OPENING
AFTER THE QUAKE | Company One presents Tony-winning adapter (for The Grapes of Wrath, in 1990) and director Frank Galati's play, which is adapted from two stories from Haruki Murakami's After the Quake, a collection set in Japan in 1995 between the Kobe earthquake and the poison-gas attacks in the Tokyo subway. In one of those stories, "Honey Pie," a shy man whose would-be sweetheart was swept away by his best friend (but they're now divorced) regales her daughter with the tale of a six-foot frog who's out to save Tokyo. Shawn LaCount directs. | Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont St, Boston | 617.933.8600 | July 17–August 15 | Curtain 7:30 pm Wed-Thurs | 8 pm Fri-Sat | 2 pm Sun | $30-$38; $30 seniors; $15 students; $18 Wed; pay-what-you-can [minimum $6] Sun
BLAME THE WOLF | Hailing from the Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, the Al-Rowwad Theatre Troupe, which recently performed for Pope Benedict XVI, brings to Cambridge this original play "adapted from a familiar children's fairy tale to reveal the experiences and lessons of Palestinian life." Howard Zinn introduces the performance. | Central Square Theater, 450 Mass Ave, Cambridge | 617.576.9278 | July 17 | Curtain 7:30 pm Fri | $10, doors only
THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE (ABRIDGED) | The Publick Theatre has suspended its 2009 outdoor summer season pending an inspection and likely repairs to the lighting and sound systems, but that doesn't mean the theater will be dark: Orfeo Group will be staging, before dark (so no lighting necessary), this audience favorite by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Singer, everything you need to know about the Bard in a single evening, with all the boring parts left out, and at a "Ridiculously Reduced Price." One of the usual Publick suspects, Steve Barkhimer, directs; Daniel Berger-Jones, Gabriel Kuttner, and Risher Reddick make up the cast. Oh, and there'll be grills available in case you want to come early and barbecue. | Publick Theatre, Christian Herter Park, 1175A Soldiers Field Rd, Brighton | 617.747.4460 | July 9–August 2 | Curtain 6:45 pm Thurs-Sun | $15; Thurs free to all; Fri free with student ID
CREATING CLAIRE | Cape Cod Theatre Project continues its season of summer staged readings with Joe DiPietro's "exploration of the supernova that results when science, faith, and politics collide." Oscar nominee Barbara Barrie (Breaking Away, Suddenly Susan), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Tony for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Johanna Day (Tony nominee for Proof) and Matthew Arkin (Drama Desk nominee for Dinner with Friends) star; Christopher Ashley (artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse and director of Xanadu, All Shook Up, and Memphis on Broadway) directs. | Falmouth Academy, 7 Highfield Drive, Falmouth | 508.457.4242 | July 16-18 | Curtain 8 pm Thurs-Sat | $20; $10 students
THE HAPPY OYSTER SPECTACULAR SHOW | Subtractive Media serves up this "live-action/video/music review with an Outer Cape bent that places contemporary culture under the microscope — one with a fractured lens. Good Morning America, Garrison Keillor, YouTube, drug commercials, and dating services are just a few of the subjects that fall prey to David Kennedy and his comedy troupe's satirical examination." | Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, Julie Harris Stage, 2357 Rte 6, Wellfleet | 508.349.WHAT | July 12–August 30 | Curtain 8 pm Sun | $25
