Before Tracey Letts prowled the Steppenwolf stage, and before August: Osage County wowed audiences around the globe and won the Pulitzer Prize, Letts sent a jolt through theaters with his play, Killer Joe. The action revolves around a dysfunctional family, and the depraved cop they hire to kill their mom. That's Darrel W. Cox as Joe and Claire Wellen as Dottie in the Profiles Theatre production of Killer Joe. Eight Forty-Eight's Dueling Critics Jonathan Abarbanel and Kelly Kleiman have this review.

On stage:
Killer Joe 
Profiles Theatre 
Runs through Feb. 28

Jonathan's Pick:
American Buffalo
Runs through Feb. 14
Steppenwolf Theatre

Kelly's Pick:
The Edward Hopper Project  from WNEP Theater
Runs through Feb. 21
Playing at the Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph Street

Music Button: Aaron Immanuel Wright, "Something Mainstream", form the CD Eleven Daughters, (Origin records)