★★☆☆☆ A city celebrates its legendary political rascal, leaving open why he should matter to the rest of us
From Boston: The Purists (and Director Billy Porter) Keep It Real
★★★★☆ A Sunnyside, Queens stoop is the unlikely setting for a thrilling affirmation of how we can learn to get along
From Massachusetts: The Joy of Six
★★★★★ The “Divorced, Beheaded, Live” tryout tour of Henry VIII’s wives makes a turbocharged Cambridge stop
From Massachusetts: Fall Springs, A Fracking Good Time
★★★☆☆ Stale environmental satire is offset by sprightly songs and a swell cast at Barrington Stage
From Williamstown: Ghosts and Before the Meeting
At Williamstown, an O.K. revival and a superior modern premiere explore humanity at lowest ebb.
From Massachusetts: The Skin of Our Teeth and Tell Me I’m Not Crazy
Two American dramedies, one classic and the other newly minted, affirm humanity’s indomitable ability to renew in the face of chaos.
From Massachusetts: Gertrude and Claudius’s Time Is Out of Joint
★★☆☆☆ A Hamlet prequel out of a John Updike novel falls short of presaging the tragedy to follow
From Connecticut: Because of Winn Dixie Is Not Arf Bad
★★★★☆ A great doggie performer headlines a tuneful, kid-friendly morality tail (sic)
Rock and Roll Man: Tutti-Frutti, Mostly Goodie
★★★☆☆ Rock’n’roll is here to stay, though we learn little about the man who made it happen
From Massachusetts: Into a Sondheim Woods and a Fascist America
Two concurrent plays in the Berkshires examine the effect of fairy tales, whether on the body human or the body politic