Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago faculty members Michel Rodriguez Cintra and Meghann Wilkinson are in the cast of Lucky Plush Productions’ upcoming presentation The Better Half, playing November 2 through 17 at Steppenwolf Theatre’s intimate, cabaret-style 1700 Theatre.

First performed in 2011, The Better Half — a lively spin on the classic suspense film Gaslight — playfully captures the claustrophobia, escapist tendencies and resilience in domestic relationships, in a dance theatre language full of surprising turns and contemporary resonance. Launching from the classic film, layers of fiction and reality accumulate, revealing the elusive boundaries between performer and character, actual and scripted relationships, life versus borrowed plotlines. Ultimately a new narrative emerges, capturing the habitual patterns, escapist tendencies, and resilience in contemporary relationships through a complex mix of dance and theatre languages.

In addition, on Saturday, November 10 and 17 at 5 PM both days, Lucky Plush — known for its highly-integrated brand of dance-theatre — will present work-in-progress showings of its upcoming world premiere Rink Life, a dance theatre piece that nods to the visual aesthetics and social dynamics of 1970s roller rink culture. Launching from a collision of plot points in several one-act plays, the script-turned-libretto is both spoken and sung by the ensemble and builds upon fragments of everyday aural input — passing conversations, intimate exchanges, distant whispers, pop song ear-worms. These source inspirations come together in the delightful and moving world of Rink Life, where people navigate relationships, self-expression and rejection in real-time.

Besides Cintra and Wilkinson, The Better Half employs the talents of Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago faculty member Jeff Hancock, who is designing the costumes, and Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department faculty member Heather Gilbert, the lighting designer. Lucky Plush Productions’ managing director Kim Goldman, a former Lucky Plush ensemble member, is also a former teacher at the Dance Center of Columbia College.

Student discount tickets for this production are only $15. Steppenwolf Theatre’s 1700 Theatre is located at 1700 N. Halsted, in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. For tickets, call 312-335-1650 or click here.