OPENING
THE BACCHAE | Whistler in the Dark theater company takes on Euripides's tragedy, in which a celebration of the wine god gets way out of hand. Meg Taintor directs a translation by Northeastern professor Francis Blessington. | Rehearsal Hall A, Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St, Boston | 617.933.8600 | May 1-17 | Curtain 7:30 pm Wed-Thurs | 8 pm Fri | 3 + 8 pm Sat | 3 pm Sun | $25; $15 students; two for one StageSource members Wed
BARE | The MIT Musical Guild takes on this show with book by Jon Hartmere and Damon Intrabartolo, music by Intrabartolo, and lyrics by Hartmere that's set in a Catholic boarding school and focuses on romantic entanglements, both gay and straight, of a group of friends during their senior year. | Kresge Little Theater, 48 Mass Ave, Cambridge | 617.253.6294 | April 25–May 2 | Curtain 8 pm Thurs-Sat | 2 pm Sun | $12; discounts students, seniors
BUNBURY: A SERIOUS PLAY FOR TRIVIAL PEOPLE | Tom Jacobson's "seriously clever metatheatrical comedy" goes all Stoppard on us by bringing minor (or imaginary) characters from classic drama to the forefront. "Tired of being swept to the sidelines of drama, Bunbury, Algernon's off-stage friend from The Importance of Being Earnest, and Rosaline, Romeo's off-stage first love, are determined to make an impact." Barlow Adamson and John Edward O'Brien are at the helm of this Mill 6 Collaborative production. | Factory Theater, 791 Tremont St, Boston | 866.811.4111 | May 1-17 | Curtain 8 pm Thurs-Sat | 3 pm Sun [no May 3] | $17 in advance; $20 at the door
CLIMACTS UNDER A BIG TOP! | The Theater Offensive celebrates its 20th anniversary by taking over the Big Apple Circus for the Boston purveyor of queer theater's annual benefit gala. The event will be held under the Big Top on City Hall Plaza, and the Ringmaster for the evening is Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls. With Palmer and TTO's earring-bedecked Abe Rybeck on hand, you can expect a circus, though it may not be suitable for kids. Also on the roster: exotic food and beverages, go-go boys and girls, a performance by acrobatic juggling duo the LaSalle Brothers, a tightwire act by Sarah Schwartz, and a live auction flogging such treats as a vacation on Mykonos and a garden party with Bob and Joan Parker. | Big Apple Circus Big Top, City Hall Plaza, Boston | 866.811.4111 | April 28 | Curtain 7:30 pm Tues | $175
ELMER THE ELDER | Piti Theatre Company performs its "dance-clown-theater environmental fable for family audiences." | Boston Playwrights' Theatre, 949 Comm Ave, Boston | 866.811.4111 | May 1-17 | Curtain 7 pm Fri | 2 pm Sat [May 16 @ 6 pm] | 2 pm Sun | $12; $10 students, seniors; $8 children 14 and under
IOLANTHE, OR THE PEER AND THE PERI | MIT's Gilbert & Sullivan Players take on G&S's 1882 "fairy opera." | Sala de Puerto Rico, Stratton Student Center [second floor], 84 Mass Ave, Cambridge | 617.253.0190 | May 1-9 | Curtain 8 pm Thurs-Fri | 2 pm [May 9] + 8 pm Sat | 2 pm Sun | $12; $10 MIT community; $8 students, seniors, children; $6 MIT/Wellesley students
