World Premieres at Next Act and First Stage

First Stage presents the world premiere of Luchadora! as part of its Wisconsin Cycle series, which develops and produces six new plays each year that celebrate the stories and various heritages of the people that comprise Milwaukee. Playwright Alvaro Saar Rios has worked together with First Stage Artistic Director Jeff Frank for nearly two-and-a-half years to bring to stage his story about a young girl’s exploration of her Mexican American heritage and lucha libre wrestling.

The story revolves around Vanessa finding her grandmother’s wrestling mask and her journey of discovering the history behind it. Saar Rios says, “I would sometimes watch wrestling when I was a kid with my grandmother. Since I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized all the questions that I should have asked my grandmother, like ‘Why did you love wrestling?’ and ‘Why did you like watching it with me?’

“So when I was bouncing around play ideas in my head, I asked myself, ‘What if she was a masked wrestler and what if she never told that secret?’ That, combined with my interest in the Mulan Chinese folk tale, led to me creating a piece set in the world of lucha libre. I really want to give you a peek inside this world that you might not know about, this world of Mexican wrestling that continues today and is still very successful. Mexican wrestling is really ingrained in family and culture. For some people, that’s their way of life.”

Frank adds, “There’s a lot of humor in the script, but there’s a lot of raw emotion when you talk about this girl and her love for her father and her fighting to understand what had happened to her mother and her journeys and why dad has kept secrets. It’s powerful.”

More than 500 original pieces of Mexican paper art, papel picado, created by students from Bruce-Guadalupe Community School, will be used in the lobby, throughout the set and in the theater space. And there will be wrestling scenes and even a wrestling ring. The show runs April 10-26 at the Todd Wehr Theater, 929 N. Water St. For tickets, call 414-267-2961 or visit firststage.org.

 Next Act Theatre closes its 2014-15 season with the world premiere of Ten Questions to Ask your Biology Teacher about Evolution by award-winning Canadian playwright Stephen Massicotte. Science teacher Ms. Kelly (Deborah Staples) is challenged by one of her students, Raymond (Kyle Curry), to answer 10 questions about evolution and creation. While attempting to lay the groundwork for dialogue and understanding, the student’s mom (Mary MacDonald Kerr) intervenes and questions whether these supposed scientific questions (rooted in religious belief) have a place in a science-based curriculum.

“What is interesting to me is the journey that the teacher and student go on together over the course of the play,” Guest Director Shawn Douglass says. “Eventually they come to a place of mutual respect and both of them become more open people. They care about one another and this leads them to conversations about the issues and about themselves that make real dialogue possible.” Douglass adds, “I so admire David Cecsarini’s commitment to doing contemporary work, often including new plays, as well as his real desire to provoke a dialogue between the ideas of the plays he chooses and the audience that sees them. He is unafraid to push some buttons to get people thinking!” The show runs April 9-May 3 at 255 S. Water St. For tickets, call 414-278-0765 or visit nextact.org.

Theatre Happenings

â–  Renaissance Theaterworks presents Peter Shaffer’s Lettice and Lovage, a British comedy about Lettice Douffet, an expert on all things Elizabethan who’s a guide at one of England’s dullest 16th-century homes, and her interactions with Lotte Schoen, an official with the Preservation Trust. The two women engage in a duel of sorts that takes them on a very surprising journey. Milwaukee actors Laura Gordon and Carrie Hitchcock are featured. Show runs April 10-May 3 at 158 N. Broadway. For tickets, call 414-291-7800 or visit r-t-w.com.

â–  Bachelor Bobby reflects on his lack of true companionship and, with the help of his married friends and three girlfriends, weighs the pros and cons of married life in Stephen Sondheim’s Company, coming to Marquette Theatre’s Helfaer Theatre (525 N. 13th St.) April 9-19. For tickets, call 414-288-7504 or visit showclix.com/events/marquettetheatre.

â–  Carthage College’s Theatre Department presents Steven Adly Guirgis’s poetically profane The Motherf****r With the Hat, running April 9-11 at the Studio Theatre in the David A. Straz Center for the Natural and Social Sciences. For tickets, call 262-551-6661 or visit carthage.edu/theatre/box-office.

â–  Bay Players presents Baby, a comedic musical about three different couples on a university campus and each of their reactions to expecting a child. Show runs April 10, 11, 17 and 18 at Whitefish Bay High School, 1200 E. Fairmont Ave. For tickets, call 414-299-9040 or visit

thebayplayers.com.

â–  Cooperative Performance Milwaukee and Pink Banana Theatre Co. present Nightmares & Lullabies: The Darker Side of Peter Pan, a one act devised by Kelly Coffey that explores themes of rejection, isolation and immortality. Performances run April 10-25 at Gigante Studio, 706 S. Fifth St. For tickets, call 414-324-0037 or visit cooperformke.com.

â–  Boozy Bard Productions presents Antony & Cleopatra, a “swordier squeal” of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, for its upcoming Shakespeare Raw performance at the Historic Pabst Brewery’s Best Place (901 W. Juneau Ave.), April 6-8. Cost is $10 at the door or $5 if you’re in a toga. For more information, visit facebook.com/boozybard.