From August 13 through 22, the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's 2021 Barn Owl Series that began with the venue's June debut of Princeton's Rage continues with another world premiere: The Whistleblower's Dilemma, a dramatic comedy of chicanery, guile, and yoga written by Bettendorf playwright Jim Sederquist.

Lauded by The New Yorker as “a singular astonishment” and by Variety as “short and sweet and strangely haunting,” the critically acclaimed, Tony-nominated romance Constellations wraps up the 2021 season at the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre, its August 5 through 14 run demonstrating why the New York Times was inspired to ask, “Who knew that higher physics could be so sexy, so accessible – and so emotionally devastating?”

I had the pleasure of attending Friday’s performance of The Mountaintop at the Quad Cities’ newest live-theatre venue, the Mockingbird on Main. Penned by American playwright Katori Hall, this story is a fictional depiction of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his last night on earth, the eve of his assassination. As as directed by Kira Rangel, with production design by Savannah Bay Strandin and Tristan Tapscott, this piece takes patrons into the unique inner struggles of one of the most influential civil-rights leaders of all time.

Lauded by the Wall Street Journal as “charming and dramatically persuasive,” and by the New York Daily News as “a valentine to the wonder and weirdness of love,” the 2014 Tony Award nominee for Best Play Outside Mullingar opens the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's long-awaited 2021 season, the show's August 5 through 15 run – the Geneseo company's first new show since 2019 – sure to demonstrate why the New York Times called it a work of “lyrical writing” and “consistent pleasure.”