Last weekend for 5 theater productions

by Shawn Parikh

These are the last chances to see these shows, so try and catch one before it's too late:

• Stuff Happens, presented by Meadows School of the Arts. Winner of the 2007 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Off-Broadway Play, Stuff Happens is a compelling drama tracing the political decision-making in Washington and London that led up to the invasion of Iraq. The play, whose title is inspired by Donald Rumsfeld’s response to widespread looting in Baghdad, and whose characters include President Bush, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell and other leading figures, relies on both published records and speculation to address how and why the Iraq war began. The play presents a range of viewpoints, including arguments for and against the attack on Iraq, mixing verbatim recreations of real speeches, meetings and press conferences and fictionalized versions of private meetings between members of the Bush and Blair administrations, and other international figures such as Hans Blix and Dominique de Villepin. In the Margo Jones Theatre. Call 214-768-ARTS for tickets ($7-13).
• The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, presented by Flower Mound Performing Arts Theatre. The Pulitzer Prize winning play by Paul Zindel is the story of Beatrice and her daughters, Ruth and Matilda. A middle-aged widowed eccentric, Beatrice is looking for her life in the classified ads while all about her is the rubble of an unkempt house. All she needs is the right opportunity, she says puffing on a cigarette. Poorly equipped to survive the vagaries of modern life, she has nonetheless always managed to muddle through. Ruth, epileptic and making her way through the rebellious phase of adolescence, seems doomed to make the same mistakes as her mother. Quiet Matilda, on the other hand, seeks refuge in her animals and her schoolwork. The play’s title is the subject of Matilda's science project at school and serves as a metaphor for life -- how some are able to find opportunity in adversity and thrive and how some succumb when the burden becomes too heavy. Purchase tickets ($15-36) online or by calling 972-724-2147.
• Alicia in Wonder Tierra, presented by Cara Mia Theatre Company. In a loose retelling of Alice in Wonderland, follow the adventures of a bored young girl named Alicia, hopelessly aloof to the Mythology, Legends and Folklore of her own culture, who finds herself in a Mexican Curioso Shop. There she hits her head and is knocked clear into the Otherworld where she is beset by a cast of crazy characters including, but not limited to, A Sugar Skull, A Talking Goat Head, An Armadillo, A Horny Toad, the Severed heads of Pancho Villa, a Mambo King and Charo, not to mention the devilish army of the Cholas of the Dark: The Elviras! No credit cards accepted at the door. Call 214-946-9499 for more info or order tickets ($10-15) online.
• Anatomy of Gray, presented by TCU Department of Theatre. When June's father dies, she prays for a healer to come to the small town of Gray, so that no one will ever suffer again; the next thing she knows, there's a tornado, and a man in a balloon blows into town claiming to be a doctor. At first, the new doctor cures anything and everything, but soon the town's preacher takes ill with a mysterious plague. And then the plague begins to spread. Set in Indiana during the late 1800s, Anatomy Of Gray deals with death, loss, love, and healing in a unique coming of age story. For tickets ($5-10), call 817-257-5770.
• Nunsense A-Men, presented by Richardson Theatre Centre. A parody to the original Nunsense, only with all the characters being portrayed by male musical comedy performers. Think of it as "Mrs. Doubtfire enters the Convent" - Receiving rave reviews and standing ovations, Nunsense A-Men is a whole new layer of comedy surfaces with lines like: "The guys in the old neighborhood still can't believe I became a nun!" To quote the New York Times: "A change of habit, boy oh boy!" Call 972-699-1130 for tickets ($12-15).