OPENING
BAD DATES | Merrimack Repertory Theatre hosts this co-production with Lenox-based Shakespeare & Company of Theresa Rebeck's one-woman comedy about a divorced single mom with a closet stuffed with 600 pairs of shoes, a restaurant-management job that may have Romanian mob connections, and a dubious romantic life. She regales us as she prepares for and winds down from the largely unsuccessful liaisons of the title. Ace comedienne Elizabeth Aspenlieder stars. | Merrimack Repertory Theatre, 50 East Merrimack St, Lowell | 978.654.4MRT | Through April 12 | Curtain 2 pm [March 25] + 8 pm Wed | 8 pm Thurs-Fri | 4:30 pm [no March 21] + 8:30 pm Sat | 2 + 7 pm [no evening April 12] Sun | $26-$56
THE BUDDHA — IN HIS OWN WORDS | After several workshop productions in the Boston area, writer/performer Evan Brenner unveils his one-man play taken from the life and teachings of Siddhartha Gautama — who lived in northern India 500 years before Christ and is better known as the Buddha — in its official world premiere. Brenner presents "the authentic texts" and enacts "the extraordinary life of the man, start to finish. It's no dry tale — the Buddha's life stands among the great archetypal adventure stories." Indiana Jones, eat your heart out. | Boston Center for the Arts Plaza, 539 Tremont St, Boston | 617.933.8600 | March 25–April 4 | Curtain 7:30 pm Wed-Thurs | 8 pm Fri | 3 + 8 pm Sat | 3 pm Sun | $28-$33; $5 discount students, seniors | Cambridge Family YMCA Theatre, 820 Mass Ave, Cambridge | 800.838.3006 | April 10-12 | Curtain 8 pm Fri | 3 + 8 pm Sat | 3 + 7:30 pm Sun | $25-$30; $5 discount students, seniors
COMPANY ONE CELEBRATION X | Company One celebrates its tenth anniversary with a big blowout featuring performances by Cabaret X performers including John Kuntz, Rick Park, Marvelyn McFarlane of Voyeurs de Venus, and the cast of Kuntz's upcoming Superheroine Monologues. There's also light fare and silent and live auctions. Liz Walker is special guest; Lois Roach and David Wheeler will be honored for their "creative mentorship." Semi-formal or "creative" attire is recommended. | Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St, Boston |www.companyone.org| March 19 | 6-9 pm Thurs | $75
LOOK AND LONG — A GERTRUDE STEIN MISCELLANY | Imaginary Beasts theater company unveils "a series of playful vignettes" rooted in The Gertrude Stein First Reader. Matthew Woods directs. | Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St, Boston | 617.933.8600 | Through April 4 | Curtain 7:30 pm Wed [April 1] | 7:30 pm Thurs | 8 pm Fri | 3 + 8 pm Sat | 3 pm Sun | $23; discounts seniors, students
MOVIN' OUT | The Twyla Tharp juggernaut based on the songs of Billy Joel is back for five performances, with Brenda and Eddie from "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" and Tony and Sergeant O'Leary from "Movin' Out" and Judy from "Why, Judy, Why" and James from "James" but no dialogue. | Colonial Theatre, 106 Boylston St, Boston, Cambridge | 800.982.ARTS | March 20-22 | Curtain 8 pm Fri | 2 + 8 pm Sat | 2 + 7:30 pm Sun | $40-$79.50
REVELSSPRING SING: A FAMILY CELEBRATION OF SPRING | Revels Inc. stages this audience-participatory celebration of the solstice featuring song leader David Coffin and soloist Mary Casey. "Welcome spring with seasonal songs and a mummers' play performed by children in the spring workshop. At the end of the evening, meet new people as you change partners in a country dance and then share the bounty of homemade treats." | St. John's Church Hall, 80 Mount Auburn St, Watertown |www.revels.org| March 20 | Curtain 7 pm Fri | $10; children under 12 free
SLAMBOSTON | Company One has taken over the format popularized by Another Country Productions. Eight 10-minute plays compete, in the manner of a poetry slam, for a cash prize. Audience mayhem is part of the act. | Boston Center for the Arts Plaza, 539 Tremont St, Boston | 617.933.8600 | March 24 | Curtain 7:30 pm Tues | $20
SPEECH & DEBATE | Jeremy Johnson helms the Boston premiere of Stephen Karam's 2007 Off Broadway hit — which Variety pronounced a "savvy comedy" — about a trio of high-school misfits who're galvanized by a scandal involving one of their teachers into starting a speech-and-debate club to air their views. Look for singing allusions to the Salem Witch Trials. | Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon St, Boston | 617.585.5678 | March 27–April 25 | Curtain 2 pm [April 1, 22] + 7:30 pm Wed | 7:30 pm Thurs | 8 pm Fri | 4 + 8 pm Sat | 3 pm Sun | $25-$50
STRIPPED STORIES | The monthly airing of sex-themed storytelling dreamed up by MTV's Giulia Rozzi and Spike TV's Margot Leitman features NPR's Tim McIntire and ImProv Boston's Jessica Sutich revealing juicy episodes from their one-lives-to-live. Musical guest is Mindy Raf. | Mottley's Comedy Club, 61 Chatham St, Boston | 877.548.3237 | March 19 | Curtain 8 pm Thurs | $15
