaining adventure that gradually darkens into tragedy."

Described by Broadway World as “a great evening of theatre” that “hits the mark right from the start,” the Rock Island return of the stage smash Grumpy Old Men: The Musical enjoys a March 15 through May 6 engagement at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, an adaptation of the hit film comedy that the Journal Tribune deemed “sometimes touching, sometimes raucous, and at all times enticing.”

A sparse set is on the Village Theatre stage for the New Athens Players' debut of Spotlight on Susan Glaspell, and this minimalistic choice is to be lauded, as letting the words and stories take the forefront was an excellent decision; there’s a lot of meat that doesn’t require extensive visual splendor to make a point.