This week, WGBH News' Arts Editor Jared Bowen's recommendations send you to the theater and the ballet.
'Mrs. Packard', presented by Bridge Repertory Theater and Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center through April 9.
Bridge Repertory Theater's Synopsis: "Illinois, 1861. Proclaimed insane by her husband, Elizabeth Packard is committed against her will to an asylum. Inspired by true events, Emily Mann’s stunning American drama chronicles one woman’s struggle to fight for her life and, in the process, right a system gone wrong."
Jared Says: "A very absorbing excavation of a very devastating history."
'Our American Hamlet', presented by Commonwealth Shakespeare Company at Sorenson Center for the Arts at Babson College in Wellesley through April 2.
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's Synopsis: "The year was 1866, less than a year after President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. His brother Edwin Booth, one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of the nineteenth century, decided to perform Hamlet on Broadway, a role he had performed in the past to great acclaim. A huge crowd turned up for the performance — but it wasn't clear whether they were there to see the actor perform, or to exact their revenge. Jacob Fishel, an actor with a wide-ranging career on television and on and off Broadway, takes on the role of Booth."
Jared Says: "Fascinating history at play."
'Grand Concourse', presented by Speakeasy Stage Company through April 1.
SpeakEasy Stage Company's Synopsis: "Called to a life of religious service, Shelley now struggles to find meaning in her work as the manager of a Bronx soup kitchen. The arrival of Emma, a college dropout looking for a sense of purpose, is at first a welcome addition, but the girl’s erratic behavior soon pushes Shelley to the breaking point, in this compelling drama about the mysteries of faith, forgiveness, and compassion."
Jared Says: "A play about when bad people happen to good and moderately bad people."
Kylián / Wings of Wax, presented by Boston Ballet at the Boston Opera House through April 2.
Boston Ballet's Synopsis: "Imagination soars in this energetic trio of works by George Balanchine, Jiri Kylian, and Alexander Ekman. ... Sensual and entrancing, Kylian's Wings of Wax is an allegorical journey danced beneath the branches of an inverted tree to a hauntingly beautiful score of selections by musical giants Philip Glass, Heinrich von Biber, John Cage, and Johann Sebastian Bach."
Jared Says: "Another reminder of why we should be seeing just about everything that the consistently superb Boston Ballet does!"
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This post has been updated.
