What to do? What to see? Our top recommendations include the sex comedy “In the Next Room, or the vibrator play,” which runs through Sunday at Synchronicity Theatre. Pictured Tony Larkin and Bryn Striepe, as painter Leo Irving and the frustrated Mrs. Givings, admiring the neighbors’ electric lights. Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus.
Recommended
In the Next Room, or the vibrator play. Closes Sunday. Synchronicity Theatre reprises its 2011 hit with a mostly new cast. In 1887 the invention of the light bulb and a handy new instrument to treat “hysteria” has Dr. Givings’ patients all aglow and his young wife very curious. Sarah Ruhl’s comedy was Pulitzer and Tony Award-nominated. Cast: Daniel May, Bryn Striepe, Tony Larkin, Wendy Melkonian, Danielle Mills, Doyle Reynolds and Maria Rodriguez-Sager. $20-$28. 8 tonight-Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday. Synchronicity Theatre at Peachtree Pointe, 1545 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.484.8636. For more, see this ENCORE FEATURE.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. THROUGH OCT 25. This regional premiere, an Aurora Theatre / Horizon Theatre co-pro, is playwright Christopher Durang’s Tony Award-winning riff on Anton Chekhov. Melancholy turns into mayhem when Vanya and sister Sonia get a surprise visit from their movie-star sibling, Masha, and her boy toy, Spike. Cast features Lala Cochran, Tess Malis Kincaid and Bill Murphey. $30-$55. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Discount matinee at 10 a.m. Oct. 21. 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, attached, covered parking in city deck at 153 E. Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222.
This weekend only
Classical Mystery Tour. FRIDAY-SATURDAY. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra begins its Pops! season with this Beatles tribute band, doing some 30 Fab Four classics. Look for maestro Michael Krajewski on the podium. $20-$65. 8 nightly. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Itzhak Perlman recital. SUNDAY ONLY. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra presents an intimate recital featuring the world-famous violinist performing works written for piano and violin. Arrive on time. Late seating won’t be available until 18 minutes into the recital. $54-$119. 3 p.m. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Closing this weekend
Divorciadas, Evangélicas y Vegetarianas (Divorcees, Evangelists and Vegetarians). THROUGH OCT. 18. Joys and frustrations unique to single women are center stage in this wacky modern tale featuring a divorcee, a pushy vegetarian and a menopausal evangelical widow. These friends will help each other through personal crises … if they don’t kill each other first. In Spanish with English supertitles. $20-$30. 8 tonight-Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Aurora Theatre/Teatro Aurora, 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. Free, attached and covered parking in city lot at 153 E. Crogan St. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.226.6222. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Now playing
The Crucible. THROUGH NOV. 1. Arthur Miller’s attack on 1950s McCarthyism is set in 1692 Massachusetts. Salem killed witches then, didn’t it? The New American Shakespeare Tavern features a full pub menu and tasty libations. $20-$39. 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, 6:30 p.m. Sunday. 499 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.874.5299, Ext. 0. Discount gift certificates for two VIP box seats available through PoshDealz.com. HERE.
The Ghastly Dreadfuls: Raising Spirits. THROUGH OCT. 31. This Suzi Bass Award-winning fright fest returns to the Center for Puppetry Arts for another harrowing run. It’s the brainchild of artistic director Jon Ludwig and head puppet builder Jason Hines, both of whom are in the cast. Look for other familiar faces, too — Scott DePoy, Kristin Haverty, Reay Kaplan, T.T. Mahoney and Spencer G. Stephens — and a new character. For ages 18 and up. $18.75 + $25. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. Post-show party on closing night. 1404 Spring St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.873.3391.
Informed Consent. THROUGH NOV. 8. Southeastern premiere. At Horizon Theatre. This very recent off-Broadway hit is an electrifying new play by Deborah Zoe Laufer, one of the most exciting voices in American theater today. It follows one woman’s quest to answer the mysteries of science and her own life, inspired by a landmark court case between one of the country’s largest universities and a Native American tribe. The cast: Neal A. Ghant, Bethany Anne Lind, Tonia M. Jackson, Diany Rodriguez, Carey Curtis Smith. $25 and up. 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 3 + 8:30 p.m. Saturday; and 5 p.m. Sunday. 1083 Austin Ave. N.E. (at Euclid Avenue). Details, tickets HERE or at 404.584.7450. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe. THROUGH OCT. 25. Engineer, environmentalist, futurist, poet, philosopher and inventor of the geodesic dome. R. Buckminster Fuller, who died in 1983 at age 87, was a visionary who foretold many of today’s challenges. He’s alive again, onstage, in this 90-minute, one-man show at Theatrical Outfit with actor Tom Key. $25-$50. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St. N.W. Details, tickets HERE or at 678.528.1500. Discount tickets at PoshDealz.com.
Tiger Style! THROUGH OCT. 18. World premiere. Playwright Mike Lew (the Kendeda-winning Bike America) returns to the Alliance Theatre with a boisterous comedy about two young Asian-Americans who wonder what, if anything, they owe their immigrant heritage. For ages 13 and up. The crackerjack five-person cast is tireless. $20-$63. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 + 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000. For more on the very smart Mike Lew, see this ENCORE FEATURE.
Next week
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. OCT. 22 + 24. Composer-conductor-pianist Olli Mustonen leads a program featuring Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 and his own orchestral work, The Old Church at Petäjävesi, inspired by a Finnish church that’s a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. $20-$89. 8 nightly. Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E. Details, tickets HERE or at 404.733.5000.
Coming up
Fetch Clay, Make Man. PREVIEWS OCT. 27-29 | OPENS OCT. 30. In the days leading up to one of Muhammad Ali’s most anticipated fights, the heavyweight boxing champ forms an unlikely friendship with the controversial Hollywood actor Stepin Fetchit. Fetch Clay, Make Man gets inside the improbable bond that forms between two cultural icons. At True Colors Theatre. By Will Power. Eric J. Little directs. Rob Demery plays Ali. Through Nov. 22. $20 previews; $20-$50 regularly. 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 2:30 + 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Southwest Arts Center, 915 New Hope Road. Details, tickets HERE or 877.725.8849.
