Chicago's Live Bait Theater will be telling True Life Tales and examining Genetic Material during its 2000 season. But first the 12-year-old Windy City troupe will present Solo Redux, an encore presentation of a couple attraction's from its popular 1998 "Fillet of Solo," one-person play festival. Dates for the show, as well as those for the entire 2000 line-up, are yet to be announced. Live Bait will follow Solo Redux with Genetic Material, a new play by Tekki Lomnicki and Lotti Pharriss. The production will take place sometime during the winter. The late spring slot will be filled by David Kodeski's True Life Tales, three short works written and performed by Kodeski and based on "oral history, memory, diaries and photographs" of genuine Chicagoans.

Live Bait is currently presenting Sharon Evans' The Tall Ships through Oct. 17. Performances are at the theatre's 3914 N. Clark St. space. For tickets and information on the show, as well as the Oct. 10 Live Bait "Doodles by the Stars" benefit auction, call (773) 871-1212 or consult the website www.livebaittheater.org.

--By Robert Simonson