6/9
Once upon a time, I wrote theater reviews. (Once upon an even more distant time, I acted in plays.) This was a comfortable vocation for me; I could tell if a play was good or bad, and I could articulate why. It made me feel powerful, and smart, and cultured, especially for someone who shops almost exclusively at Target. All that came crashing down, however, when my editor assigned me to review dance. Dance!? But dance is so esoteric, so baffling. What did I know about dance, besides the fact that three Tuaca shots generally ended in a table dance? I shouldn't have been so worried. Dance does not necessarily need to be studied to be appreciated. Dance, after all, is one of the most joyous and pure forms of self-expression known to man. So it is with all that in mind that I point you toward Elledanceworks' Current: An Interplay of Forces, June 9 through June 11 and June 16 and June 17, at the Bath House Cultural Center, 521 E. Lawther Drive. The show's press materials claim Current: An Interplay of Forces is "about the personal, cultural and social currents that we all swim with and against." Whatever. The point is, don't be scared; dance can be beautiful. And this from someone who shops at Target. Tickets are $12 to $15. Call 214-633-0630. --Sarah Hepola
Signs, Signs
6/12
When making Sunday plans, remember these words: Semiotician Umberto Eco. What? Go to Mass? Join the Marine Corps? No, catch semiotician and novelist Umberto Eco, author of The Name of the Rose, at Theatre Three. Ha! It wasn't Latin at all! Granted, many readers saw right through our pathetic ruse: Latin speakers, bibliophiles, Christian Slater fans, perhaps. All but the latter even may have read an Umberto Eco novel in its entirety, and for that we salute you. But even those polymaths might be on shaky ground with semiotics, the study of signs and symbols in language. Eco uses semiotic theory in his novels--heavily. It took a separate 216-page book just to explain TNOTR, a murder mystery set in a 14th-century monastery. As for Eco's work, we'll leave that explanation to the man himself during The Writer's Garret and KERA 90.1's The Writers Studio at 7 p.m. Sunday at Theatre Three, 2800 Routh St. Tickets are $28 to $34 at 214-871-3300. --Rick Kennedy
Back to Normal
6/9
Looking back at a relationship that has ended is like watching an accident in reverse--you can finally spy the moment the wheels go off the track, when the car inevitably makes impact. So it makes sense that Harold Pinter wrote his play Betrayal about a marriage's dissolution in reverse, moving from tragic end to the shockingly blissful introduction. Theatre Britain performs this ultimate actors' play at the Trinity River Arts Center, 2600 Stemmons Freeway, from June 9 through June 25. Call 972-490-4202. --Sarah Hepola
Hedwig's Reunion Tour
6/10
Musicals, we've found, are not only entertaining, but subtly informative. Chicago: With perseverance and a good lawyer, crime can pay. Grease: Not only should you change to get a man, you should change into spandex leggings. Hedwig and the Angry Inch: Communist countries are not your best destination for sex changes. Of course, Hedwig has a lot of other lessons to share, but if you don't go for the educational value, at least go for the songs. And if you can't go for the songs, go for the extreme Farrah Fawcett wig. Robert Rain dons the wig in the Other Half Theatre Experience's Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Ridglea Theatre, 6025 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, from June 10 through June 25. Call 972-337-0944. --Michelle Martinez