Funny Thing About Fate

BOSTON — How people respond to situations is the fodder for both hilarity and contemplation. Here are three very different ways to observe those moments of decision that can make matters worse, or prove that sometimes we humans are capable of doing what's right. 

Good People
Playing at the Huntington Theatre Company through October 14

In South Boston, this month’s paycheck covers last month’s bills, bingo is a night on the town, and sharp-tongued single-mom Margie Walsh has just been let go from yet another job. Scrambling to make ends meet, she looks up an old flame, hoping he’ll help her make a fresh start in this humor-filled drama from Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire about how twists of fate determine our path. 
 

The Mikado
Playing at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston through October 13

Three little maids from school, a wandering minstrel, a pompous government official, and the Lord High Executioner are just some of the hilariously absurd characters in Gilbert & Sullivan’s most beloved satire of social mores and politics, The Mikado.

Trouble With the Curve
In theatres Friday

Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams are father and daughter in a film that takes advantage of Eastwood's gruffness to explore aging and family relationships. Not a film that features Eastwood at his best. Also starring Justin Timberlake and John Goodman.

PLUS: Philanthropist and Emerson alum Ted Cutler has just announced plans for a Theater festival in Boston next summer. Jared Bowen will bring you the latest.