FENCES | The Huntington Theatre Company opens its 2009-2010 season with August Wilson's 1983 Pulitzer Prize winner. It's the sixth play in his Pittsburgh Cycle, so it's set in the 1950s. Troy Maxson used to be a Negro Leagues baseball star, but he was too old for the Jackie Robinson era, so now he's a garbage man, and he and co-worker Bono are hanging out as usual on Friday night, and his oldest son, Lyons, is coming around for a loan because it's dad's payday and Lyons is a musician and doesn't have a job. Then there's Rose, Troy's wife of 18 years (except that Troy is thinking more about a woman named Alberta), and Troy's teenage son, Cory, who wants to be a football star but isn't getting much support from his embittered father. Kenny Leon directs. | Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave, Boston | 617.266.0800 | Through October 11 | Curtain 7:30 Tues [no September 29] | 2 pm [September 23, October 7] + 7:30 pm Wed | 7:30 pm Thurs | 8 pm Fri | 2 + 8 pm Sat | 2 + 7:30 pm [evening October 4] Sun | $20-$82.50
FLINGS & EROS | Dodging the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, the Flying Karamazov Brothers juggle their way through, no, not Hamlet, but Romeo and Juliet, in this world-premiere show that Merrimack Repertory Theatre is bringing to Lowell. "Original music, combat juggling, and antic dancing" are promised, along with ruminations on love, star-crossed or otherwise. | 50 East Merrimack St, Lowell | 978.654.4MRT | Through October 4 | Curtain 7:30 pm Wed | 7:30 pm Thurs | 8 pm Fri | 4 + 8 pm Sat | 2 + 7 pm [no evening September 27] Sun | $26-$51
THE GINGERBREAD LADY | Yet another new outfit of Boston thespians, Happy Medium Theatre, makes its debut, with this 1970 Neil Simon play about a cabaret singer who's lost her career and her marriage to alcohol. Now she's out of rehab. Mikey DiLoreto directs; Mike Budwey, Michael Fisher, Crystal Lisbon, Lesley Anne Moreau, Victor Shopov, and Audrey Lynn Sylvia make up the cast. | Factory Theatre, 791 Tremont St, Boston |www.happymediumtheatre.com| Through September 20 | Curtain 8 pm Thurs-Sat | 3 pm Sun | $15; $12 students, seniors
THE GOOD WAR: A MUSICAL COLLAGE OF WORLD WAR II | Stoneham Theatre opens its 2009–2010 season with this adaptation, by David H. Bell and Craig Carnelia, of Studs Terkel's 1984 Pulitzer-winning oral history. Jerry Bisantz, Jason Bowen, Laura DeGiacomo, Steve Gagliastro, Peter Haydu, Mark Linehan, Brendan McNab, Paul Shafer, and Brad Simanski make up the cast; the songs include "I'll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time," "Straighten Up and Fly Right," "Uncle Sam Blues," "I'll Be Seeing You," and "Moonlight Serenade." | Stoneham Theatre, 395 Main St, Stoneham | 781.279.2200 | Through October 4 | Curtain 7:30 pm Thurs | 8 pm Fri | 4 + 8 pm Sat | 2 pm Sun | $44-$48; $40-$42 seniors; $20 students
