Theater: New Shows (June 29)

Lauren Kennedy, Anneliese van der Pol and Sarah Stiles in 'Vanities'

After last week—when not one show opened on Broadway or off!—this week's four shows and one festival seem like a banquet. There's a show for everyone. Classicists might check 1873's "Therese Raquin", famous as the first realistic play ever. Fans of shock should schedule "The Europeans", a pessimistic political fable. Indefatigable queers should bounce back from the Pride Parade to sample the "Hot! Festival". As for my Pick of the Week, it's the musical "Vanities", which was slated for Broadway until its funding collapsed with the rotten economy.

A BICYCLE COUNTRY
where: Theatre Row
first night: July 3
opening night: July 8
closing night: July 25
URL: East3rd.org
Early in this decade, Nilo Cruz won the Pulitzer for one of his lush poetic melodramas. His lovely plays mingle the beauty of Spanish with the dexterity of English, both in their sound and their subject matter. This revival asks what would drive three Cubanos to board a flimsy raft for Florida.

THE EUROPEANS
where: Atlantic Stage 2
first night: July 2
opening night: July 7
closing night: July 26
URL: PotomacTheatreProject.org
This ballsy young troupe earns respect for their work on Howard Barker, a cutting British dramatist that's what you'd get if David Lynch did Brechtian theater. Here Barker and the PTP attack the clash between Islam and Christians in 17th c. Europe; expect violence and disturbing morality.

LGB HOT! FESTIVAL
first night: July 1
closing night: August 1
URL: HotFestival.org
An annual summer festival of queer performance, now in its 18th season. It's an eclectic mix with very little straight drama (excuse my pun): instead, the focus is on unique styles performance. It includes work by Penny Arcade and several neighborhood histories as well as drag queens and bois.

THERESE RAQUIN
where: Atlantic Stage 2
first night: June 30
opening night: July 6
closing night: July 26
URL: PotomacTheatreProject.org
In rep with "The Europeans" (see above), the PTP presents an adaptation of a French classic. This was the first play to be called "realistic": in comparison with the hammy melodramas of 19th c. Paris, its lurid tale of adultery and murder must've been a sock to the gut. See if it's still electric!

VANITIES
where: Second Stage
first night: July 2
opening night: July 16
closing night: August 9
URL: 2st.com
Once headed for Broadway, this musical has found a berth at Second Stage instead. But there's still talk about a transfer if it's a hit. Involving a treacly friendship among a trio of women over three decades, it offers the talented actresses a chance to show their range and sport a series of wigs.

Last chance!
PURE CONFIDENCE
closing night: July 3
URL: 59e59.com

Photo by Craig Schwartz