THEATER FESTIVAL TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS Title of Show is a hilarious tale of two struggling writers who race to write and submit a show to a theater festival with the deadline just weeks away. It is a completely original backstage glimpse into what it takes to get a new musical from conception to opening night. Mon., Wed., Thurs. and Fri. at 8pm. Also Sat. at 5 & 9pm and Sun. at 3pm. Vineyard Theatre, 108 E. 15th St. Continues thru March 26. 212-353-0303. $55.
ITALIAN DARK COMEDY The Last Night of Salome evokes the mythic fifties, the period of la dolce vita, Fellini and Callas, the star system in Italy and magical nights at the theater before the advent of television. The play is a duet for two women, a famous actress and a middle-aged barkeeper, who meet on a stormy evening in a seedy bar in Rome where they bond over booze and shared secrets. In Italian with English supertitles. March 2 – 19. La Mama E.T.C., First Floor Theater, 74A E. Fourth St. 212-475-7710. $15.
CIVIL WAR SATIRE Shiloh Rules is set on the eve of the reenactment of the Battle of Shiloh, one of the bloodiest encounters in the Civil War. Rival Civil War buffs begin the battle prematurely setting off a firestorm. Six women caught in the drama fight each other, help each other and learn that there is more to remembering the Civil War than costumes and bandages. March 18 – April 9. Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond St., bet Lafayette & Bowery. $18, 212-868-4444. Appropriate for ages 13 and up. FINDING MEANING IN DAILY LIFE Mother Nature clashes with human nature as characters fall in and out of love with each other, with strangers and with their work on a normal day in a small town at the foot of a very pregnant Mt. St. Helens. The work combines interactive video, dance and live music with an art installation-like set. March 3 – 25, Wed. – Sun. at 8:30pm. HERE Arts Center, 145 6th Ave., bet Spring & Broome Sts. $18. 212-645-0202.
CONFRONTING THE KLAN “Conversations with a Kleagle” was inspired by the life of civil rights leader, Walter White. At the height of a lynching epidemic in the late 1920s, a black writer, passing for white, travels to the deep South to interview a kleagle, a recruiter for the Ku Klux Klan. When his true racial identity is discovered by the Klan, he escapes only to find that his rescuer’s family paid a dear price. Thirteenth Street Repertory Company, 50 W. 13th St. Feb. 16 – April 7, Wed. at 8:30pm, Thurs. & Fri. at 7pm. 212-352-3101. $15 adults; $12 students and seniors.
HIP HOP ADAPTATION OF A CLASSIC Aeschylus’s story “Seven Against Thebes” follows the struggles of the two sons of King Oedipus as they fight for the throne of Thebes. Writer and composer Will Power has taken this classical story of pre-destination versus choice and updated it with an urban idiom to explore modern themes including poverty, race and the abuse of power in “The Seven.” New York Theater Workshop, 79 E. 4th St. Tues. at 7pm, Wed.-Fri. at 8pm, Sat. at 3pm & 8pm and Sunday at 2pm & 7pm. 212-239-6200. $15-$60. Photo by Sean Keepers.
AN INSPIRING TRUE STORY Steven Fales could have been the poster child for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, except for one thing. In Confessions of a Mormon Boy, an autobiographical one-man play, he tells the story of his failed attempt to overcome his “same-sex attraction” through “reparative therapy.” Jan. 27 – March 31, Mon. at 7pm, Wed. – Fri. at 8pm, Sat. at 2 & 8pm, Sun. at 3 & 7pm. Soho Playhouse, 15 Vandam St. 212-691-1555. $50 – $55.
Low-Rise Jeans with High-Class Issues, Based on a series of character studies, the play explores what makes foxy women tick. Jan. 19 – Feb. 12, Thurs. at 7pm; Fri. & Sat. at 7 & 9:30pm and Sun at 3pm. The Duo Theatre, 62 E. 4th St, bet Bowery & 2nd Ave. 212-868-4444.
Anton, A new play that uses actual events and scientific research in child development to tell the story of Anton Chekhov and the family tensions that inspired his work. Covering the last four years of Chekhov’s life as he moves from ecstatic lover to frustrated husband to disappointed
