16 theater productions to see in Greater Boston this spring

Family secrets, divides over gender, and immigration stories. Local theaters dive into heavy topics this spring. It’s an impressive offering of diverse stories, some with the opportunity to join in, that, overall, aspire to make audiences consider other points of view and cherish our lives and loved ones. There’s a lot of new, original work and a smattering of classics to balance it out. Here are 16 productions to consider this spring.

As a hurricane approaches in Puerto Rico, three sisters confront abuse and other difficulties in “Don’t Eat the Mangos” by Ricardo Pérez González. The family tries to keep it together, but the taut spool of secrets begins to unfurl, and family dynamics are tested amid the powerful patriarch’s declining health. “Don’t Eat the Mangos” was developed, in part, at the 2019 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab and was first produced as a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere by the Magic Theatre in California. David Mendizábal, co-founder of The Movement Theatre Company which focuses on developing and producing work by artists of color, will direct.

So far, playwright Mfoniso Udofia has woven a rich family drama in her nine-play Ufot Family Cycle being produced across Greater Boston over two years. Under the direction of Tasia A. Jones, the fourth narrative, “Her Portmanteau” — which first premiered at New York Theatre Workshop in 2017 — finds Abasiama Ufot (Patrice-Jean Baptiste, “The Grove”) caught in the middle of her two daughters Adiaha Ufot (Lorraine Victoria Kanyike) and Iniabasi Ekpeyong (Jade A. Guerra), one who grew up in her native Nigeria, the other in the U.S. This reunion is a chance to cultivate a strong connection, confront the past and move forward together. But the betrayal and clashes in culture make reconciliation uncertain.

Caretaking for the terminally ill is a tough job. In this short musical, brothers Daniel and Patrick Lazour (“We Live in Cairo,” “Flap My Wings”) blend storytelling and music to immerse audiences into the lives of the sick and suffering and aspires to shine a light on what’s important about living. Initially supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, the Lazours developed “the original iteration of ‘Night Side Songs’ through conversations with cancer survivors and oncologists, gene therapists, palliative care doctors, and others from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.” In Philadelphia, additional interviews were conducted to inform the musical. The show, produced in association with the Philadelphia Theatre Company, is performed with and for an intimate crowd at the Cambridge Masonic Temple and Hibernian Hall and will be directed by Taibi Magar.

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If you missed The Huntington’s production of James Ijames’ “Fat Ham” in 2023, in partnership with Alliance Theatre and Front Porch Arts Collective, now’s your chance to see it. In this show, queer college student Juicy encounters his father’s ghost, who begs him to avenge his murder. This narrative — which IJames came up with during a writer’s group in his hometown of Philadelphia — takes place at a Southern backyard barbeque and centers on themes of identity, family, love and joy. “Fat Ham” won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Don Mays, writer of the multi-season radio play “God Talks to An Agnostic,” directs.

FlawBored, a disability-led theatre company from the U.K., presents a show that might make you squirm, but it might also make you laugh with its self-described dark irreverence that seeks to shed light on complex issues around identity and ableism. “It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure” is a play about “the monetization of identity politics which spares no one,” according to the description, and asks, what would happen if the tables were turned?” Audiences will soon find out.

Emotions collide at a backyard party where Lexi and her husband Christopher plan to reveal the gender of their soon-to-come baby in local playwright David Valdes’ dramedy “The Great Reveal.” While Lexi loses herself in the shindig’s details, Christopher frets about fatherhood and could do without the party. But it’s Linus, Lexi’s brother who is trans, and his partner Dosia, tasked with making the cake for the big day, who are struggling the most. Discord over the party and what it means to each of them threatens to ruin the day and, if not dealt with, could change their relationships forever. Bridget Kathleen O’Leary and Charlotte Snow direct the show. A queer joy celebration will be held at the matinee performance on April 13.

When the corn crops begin to die in Cob County, Maizy is desperate to find help but her boyfriend Beau is against it. In this Tony Award-winning original musical comedy, if the crops aren’t saved, Cob County residents might lose their way of life. This corny, feel-good show full of dad jokes features a book by Robert Horn (“Tootsie”), a score by Grammy-winning country music team Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, with direction by Jack O’Brien (“Hairspray”).

When an older relative of mine passed away, I carefully set aside a couple of her hats to hold onto. There were wool berets adorned with feathers, small basket-like caps, and bold purple, black and white fascinators with lace. I wondered about all the places she traveled in those hats and how she might have felt wearing them. In the gospel musical “Crowns,” actress and playwright Regina Taylor uses hats as a lens through which to delve into Black history, meaning and identity. In the narrative, a woman named Yolanda visits her family in the South after the murder of her sibling back in Brooklyn. Through the characters she meets, the significance of hats is traced from African rituals and deities to churchgoing, family celebrations and fashion. And through this journey, Yolanda, who believes her identity differs so significantly from her Southern loved ones, learns that she might not be so different after all.

