An Ideal Husband — The Great Lakes Theater crew spins Oscar Wilde's witticisms into a seamless symphony of laughter. Set in the hot-house environment of elegant London society, the play is mixed with just enough social relevance to give the whole enterprise more heft than you might expect. (Howey) Presented by the Great Lakes Theater Festival through October 31 at the Hanna Theatre, 2067 East 14th St. Tickets are $15-$70; call 216-241-6000 or go to greatlakestheater.org.
Kill Will — This play by Josh Brown and Kelly Elliott (a husband-and-wife team of fight choreographers) celebrates the delightful violence of Shakespeare's works, complete with a dash of improv. Through October 30 at Cleveland Public Theatre, 6415 Detroit Ave. Tickets are $25; call 216-631-2727 or visit [email protected].
A Murder, a Mystery, and a Marriage —Actors' Summit revisits the popular musical-comedy in its brand-new home at Akron's Greystone Hall. Through November 7 at 103 South High St. in Akron. Tickets are $17 to $30; call 330-374-7568 or go to actorssummit.org.
Othello — Shakespeare's Othello has sometimes been described as a battle of wills between the noble Moor and his right-hand man Iago, but it's actually more like a stalking. Iago, a fully-formed psycho, is intent on destroying the blithely unsuspecting Othello, and this stirring production by the Great Lakes Theater Festival explores that conscienceless obsession with terrifying exactitude. (Howey) Presented by the Great Lakes Theater Festival through October 31 at the Hanna Theatre, 2067 East 14th St. Tickets are $15-$70; call 216-241-6000 or go to greatlakestheater.org.
Wings — This production of Arthur Kopit's play is less than completely successsful, but Dorothy Silver is surpassingly brilliant as stroke patient Emily Stilson. Interestingly, we are spared the sight of this aphasia-stricken septuagenarian as others see her. Instead, the playwright ushers us inside Emily's brain and body, experiencing how she answers doctors' questions and subsequently not understanding why they can't hear or understand her. Silver negotiates this challenging word- and soundscape with unerring precision. Through November 7 at Beck Center, 17801 Detroit Ave., Lakewood. Tickets are $10-$28; call 216-521-2540 or go to beckcenter.org.
