A world-premiere drama based on an influential yet rarely produced work from more than 100 years ago serves as the latest presentation at the Mockingbird on Main, with the Davenport venue, from July 8 through 16, treating audiences to the latest stage piece by frequent Quad Cities writer, actor, director, and designer Alexander Richardson: Your Better Self.

I enjoy seeing a beloved musical that's so well-known I could easily sing along (though I never would). It's also fun seeing familiar faces and saying, "Hey, I know her!" "I acted with him!" Countryside Community Theatre's Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is that kind of show. It's both a classic and a family affair, as many summer productions with this company are.

One of the most exciting and moving of all classical-Greek tragedies will be staged in Rock Island's Lincoln Park from July 2 through 10 when Genesius Guild stages its masked drama Electra, the Sophocles masterpiece set a few years after the Trojan War, and a one-act act theatre experience that the L.A. Post noted as "unique among Greek tragedies for its emphasis on action."

From June 24 through 26, the area institution devoted to theatre “for kids, by kids” will celebrate its remarkable 70th anniversary not only with free performances of the hour-long fairytale comedy Imagine That, but with an entire Saturday's worth of events, as Davenport Junior Theatre hosts a lawn picnic and dinner, outdoor games, guest speakers, and the long-anticipated opening of the venue's Junior Theatre History Museum. Imagine that!