THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST | Wellesley Summer Theatre updates Oscar Wilde's essay on the importance of being something other than the offspring of a handbag to the Jazz Age, where Oscar himself would surely have had a swell time had he still been around. "Critically acclaimed members of the WST company" are promised for the cast; Nora Hussey and Valerie von Rosenvinge direct. | Wellesley Summer Theatre, Schneider Hall, Wellesley College, Wellesley | 781.283.2000 | June 4-28 | Curtain 7:30 pm Thurs | 8 pm Fri | 3 + 8 pm Sat | 3 pm Sun | $20; $10 students, seniors
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
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
WORKING | Metro Stage Company revives the 1978 Broadway (24 performances) musical based on the book by Studs Terkel, with book by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso and music by, among others, James Taylor. Twenty-six "average American workers" ranging from ironworkers and supermarket cashiers to waitresses and housewives tell their story in individual monologues. James Tallach directs; musical direction is by Adam McDonald. | Cambridge Family YMCA Theater, 820 Mass Ave, Cambridge | June 5-13 | Curtain 7:30 pm Thurs | 8 pm Fri-Sat | 2 pm Sun | $24; $20 students, seniors
YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN | Gloucester Stage opens its 2009 season with the popular Peanuts musical. Shelley Bolman, Mary Callanan, Steve Gagliastro, Katie Mulholland, Arlo Hill, and David Krinitt star; Scott LaFeber directs, with musical direction by Michael Kreutz. | Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main St, Gloucester | 978.281.4433 | June 4-21 | Curtain 8 pm Wed-Fri | 3 + 8 pm Sat | 4 pm Sun | $32-$37
NOW PLAYING
THE AWESOME 80S PROM | We haven't seen a Joey & Maria's Italian Wedding–type show around for a while, but this interactive entry from Metro Boston native Ken Davenport appears to be in the ballpark. | Club Venu, 100 Warrenton St, Boston | May 30, June 13 + 27, July 18, August 29 |www.awesome80sprom.com| Curtain 8 pm Sat | $40-$100
