By Staff

Previews/Openings

The American Dream / The Sandbox
Edward Albee directs his two early one-acts, the first about a dysfunctional family, the second continues the story of the perverse Mommy and Daddy. Starts March 11 (opens March 25), runs through April 19,Cherry Lane Theatre 38 Commerce St. (betw. Barrow & Bedford Sts.), 212-239-6200; $10-$60.

Medea
Theodora Skipitares returns to the experimental theater with her latest puppet adaptation of a Greek classic, featuring 5-foot Bunraku-style puppets, masks, live music and video projections.
La MaMa, 74A E. 4th St. (betw. Bowery & 2nd Ave.) March 13-30 212-475-7710; $25.

Ongoing

3800 Elizabeth
A staged sitcom about a trio of thirtysomethings—a hypochondriac named Sonja, her Germanophile bartender roommate, AJ and AJ’s childhood friend Mike—living in Brooklyn. Like a typical sitcom, it opens in medias res before cutting to a theme song and opening credits, which are projected onto a white wall as the title sequence is acted out.
Through March 16. The Battle Ranch, 111 Conselyea St. (betw. Skillman & Metropolitan Aves.), B’klyn; 8, free.

Betrayed: The Iraqis Who Loved America Too Much
Pippin Parker stages George Packer’s play like a chess game in which any pawn may be beheaded at any moment—this approach delivering an astonishing emotional intensity. Betrayed is more than a morality play about well-educated, democracy-enamored Iraqis and the politicians and diplomats living bubble-like existences in the Green Zone: It’s also about our government’s betrayal of sense. (Leonard Jacobs)
Through April 13. Culture Project, 55 Mercer St. (betw. Broome & Grand Sts.), 212-352-3101; $25-$60.

Come Back, Little Sheba
Director Michael Pressman’s production, the first on Broadway since the 1950 original, doesn’t liberate William Inge’s play from the ranks of period pieces. But its heart-stirring images deliver a suffocating intensity, and actress S. Epatha Merkerson’s performance as Lola is a beautifully textured creation. (LJ)
Open run. Biltmore Theatre, 247 W. 47th St. (betw. Broadway & 8th Ave.), 212-239-6200; $46.50-91.50.

Hello Failure
In the disorienting but affecting world created by playwright Kristen Kosmas, seven submariner’s wives, a hairdresser, a ghost, and a potted plant attempt to make it through the day. When the wives meet in a support group, one locks herself in the bathroom and conjures up the ghost of Horace Hunley, an infamous submarine maker whose creations always sank.
Through March 22. P.S. 122, 150 1st Ave. (at E. 9th St.), 212-477-5288; $10-$18.

In the Heights
This musical was born during Lin-Manuel Miranda’s sophomore year at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, when he broke box-office records at the university’s theater with this musical inspired by the people and music of his childhood in northern Manhattan. Nine years later, hip-hop freestyling, salsa and merengue meet Broadway. Open run. Richard Rodgers Theatre (betw. 8th & Broadway), 212-307-4100; $20-$110.

Liberty City
Playwright (along with Jessica Blank) and sole cast member April Yvette Thompson drew from her imagination and from the history of this neighborhood in Miami where she grew up as the daughter of a Cuban and Bahamian father and African-American mother. The 1960s optimism and radicalism of her parents conflicted with grim realities when riots broke out in 1980 after five white police officers were acquitted in the trial of a black motorist who was beaten to death.
Through March 16. New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E. 4th St. (betw. Bowery & 2nd Ave.), 212-239-6200; $20, $45.

Lower Ninth
Beau Willimon’s play never mentions Hurricane Katrina, but it leaves two men stranded on the roof of a flooded house—with a dead body. The all-star TV actor cast do an excellent job, but Willimon doesn’t challenge himself to get at meaty social issues, he’s too busy skimming the surface. (JP)
Through April 5. The Flea Theater, 41 White St. (betw. Church St. & Broadway), 212-352-3101; $40-$45.

Macbeth
Director Rupert Goold sets the play in a totalitarian Stalinist state at the height of the Cold War, mostly in and around an industrial kitchen. From the mimed ladling out of soup to the pouring of wine, from the emergence of an oversized chocolate cake to Patrick Stewart meticulously preparing and wolfing down a sandwich as the grim Thane of Cawdor, this is the most indulgently epicurean Scottish play we’re likely to see. (LJ)
Through March 22. BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St., B’klyn, (betw. Rockland Pl. & Ashland Pl.), 718-636-4182; $30-$90 [SOLD OUT].

Open House
Brooklyn playwright Aaron Landsman’s fourth site-specific production is staged in 24 different people’s couches. The play interweaves the story of a real estate agent and his sales pitch with the story of a young couple trying to start a family and sustain a relationship in a city where everything is in flux. It’s an interesting conceit, but the play doesn’t really go anywhere; it relies too much on real estate envy and apartment- swapping angst. (Jerry Portwood)
Through March 16. Various locations, 866-811-4111; $15.

Passing Strange
A rock ’n’ roll/cabaret/theater hybrid, this play is one of the most experimental pieces to come to Broadway in some time. Stew narrates a story of a black teenager who leaves his family in L.A. to travel to Amsterdam and Berlin for sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll. The sort of music you’d expect in a bar, not on the stage, drives the narrative until the ultimate, poignant conclusion. (JP)
Open run. Belasco Theatre, 111 44th St. (betw. 6th & 7th Aves.), 212-239-6200; $26.50-$111.50.

Sunday in the Park w/ George
The current production of Sondheim’s play about George Seurat is just as rousing as the original; the music, lyrics and book are still impressive. The most obvious difference is director Sam Buntrock’s imaginative use of animation. Instead of cutouts and fly-ins, as in the original production, the stage is now a blank, white canvas on which digital projections of drawings and the famous A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte appear. It transforms a second act that I never much cared for into something relevant and real—at last. (JP) Through June 15. Studio 54, 254 W 54th St, (betw. 7th and 8th Aves.), 212-719-1300; $36.25-$121.25.

The 39 Steps
A send-up of Alfred Hitchcock’s oeuvre as seen through the lens of one of his great early films from 1935, all in the name of turning Hitch’s horror-loving sensibility on its head. The hoary plot is tailor-made for a lot of goofy spoofing, especially with two actors playing dozens of subsidiary roles. But no matter how much laughter one derives from The 39 Steps, there’s no denying it overflows with comic shtick we’ve seen countless times before. (LJ)
Through Mar. 23. American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St. (betw. 7th & 8th Aves.), 212-719-1300; $51.25-$96.25.