10 theater productions to see this summer

An old adage claims that art imitates life. If that’s true, it makes perfect sense that several theatrical productions coming to local stages this summer contend with battles — both internal and external — as wars continue to rage around the world, from Iran to Ukraine and Sudan. Many of the productions deal with disagreements, great and small. In “Eureka Day,” a private school navigates a polarizing fight centered on a vaccine policy; Black women fight for freedom in “A New Era”; and a couple, whose marriage is dying, fight like crazy as the effects of a war outside their door close in on them in “Delirium.”  But fear not, there’s much more to the season than doom and gloom.  There’s the staging of a classic Shakespearean tale, a comedy where three teenagers look for a missing friend, and in another comedy, a tomboy has to choose between her own desires or getting married to help her family. Here are 10 shows to consider this summer.

A mumps outbreak among the population attending the Eureka Day School sends the institution’s policymakers into chaos. The leadership team must determine how to update its vaccine guidelines. This polarizing decision lies at the center of the satirical narrative, where the private school seeks harmony and inclusivity as it forges ahead. But what starts off as a community conversation turns into a big battle. The play, by Jonathan Spector, debuted on Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 2024 and was also performed in London at the Old Vic Theatre in 2022.  The Huntington production is directed by Margot Bordelon, who helmed  2024’s excellent “John Proctor is the Villain,” also at the Huntington.

When the wealthy Rosenberg family gathers for a Caribbean vacation in the aftermath of the Hamas-led attacks in Israel on October 7, the hoped-for reunion is anything but smooth. As a hurricane batters the island, the family fights fiercely over their respective positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which threatens to rip them apart. Amid the turmoil, family secrets, opposing values and past hurts bubble to the surface as the family struggles to find common ground in this world premiere production, written by S. Asher Gelman and directed by Chloe Treat.

Sometimes a petty argument can turn into a rage-filled war if left unchecked. That’s true in one of Eugène Ionesco’s plays, “Frenzy for Two (Délire à deux),” where a couple’s disagreement about the difference between a snail and a tortoise ignites deep anger and resentment. In “Delirium,” Arlekin artistic director and founder Igor Golyak’s adaptation, an argument still anchors the narrative. However, the disagreement explores themes of alienation, displacement and survival through the couple’s heated discussion about animals that carry homes on their backs. While they are stuck in this endless argument, the world around them suffers from political upheaval. The show stars Andrey Burkovskiy and Chulpan Khamatova, with direction by Golyak.

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The examination of a seven-year deception is told in reverse chronology in Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal.” In the story, Emma betrays her husband Robert by having a passionate affair with Jerry, her husband’s best friend. Over time, audiences learn how their romantic entanglement came to be and what it costs. The Nobel Prize-winning Pinter wrote the play in 1977, and it was first produced in 1978. The story is semi-autobiographical and was reportedly inspired by Pinter’s own seven-year affair with Joan Bakewell, the wife of Pinter’s best friend Michael Bakewell. At the time, Pinter was also married. Shana Gozansky directs.

The Black feminist movement in Boston is at the heart of Miranda Austen ADEkoje’s play “A New Era.”  In the narrative, seven women come to Boston for a conference to fight for the liberation of Black people in 1895. This true story — inspired by the activists in the Boston-based Woman’s Era Club of the 1890s — centers Black women, often marginalized in feminist and civil rights movements, who played pivotal roles in creating change while fighting for desegregation, equal rights and freedom. The new play was commissioned and developed for the National Park Service by Plays in Place, as part of the Suffrage in Black & White series where three plays anchored in historic spaces dig into the city’s abolition and suffrage movements. Summer L. Williams will direct.

Four lovers run away to an enchanted forest in William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” where magical creatures and others meddle in their affairs. In Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s version, the action takes place in a neon-lit festival instead of the woods, but the drama of being ripped apart by others remains. Desire, music, magic, love and community combine in this classic, enduring tale commemorating Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s 30th year of staging free theater on Boston Common. The show, presented in partnership with the City of Boston, Boston Parks and Recreation and the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, will be directed by CSC founding artistic director Steven Maler.

When Maria goes missing at her quinceañera, three of her friends decide to take matters into their own hands. Armed with all the confidence of youth, they come up with their own ideas of what might have happened, launch an investigation and interview suspects to determine a motive. In this dark comedy, the girls must race against time to figure out what happened to Maria before it’s too late in the rolling world premiere of Phanésia Pharel’s “Dead Girl’s Quinceañera.” Melia Bensussen directs this co-production with Goodman Theatre and Hartford Stage.

Another Eugène Ionesco play, “Rhinoceros,” comes to Greater Boston at the American Repertory Theatre in August. Ionesco, one of the foundational playwrights for the Theatre of the Absurd movement, was famed for his anti-plays, including “Rhinoceros,” first performed around World War II. The characters in the show, who will be portrayed by Emmy Award-winners Paul Giamatti, Tatiana Maslany, and John Turturro, start turning into rhinoceroses one by one. Soon, the lead character Bérenger must figure out if he will follow suit. Dealing with themes of conformity and the tension around it, the play is considered an anti-fascist allegory that shows how totalitarian governments shape the thinking of those subjected to them. The show “reminds us of the importance of holding on to our humanity amidst mounting pressures to conform,” according to the show’s description. The new adaptation of the play, which will be directed by A.R.T. artistic director Diane Paulus, is based on Derek Prouse’s seminal translation.

Playwright Lindsay Joelle, who wrote the wonderful buddy-comedy “The Garbologists” (produced by Gloucester Stage Company last year), has written “Dalloway: First Love,” a prequel to Virginia Woolf’s famous “Mrs. Dalloway.” In this world premiere, a tomboyish Clarissa Perry is getting pressured to marry to save her family from money woes. But she isn’t interested. Will she succumb to her family’s wishes, or will she create her own destiny with the help of a new arrival in town: a freedom-loving suffragette? Audiences will find out. Rebecca Bradshaw will direct.

Two couples with the same last name find that they have more in common than they initially suspected. The neighbors in suburbia are both dealing with the challenges of marriage and growing older. The comedy, written by Will Eno, premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 2012 and made its way to Broadway in 2014. Its tough subject matter, however, is made more palatable by the bond the couples create and the laughter they share.  The show features actors Jonathan Fielding, Molly Kimmerling, Robert Kropf and Brenda Wither, and will be directed by Alison Greene.