Classic canon lovers can see the reimagined Shakespearean tale of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Actors’ Shakespeare Project this April. This comedy, one of Shakespeare’s most widely performed, is set in Athens and contains a couple of plots. There’s the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, and a group of performers is hard at work rehearsing the play they want to perform at the nuptials. All of them are in a fairy-filled forest where the fairies have their own agenda. Under the direction of Elliot Norton Award-winner Maurice Emmanuel Parent (also directing Lyric Stage Company's “Hello Dolly!” in May), this new approach to an old tale will still focus on the loving couple, but also aims to dig into the show’s darker leanings.

No matter how hard she tries, Brooke can’t keep her head above water in playwright Tara Moses’ “Sugar.” She has three jobs and works more than 90 hours a week, but still can’t make ends meet with rent, student loan payments, groceries and other bills piling up. Without family and friends to help her through this tough time, Brooke is offered a chance to turn things around with the Sugar Bowl. But is it worth it? The world premiere (for which there was a reading in November) will be directed by Audrey Seraphin.

If you could imagine a better world, what would it look like? And if you could leave a message behind for generations to come about this reimagined future, what might you say? In 1977, during the NASA Voyager mission, a record with sounds and images was placed aboard Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. The records were sent as a kind of time capsule that could be left for extraterrestrials to discover. In that vein, Theater Mitu developed an experimental experience that uses vinyl and voicemails from a public hotline in a collaborative performance to cultivate community. Partners for this project include the SETI Institute, Arizona State University’s Interplanetary Initiative, and Brooklyn Independent Middle School. The show is presented in association with Octopus Theatricals.

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History buffs might enjoy this exploration of the American Revolution — which happened 250 years ago this year — by playwright and Vermont legislator Conor Casey. The new play is based on excerpts from Ethan Allen’s journal. When writing, Casey shared in an interview that he was “ intentionally leaning into the silliness of the entries, which made writing the play fun as he separated the man from the myth.” Casey’s narrative examines confrontations between Allen and Benedict Arnold as they stumble through the war in the show, which is part comedy and part history. Weylin Symes will direct this world premiere.

Hair salons are vibrant, colorful places where clients can dish about their lives, get the support they need from the built-in community and emerge even more beautiful. The salon in “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” staffed by West African stylists, is no different. The play by Jocelyn Bioh (“School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play”) shares with audiences all of the action happening on one sweltering summer day in Harlem, the same day the shop’s owner, Jaja, is set to be married. While Jaja readies for her wedding, her daughter Marie — eager to go to college and become a writer — is in charge. But Marie’s dreams and the future her mom wants for her are at odds. In the meantime, some startling news shakes up these workers. Summer L. Williams, associate artistic director and co-founder of Company One Theatre, will direct the play, which premiered on Broadway in the fall of 2023.

Teenager Kimberly Levaco looks old, but she actually isn’t. She has a condition that makes her age faster than others in this 2023 Tony Award-winning musical, based on David Lindsay-Abaire’s play of the same name. Her story makes audiences consider how important the time we have on earth is. The musical features a score by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire with direction from Jessica Stone.

In “Learning How to Read by Moonlight,” a Filipino family faces anti-immigrant sentiment and economic struggles in New York City. In the play, 6-year-old Eddie relies on his make-believe friend for English lessons while his mom works, and his dad, who was left behind in Manila, waits to hear from them each day. Carving out a life in the city is difficult, and Eddie and his mom wonder if they can make their dreams come true.

For each performance, a Boston community member — activists, artists, elected officials, among others — will join the production as a narrator in Gaven D. Trinidad’s new work. The show, directed by Natsu Onoda Power, will be performed in English with Tagalog subtitles.

In 1893, George Bernard Shaw penned a play about a woman, Mrs. Warren, a purveyor of sex work who became rich at a time when women were denied legal rights. Her daughter Vivie is given the best education at boarding schools and spends much of her life away from her mother. Upon reuniting, she’s shocked to learn of her mother’s pursuits and struggles with figuring out how to move forward. When the controversial show premiered in New York in 1905, it resulted in the arrests of its stars. And, though the discussion of sex work has often been fraught with shame in the past, sentiment is changing, as evidenced by Amnesty International’s published policy on the protection of this vulnerable group’s rights in 2015. Still, the risqué subject matter won’t keep Bedlam Artistic Director Eric Tucker away from directing this production. The New York theater company is acclaimed for its stripped-down approach to classics.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the production Maurice Parent is directing. We regret the error.