The Vituoso, a Restoration comedy by Thomas Shadwell, will get a rare staging beginning Feb. 11, when Chicago's Bailiwick Theatre opens the play in its Studio space. The show will run until March 12.

Shadwell (1642-92) is one of England's lesser-known Restoration dramatists and may be best remembered, ironically, for his frequent spats with John Dryden, who made Shadwell the subject of his satiric play MacFlecknoe. On his own, Shadwell did a lot of work with others' material, adapting plays by Moliere and transforming Shakespeare's The Tempest into an opera. The Virtuoso, written in 1676, is regarded as his best original play.

Baliwick will close its current Studio production of Terrence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea on Feb. 6.

The remainder of the Bailiwick schedule runs as follows:

42 Riverside Drive by Michael Carey (Mainstage: Feb. 24-March 26).
Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts by David Biele (Studio Theatre: March 16-April 23).
Stones by John Reeger and Julie Shannon (Mainstage: April 6-May 14). Tickets to The Virtuoso are $15-$20. Baliwick is located at 1229 W. Belmont in Chicago. For information, call (773) 883-1090.

--By Robert Simonson