TOP PICKS

Giselle Muise as “Polly Peachum” in the Jobsite Theater production of Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera. Credit: Rob/Harris Productions, Inc.

The Threepenny Opera. This classic of the modern stage is an attempt by Bertolt Brecht and Elizabeth Hauptmann to show just what sort of lying, thieving, cutthroat world results from capitalism when it’s not moderated by other, kinder forces. The plot is about Macheath, a criminal who marries Polly Peachum and then faces the wrath of Polly’s entirely unscrupulous father. There are world-famous songs here, composed by Kurt Weill — “Mack the Knife” and “Pirate Jenny” among them — and there’s a cabaret, music-hall aesthetic which has become known and loved all over the world. Brecht doesn’t often get produced in the Bay area, though he’s a towering theatrical modernist. Threepenny Opera is his most famous work. Oct. 20-Nov. 12. Jobsite Theater, Tampa. 813-229-STAR. $29.50. jobsitetheater.org.

The Flick. Annie Baker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play is about three decidedly ordinary young people who work at a not-very-popular movie theater and who, over three hours, come to bare their hearts and souls to one another and to the audience. Sam, Rose, and Avery get to know each other slowly — too slowly, if you demand instant gratification — but as they do, we’re treated to a stunning vision of incomplete, quietly desperate lives straining, as in a Walt Whitman poem, to find some solid objects to which their filaments might attach. Baker may be the most important young playwright in America right now, so you don’t want to miss the drama in which all her promise began to pay off. Sept. 1-24. Jobsite Theater, Tampa. 813-229-STAR. $29.50. jobsitetheater.org.

Fun Home. The mind- and art-power behind this potent musical include Lisa Kron (book and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music), all working from the nonfiction graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. The subject is a woman’s attempt to know her family and herself — not an easy task when secrets and lies are the order of the day, and the supposedly straight-and-narrow father figure (high school English teacher and funeral home operator) has a habit of going cruising for young men when he thinks no one’s watching. One of the musical’s most successful ideas is to use three actresses to represent the central figure at three different times of her life. In some senses a coming-out story (Bechdel is a lesbian), it’s also about needing badly to understand one’s childhood. Who doesn’t need that? Nov. 28-Dec. 3. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa. 813-229-STAR. $36-$79. strazcenter.org.

Also don't forget to go see these…

Take Me Out. What happens when a major league baseball player announces to the world — and his teammates — that he’s gay? In Richard Greenberg’s play, homophobia, racism, class and masculinity all come under the microscope. If you’ve ever wondered what goes on in an MLB locker room, this is the show that bares it all — and then some. Sept. 14-23. The Studio@620, St. Pete. studioat620.org.

Sheila Cowley stands in front of Tyler Staggs’ art. Credit: Carrie Waite

Flying. St. Petersburg resident and USF graduate Sheila Cowley’s play is about the women who flew fighter planes in World War II as part of the training of male pilots — and what happened to them when the war ended. Cowley likes to write plays for strong women, and this one has generated buzz from Chicago to upstate New York to, now, here. Sept. 15-24. Tampa Rep, Tampa. tamparep.org. Read Bill DeYoung's feature about Cowley.

Disgraced. When a high-powered, self-hating Islamic-American attorney tries to navigate the post-Sept. 11 world, he finds himself the victim of an Islamophobia that he can’t manage to surpass. Ayad Akhtar won the Pulitzer Prize for this stunning and notoriously ambiguous drama. Sept 15-30. The Heather Theatre, Tampa. Learn more.

The Royale. Jack Johnson was the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion, and the white world of that time — early 20^th century — did not, let us say, feel easy about that fact. Marco Ramirez’s The Royale is about “Jay Jackson” and the effect of his championship on a racist society. As specific as it may be, the play has a lot to say about the racism of any time — including ours. Sept. 20-Oct. 15. American Stage, St. Pete. 727-823-PLAY. americanstage.org.

The Year of Magical Thinking. When writer Joan Didion lost her husband and her daughter within weeks of each other, she turned to “magical thinking” to ameliorate what was, in fact, psychological freefall. In this moving one-woman show based on Didion’s memoir, all the shock and dismay of a terrible year get investigated and relived. Nov. 3-19. Stageworks, Tampa. 813-374-2416. stageworkstheatre.org.

Much Ado About Nothing. When a man and a woman can’t stop insulting each other every chance they get, there’s only one possible explanation: They’re in love. Shakespeare brings us the contentious Beatrice and Benedick (not to mention Claudio and Hero) in this delightful and wise comedy about the strange trajectories of romance. Nov. 8-Dec. 10. American Stage, St. Pete. 727-823-PLAY, americanstage.org.

The Little Prince. According to Le Monde, Saint-Exupéry’s novel by this title is the fourth greatest book of the 20^th century — after Camus, Kafka and Proust. Now you too can witness the story of the brave airman who crash lands in the Sahara and discovers a little prince who has left his home asteroid to find the meaning of life. Nov. 24-Dec. 24. freeFall Theatre, St. Pete. 727-498-5205. freefalltheatre.com.

Eno’s The Realistic Joneses, produced in Tampa Bay last year. Credit: Desiree Fantal

Gnit. “Peter Gnit” is Will Eno’s name for the character Ibsen called “Peer Gynt,” and that’s just one of the many willful distortions that Eno makes in this sometimes wild adaptation of Ibsen’s seldom-produced play about a self-serving rascal. Jan. 12-28. Tampa Rep, Tampa. tamparep.org.

Keely and Du. The abortion controversy gets a forceful treatment when pregnant Keely is kidnapped by a Christian anti-abortion group and forced to give birth under duress. Her captor Du is unusually kind; the play is uniquely provocative. Jan. 12-21. Innovocative Theatre, Tampa. innovocativetheatre.org.

Mark E. Leib's theater criticism for CL has won seven awards for excellence from the Society for Professional Journalists. His own plays have been produced Off-Broadway and in Chicago, Cambridge, Edinburgh, and the Tampa Bay Area. He is a Continuing Instructor at USF, and has an MFA in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama, where he won the CBS Foundation Prize in Playwriting. Contact him here.

This article appears in Aug 17-24, 2017.