DIG THIS: FALL THEATER PICKS

Theater geeks, mark your calendars …

THE FORGETTING CURVE

BRIDGE REPERORY THEATER
In 1953, a young man agreed to undergo an experimental surgery hoping to be cured of epilepsy, and devastatingly, the treatment destroyed his ability to make new memories. To kick off their second season, Bridge Rep brings the fictionalized story of Patient HM to the stage. Assuming you haven’t been lobotomized, it promises to be a play to remember.
[Calderwood Pavillion, 527 Tremont St., Boston. Ongoing through SAT 9.27. bridgerep.wordpress.com]

FAR FROM HEAVEN

SPEAKEASY STAGE COMPANY
Sticking with novel-turned-cinematic-turned-musical-stage offerings, but opting for something with significantly less pigs’ blood than their last production, SpeakEasy stages “Far From Heaven.” You may remember Julianne Moore as the title character in the flick, a ‘50s housewife who discovers her husband’s shocking secret, which acts as the propeller for this melodrama. Now throw song and dance into the mix, and, well, we’re intrigued.
[Calderwood Pavillion, 527 Tremont St., Boston. THU 9.12 - SAT 10.11. speakeasystage.com]

BENT

ZEITGEIST STAGE COMPANY
You might want to sit down for this one, because shit’s about to get heavy. Really heavy. And, in this case anyway, it’s a signifier for a must-see play. Zeitgeist stages the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play “Bent,” which follows two gay men as they flee Berlin to avoid persecution after Adolf Hitler purged the Brown Shirts of suspected homosexuals.
[BCA Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont St., Boston. FRI 9.19 - SAT 10.11. zeitgeiststage.com]

TERMINUS

THE HERE EVERYBODY COMES PLAYERS
These players pride themselves on having adapted and performed pieces from virtually all of James Joyce’s work, but this time around they are taking a break from Ulysses. Sticking to Erin, The Here Everybody Comes Players are serving up “Terminus,” a dark comedy about a raucous night in Dublin by Mark O’Rowe.
[Davis Square Theatre, 255 Elm St., Somerville. FRI 9.19 + SUN 9.21. hce-players.org]

THE SINGULARITY

SCIENCE FICTION THEATRE COMPANY
Science Fiction Theatre Company’s world premiere of Crystal Jackson’s “The Singularity” — the penultimate performance at the Factory Theatre — is a black comedy set in a dystopian future about a woman who will try just about anything to have a baby. We see a turkey baster with super soaker force in her future.
[Factory Theatre, 791 Tremont St., Boston. FRI 9.19 - SUN 10.5. sciencefictiontheatrecompany.com]

IN THE SUMMER HOUSE

FORT POINT THEATRE CHANNEL
Jane Bowel’s play about mothers and daughters has two big fans: Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote. If there is anyone you want vouching for your writing it’s these two literary heavyweights. Especially when said drama is on the topic of maternal relationships. Er, well … Oh! Did we mention that all the performances are free?
[Waterfront Square, 290 Congress St., Boston. THU 10.16 - SUN 10.26. fortpointtheatrechannel.org]

A DISAPPEARING NUMBER

CATALYST COLLABORATIVE
For their tenth year production, Catalyst Collaborative@MIT, a partnership between the theater geeks at MIT and Central Square, has chosen this critically-acclaimed play about the seven-year-long letter exchange between a clerk in rural India and a renowned Cambridge mathematician. The theorems they write back and forth to one another sound dull (sorry, this is the art section), but the production—which interweaves drama, comedy, Indian dance, and music to illuminate culture clashes and the sensuality of ideas—promises to be anything but.
[Central Square Theater, 450 Mass Ave., Cambridge. THU 10.16 – SUN 11.16 centralsquaretheater.org]

OF MICE AND MEN

CLASSIC REPERTORY COMPANY / NEW REPERTORY THEATRE
No, this isn’t your high school English syllabus, but this play is required fare. Whatever your sentiments are towards Steinbeck—or Lennie and George—this novella about the gentle giant and companionship boasts some incredible performances over the years, and we are invested in supporting that tradition.
[BU Theater, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston. THU 10.23. newrep.org]

AWAKE AND SING!

HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY
Written by American playwright Clifford Odets, “Awake and Sing!” puts a spotlight on social struggle and economic crisis. While it’s set in NYC circa 1930s, anyone with a monthly-student loan payment and nothing but lint in their pockets will appreciate this timeless production.
[BU Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston FRI 11.7 – SUN 12.7. huntingtontheatre.org]

THE REAL THING

BAD HABIT PRODUCTIONS
We love “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” and yes, snarl all you want, we loved Shakespeare in Love, too. (Actually, not sure if all of Dig agrees on the latter, but this works better with an all-encompassing we.) With that said, it should be no surprise we are psyched that Bad Habit is staging Tom Stoppard’s Tony Award-winning “The Real Thing.”
[Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St., Boston. SAT 11.8 – TUE 11.11 badhabitproductions.org]