Theater starts with the written word, comes to life in the voices of actors and endures in the memory of its audiences. Sometimes, as with Carl Sternheim’s The Underpants, written in 1910, it gets forgotten until someone rediscovers it, reimagines it and breathes life into it — as comedian Steve Martin did for The Underpants in 2002.     A German farce, The Underpants seems a comedic take on Ibsen’s The Doll House, which debuted 31 years earlier. The themes of...

Can an estranged grandmother, mother and daughter find grace in time to rebuild their family? This is the question Compass Rose Theater poses in their promotion for Lee Blessing’s Eleemosynary, an award-winning play that takes its name from an obscure word in a spelling bee dictionary. Appearing now through Mother’s Day, this study in maternal dysfunction should be required viewing for everyone but childless orphans. For if nurture trumps nature and we are what our parents made us,...

Four affluent couples gathered in a posh suburban residence for a dinner party to honor friends’ 10th anniversary celebration find mischief surrounding the event.     There are no servants: How can the party continue? The hostess is missing. So is the host — the deputy mayor of New York City — who has reportedly shot himself through the earlobe.     Couples arrive in succession. The first to arrive discover Charlie Brock’s injury and put...

“Matt said the F-word!” tattled five-year old Maya as my sweet little kindergartners did their morning color, cut and paste. I was shocked, but not so much when I learned that the F-word in question ended in -art. Children are intrigued by smells, noises and products of the bathroom.     This month the Key School welcomes a writer who turns references to bodily functions into kid-friendly and kid-appropriate art.     Take the little ones to the school...