Bob Goepfert

There’s an old saying that claims, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” That seems wise, but such a simple statement can be complex. Park Playhouse is the theater company beginning a four week run of “Oklahoma” in Albany’s Washington Park. It’s first performance is Tuesday.

The only problem with the Opera Saratoga season is that it’s too short. In only two weeks the company is offering only our productions of “La Vie Parisienne,” five productions of “She Loves Me,” and two offerings of the experimental work “A Mass For Women’s Bathrooms.”

This is officially the first weekend of summer and the summer theater companies are flourishing.

Though far from a perfect play, “N/A” is an intriguing look at backroom politics. The work offered at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, MA, pits reason versus passion in politics. If you are more WOKE rather than MAGA you should enjoy this production.

If durability defines the worth of a play, “The Elephant Man” by Bernard Pomerance is, at the very least, a good play, and possibly a great one.

For me, today is the start of summer. Forget the calendar. Last weekend we celebrated Memorial Day, usually considered the opening day of summer. But for those of us of a certain age, Memorial Day is still May 30.

Some plays are like novels. They are complex, wide in scope and epic in nature. Others, like “Mary Jane,” playing through Sunday at Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, are more like poems. They are gentle, mood evoking and intensely personal.

“Things I Know to Be True,” playing at Curtain Call Theatre in Latham, which closes Sunday, is one of those plays that has you leaving the theater wanting to contact people you think should see the play.

Capital Region - In email and text conversations with local arts leaders there is confusion and anger about the proposed elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts from the 2026 budget.

In the world of theater those May flowers brought on by April showers are starting to bloom. Locally this month there is available a bouquet made up of comedies, musicals and dramas.