University District

TCDP TOP PICK: Out of the Pan Into the Fire, a new fairy tale directed by Dominique Serrand, which opened at the Southern Theater on Friday May 4 and plays until May 26, is a candy shop full of every individual’s favorite treats. The show is born with a bang: a crashing noise like the slamming of a book, followed by the slow lighting of an antiquated filament light bulb, which then rises from a pile of sand like the sun (but it’s actually just on a wire). Steve Epp’s character Angelo is born out of (and occasionally disappears into) his big woolly-looking overcoat. He finds a book and reads to us: “It was in the days when wishing was still of some use… “ Angelo describes his main characters, including himself and his so-called children, Thirteen and Elsie, who both, on different occasions, fell from the sky into the garbage. The rest of the story blends elements, tropes, objects from fairy tales with wishes, fear, a touch of magic (but not too much), and knowledge that follows from experience. - read the complete review by Rene Meyer-Grimberg

TCDP TOP PICK: Should you choose to see Theatre in the Round’s production of Treasure Island, your evening may go something like this: an usher takes you to your seat, walking you across the treasure map painted on the stage, and the first thing you notice is the smell of wood and smoke. When you take your seat, you realize you never left the set at all, because rigging and seagulls and pirate paraphernalia adorn the walls around you. Then the lights come down, the waves roll, and the story begins. You join Billy Bones in singing “Dead Man’s Chest” in spite of yourself. Soon Jim and the pirates are dashing through the aisles beside you and perching in the balconies above you, and you wonder for a split second if you remembered to feed the cat before going in search of buried treasure. - read the complete review by Madeline Salmon

TCDP TOP PICK: Oh, those Irish playwrights! So dreary, so filled with dark humor, so unhopeful about the human spirit. And yet, we Americans just eat them up—from Samuel Beckett to Tom Murphy to Martin McDonagh, there’s just something so delicious about exploring humankind’s depravity gilded with the Irish wit. In this tradition comes Enda Walsh, whose Misterman, a one-man show, is currently being presented by Frank Theatre at the Southern Theater. - read the complete review by Sheila Regan

TCDP TOP PICK: Caitlin Rose is a Nashville artist who harks back to the soft sounds of classic country, with strong original songs providing a backbone. Her April 8 stop at the Triple Rock is a good bet for fans of contemporary Americana. Andrew Combs and Martin Devaney open. - Jay Gabler