If you hire someone, say a housekeeper, sight unseen, what happens when that person shows up looking like anything but the perfect employee? Well if you’re Manley Carstairs in Plotline Theater Company’s “The Housekeeper,” you invite her in and give her free reign over your house and yourself.
Written by James Prideaux and directed by Randy Anger, this cautionary tale features Eddie Peabody as Carstairs, a middle-aged, rather stuffy bachelor who hires a housekeeper after the death of his domineering mother. He’s in for quite a surprise when Annie (Courtney Shaffer) appears at his door wearing sneakers and carrying her belongings in a shopping cart. The housekeeper from hell proceeds to insult Carstairs, denigrate his writing and, basically, turns his life upside-down.
Full of biting humor and more than a few life lessons, “The Housekeeper” runs July 6-14 at Martinez Campbell Theatre, 636 Ward St. For tickets, call 925-360-6859 or email plotlinetheatreco@yahoo.com. You can also order online via www.brownpapertickets.com.
LIvermore: The Bankhead Theater will transforms into a magical kingdom beneath the sea as Tri-Valley Repertory presents Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” The beloved musical runs July 21 through Aug. 5 at 2400 First St. in Livermore.
Based on one of Hans Christian Andersen’s popular stories and the classic animated film, the musical is a hauntingly beautiful love story appropriate for all ages. There’s the beautiful Ariel, the handsome human prince, an evil sea witch and such colorful characters as Flounder the fish, Scuttle the seagull and Sebastian the crab. For tickets, call 925-373-6800 or go to www.lvpac.org.
Walnut Creek: The very inventive improv troupe Synergy Theater takes on Shakespeare next with “Spontaneous Shakespeare,” a completely improvised two-act play in the style of the Immortal Bard. It runs from July 12-14 at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr.
“We do our best to emulate the style rather than send it up,” explains Synergy Theater’s artistic director, Kenn Adams. “We try to figure out just what makes Shakespeare. As it turns out, his plays are full of outrageous comedy — bawdy humor, double-entendres, wild disguises, mistaken identities, broad physical humor and a lot of very groan-worthy puns and wordplay.”
For an evening of mayhem, mirth and merriment, call 925-943-SHOW or go to www.lesherartscenter.org.
Danville: The Old Barn at the Eugene O’Neill Historic Site in Danville will present Valerie Joyce’s powerful one-woman play, “I will Speak for Myself,” on July 7 at 8 p.m. and July 8 at 2 p.m.
Actress Kimberly S. Fairbanks will give voice to 16 African-American women from the colonial period. The powerful set of monologues imagines key moments in the lives of real African-American women and gives a fascinating insight into their experiences of injustice. For tickets, go to www.eugeneoneill.org.
Berkeley: The wonderful Margaret Belton is back as Patsy Cline. The charismatic singer not only sings Cline’s greatest hits but seems to channel the singer’s personality as well as her unique vocals. “Today, Tomorrow and Forever: a Magical Tribute of Honor, Story and Song to the Legendary Singer Patsy Cline” plays at 7 p.m. July 15 at Freight and Salvage, 2020 Addison St. in Berkeley. For tickets, call 510-644-2020 or go to www.thefreight.org.
San Francisco: Given how Port Chicago has been in the news lately as a possible immigrant detention camp, it seems fortuitous that the play “Port Chicago 50” returns to the Bay Area. The play chronicles the terrible explosion that took place on July 17, 1944 at Port Chicago as primarily African American soldiers loaded munitions onto two large ships. Told through the eyes of one of the survivors, Freddie Meeks, the story of the soldiers before, during and after the tragedy unfolds.
The show will be presented for two performances only, July 14 at 3 and 8 p.m. at the McKenna Theater on the San Francisco State University campus, 1600 Holloway Ave. in San Francisco. For tickets, go to Eventbrite at www.portchicago50.eventbrite.com. At 10 a.m. July 21 at the Military Ocean Terminal Concord, the 74th anniversary of the Port Chicago Blast Commemoration begins. For more information, email friendsofportchicago@gmail.com or go to www.portchicagomemorial.org.
Auditions: Frankenstein aficionados take note! Auditions for “Young Frankenstein, the Musical” by Mel Brooks take place July 14-15 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and July 16-17 from 7 to 9 p.m. at 515 Broadway St. in Vallejo. No appointment needed. Bay Area Stage Theatre is producing. Bring 32 bars of your best song. Performances run Oct. 12-28 with rehearsals beginning July 23. For information, call 707-649-1053.
Sally Hogarty can be reached at sallyhogarty@gmail.com. Search for “Curtain Calls” by Sally Hogarty at eastbaytimes.com to read more of her reviews online.