OPENING
BEN'S TRUMPET
BalletRox and Wheelock Family Theatre team up to present BalletRox director Anthony Williams's take on the Caldecott Medal–winning children's book by Rachel Isadora in which a young boy in Harlem discovers hot jazz. The evening will also include presentations of Peter and the Wolf and La Favorita. | Wheelock Family Theatre, 200 the Riverway, Boston | 617.879.2000 | May 29–June 7 | Curtain 7:30 pm Fri | 1 + 7:30 pm Sat | 3 pm Sun | $20-$30
DIVIDING THE ESTATE
Well, that's the question in the late Horton Foote's Tony-nominated play, whose production is moving to Hartford Stage after getting closed down on Broadway in January. Texas matriarch Stella Gordon wants to keep the 100-year-old family estate intact, even though its time seems to have passed. Her three children are more interested in the title activity. The production is directed by Hartford artistic director Michael Wilson (which is partly why it wound up in Hartford); Hallie Foote heads the cast. | Hartford Stage, 50 Church St, Hartford | 860.527.5151 | May 28–July 5 | Curtain 7:30 pm Tues [June 2, 9, 16] | 2 pm [June 17, 24] or 7:30 pm [June 3, 10] Wed | 7:30 pm Thurs [no July 2] | 8 pm Fri [no July 3] | 2 pm [June 6, 27] + 8 pm [no July 4] Sat | 2 pm [no June 7] + 7 pm [May 31, June 14] Sun | $23-$68
"AN EVENING OF ALMOST"
In the wake of the Boston Theater Marathon, 11:11 Theatre Company presents its own slate of 10-minute plays, each adhering in some way to the common theme of "almost." | Boston Center for the Arts, Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Sat, Boston |www.1111theatre.com | May 22-30 | Curtain 8 pm Thurs-Fri | 3 pm [May 30] + 8 pm Sat | 3 pm Sun | $20; $17 students, seniors
FAITH HEALER
Berkshire Theatre Festival opens its 2009 season with Brian Friel's story about the Irish faith healer who tours Great Britain with his wife and his manager, a story that's told entirely through monologues. Colin Lane has the title role, David Adkins is Teddy, Keira Naughton is Grace; Eric Hill directs. | Berkshire Theatre Festival Unicorn Theatre, Main St, Stockbridge | 413.298.5576 | May 21–July 4 | Curtain May 21–June 20: 8 pm Thurs-Sat + 2 pm Sun | Curtain June 21-July 4: 8 pm Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat + 7 pm Wed | $15-$44
MOTHER G
The opening entry in Our Place Theatre Project's ninth annual African-American Theatre Festival is Robert Johnson's play about a choir director in a black Baptist church back in 1963 and the minister — Reverend Mercy — who seduces and then abandons her. Johnson based his story on the true experience of his mother. Our Place artistic director Jacqui Parker is at the helm; musical direction — yes, there's gospel singing — is by Chauncey McGlathery. | BCA Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont St, Boston | 617.933.8600 | May 17–June 5 | Curtain 7:30 pm Wed-Thurs | 8 pm Fri-Sat | 3 pm Sun | $15-$35
ON THE VERGE
"Machetes" are promised in this comedy (we think) show written by Eric Overmyer, directed by Wesley Savick, and presented by Nora Theatre. Also (seems to be a '50s theme) "Rock 'n' Roll. Burma Shave. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Discover the unpredictable land of Terra Incognita with three intrepid women explorers who can never be quite sure where — or when — their next steps will lead them. . . ." | Central Square Theater, 450 Mass Ave, Cambridge |www.centralsquaretheater.org| May 28–June 21 | Curtain 7:30 pm Wed-Thurs | 8 pm Fri-Sat | 3 pm Sun | $32; $22 seniors; $18 students; $12 students day-of
ROMEO AND JULIET
Shakespeare & Company starts off its 2009 season with this abbreviated production of the Bard's romantic tragedy that's been touring schools and theaters in the Northeast since January. The non-Equity cast of seven — Paul D'Agostino, Ben Brinton, Kaitlin Henderson, Alyssa Hughlett, Kelley Johnston, Sean Kazarian, and Daniel Kurtz — take multiple roles; there's original music composed and performed by Marc Scipione, and Jonathan Croy directs. | Shakespeare & Company, Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, 70 Kemble St, Lenox | 413.637.3353 | May 21–June 7 | Curtain 3 pm Wed [June 3] | 3 pm [May 28, June 4] or 8 pm [May 21] Thurs | 7:30 pm [May 29] or 8:30 pm [May 22, June 5] Fri | 3 + 8:30 pm Sat | 3 pm [May 24] + 8:30 pm Sun | $12-$48
SERIOUSLY FUNNY
The students from the ART/MXAT Institute for Advanced Theatre Training make their contribution to the American Repertory Theatre's "Sex, Satire, Romance, and Ducks: A David Mamet Celebration" with this evening of short comedies by "friends and frequent collaborators" Mamet, Harold Pinter, and Shel Silverstein. | Zero Arrow Theatre, Mass Ave + Arrow St, Cambridge | 617.547.8300 | May 29–June 6 | Curtain 7:30 pm Wed-Thurs | 8 pm Fri-Sat | $10; $5 students, seniors
