Theater Listings

WINTER REP 2008 While a season of plays presented in rotating repertory is common practice in summer stock, it is not the norm in the Off Off Broadway world. But the Oberon Theater Ensemble, now in its 11th season, has been presenting shows this way for a few years, and its current offerings include “Macbeth,” with James Holloway, above left, and William Laney, and Michael Weller’s “Ghost on Fire.”

“The two plays, if you have to boil it down to one word, are about ambition,” said Brad Fryman, Oberon’s artistic director. “Macbeth’s ambition comes from an unnatural place, and ‘Ghost on Fire’ is about these young people who entered the professional world and thought they could change it through film.” The three central characters in Mr. Weller’s 1985 play had grand plans when they were documentary filmmakers in college, but haven’t reached their goals 15 years later. In comparison, it is not much of a stretch to guess that Shakespeare’s Scottish Thane was once an idealistic young man too, before his motives darkened.

For Oberon, juxtaposing thematically linked plays is important, but not the only reason for producing two shows at once. Mr. Fryman said there was “extreme financial benefit” to this model, since theater rental is a daunting budget item for a company without a permanent home. Offering multiple shows can increase ticket sales by enticing theatergoers to see more than one. (The Emerging Artists Theater company regularly tries the same approach: its “Triple Threat” premiere, running through Sunday at Baruch Performing Arts Center in Manhattan, includes three productions under one roof.)

Oberon has an added challenge right now — there is another Macbeth in town, and his name is Patrick Stewart. Mr. Stewart’s appearance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music could be intimidating, but Mr. Fryman is not cowed: “For me it makes it very exciting,” he said. (Through March 9, Lion Theater, Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, 212-279-4200, ticketcentral.com; .) STEVEN McELROY

Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current shows, additional listings, showtimes and tickets: nytimes.com/theater.

Previews and Openings

‘BEEBO BRINKER CHRONICLES’ In previews; opens on Wednesday. This hit adaptation of the lesbian pulp novels moves Off Broadway. David Greenspan stars, with Jenn Colella in the title role (1:30). 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, (212) 307-4100.

‘CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF’ In previews; opens on Thursday. Debbie Allen directs an all-black cast, including the award-winning veterans James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad (2:45). Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200.

‘THE CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR’ Previews start on Tuesday. Opens on March 18. John Cullum and D B Woodside star in a new drama about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s decision to oppose the Vietnam War (2:00). Clurman Theater, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200.

‘CONVERSATIONS IN TUSCULUM’ In previews; opens on March 11. Richard Nelson’s history play looks at those entangled in the political orbit of Julius Caesar. Brian Dennehy, Maria Tucci, David Strathairn and Aidan Quinn star (2:00). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555.

‘DEAD MAN’S CELL PHONE’ In previews; opens on Monday. A new play by Sarah Ruhl (“The Clean House”) is about a woman who finds herself comforting the family of a recently deceased stranger after picking up his cellphone. Mary-Louise Parker stars (2:10). Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200.

‘DRUNK ENOUGH TO SAY I LOVE YOU?’ Previews start on Wednesday. Opens on March 16. In Caryl Churchill’s allegorical romance, two male lovers chat, flirt and bicker about American foreign policy (45 minutes). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555.

‘THE FIFTH COLUMN’ In previews; opens on March 27. The Mint Theater unearths Hemingway’s drama about a counterespionage agent during the Spanish Civil War. Jonathan Bank directs (2:45). Mint Theater, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (212) 315-0231.

‘THE FOUR OF US’ Previews start on Thursday. Opens on March 25. Jealousy is the theme of Itamar Moses’s new drama about two young writer friends, one of whom makes it big. Manhattan Theater Club at City Center, 131 West 55th Street, (212) 581-1212.

‘GYPSY’ Previews start on Monday. Opens on March 27. The beloved Patti Lupone revives her Encores! turn as Mama Rose (2:30). St. James, 246 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200.

‘IN THE HEIGHTS’ In previews; opens on March 9. Could this small musical about three days in Washington Heights, which transfers to Broadway after a successful Off Broadway run, become the next “Rent?” (2:20). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4100.

‘LIBERTY CITY’ In previews; opens on Monday. A new solo play about a child of the children of the ’60s (1:30). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 239-6200.

‘PARADISE PARK’ In previews; opens on Sunday. Signature’s latest in its Charles Mee season is set in an amusement park (1:50). Signature Theater Company at the Peter Norton Space, 555 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 244-7529.

‘PARLOUR SONG’ In previews; opens on Wednesday. Jez Butterworth’s new play is about a demolitions expert who believes his wife is stealing from him. Atlantic Theater, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (212) 279-4200.

‘THE SEAGULL’ In previews; opens on March 13. Alan Cumming and Dianne Wiest star in a new revival of Chekhov’s play (2:40). Classic Stage Company, 136 East 13th Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101.

‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ Previews start on Saturday. Opens on April 3. Lincoln Center presents the first Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic 1949 musical. Vivian Beaumont Theater, 150 West 65th Street, (212) 239-6200.

‘U.S. DRAG’ In previews; opens on Saturday. A black comedy by Gina Gionfriddo that follows a couple of recent college graduates searching for love, money and a serial attacker (1:20). Beckett Theater, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200.

Broadway

★ ‘ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S THE 39 STEPS’ An absurdly enjoyable, gleefully theatrical riff on the 1935 Hitchcock movie, directed by Maria Aitken and featuring a cast of four that feels like a cast of thousands. This fast, frothy exercise in legerdemain is throwaway theater at its finest (1:45). American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, 212 719-1300. (Ben Brantley)

★ ‘AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY’ Tracy Letts’s turbocharged tragicomedy about an Oklahoma clan in a state of near-apocalyptic meltdown is the most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years. Fiercely funny and bitingly sad, it somehow finds fresh sources of insight in that classic staple of the stage, the disintegrating American family. And the cast, from the Steppenwolf Theater Company, is beyond sublime (3:20). Imperial Theater, 249 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Charles Isherwood)

★ ‘COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA’ Michael Pressman’s gentle, revitalizing production of William Inge’s kitchen-sink drama from 1950 features a heart-stopping performance from S. Epatha Merkerson as the lonely wife of an alcoholic; it allows the kind of intimate access traditionally afforded by cinematic close-ups. With Kevin Anderson and Zoe Kazan, both first-rate. (2:10). Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley)

‘CURTAINS’ This musical comedy about a musical-comedy murder — featuring songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb and a book by Rupert Holmes — lies on the stage like a promisingly gaudy string of firecrackers, waiting in vain for a match. The good news is that David Hyde Pierce, playing a diffident Boston detective, steps into full-fledged Broadway stardom. Scott Ellis directs a talented-packed cast that includes Debra Monk and Karen Ziemba (2:30). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200. (Brantley)

‘DISNEY’S THE LITTLE MERMAID’ The motto for this charm-free musical blunderbuss, based on the charming 1989 Disney movie, might be “You can’t go broke overestimating the taste of preschoolers.” Francesca Zambello directs an overwhelmed cast (2:20). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (212) 307-4747. (Brantley)