Three new plays make their entrances this week

Has theater in Tampa Bay ever been more fertile? Three new productions, all dramas, debut this week, at the same time a musical (American Stage’s Into the Woods), an historical drama (And Then They Came For Me at freeFall) and a dark comedy (the Off-Central’s Ripcord) are continuing.

Here’s a quick rundown of the new professional theater company shows making their first entrance:

In “A Streetcar Named Desire” at The Studio@620: Stella (Marjorie Joseph) and Stanley (Max Carley). Photo provided.

A Streetcar Named Desire runs April 16-26 at TheStudio@620 in St. Petersburg. Director Erica Sutherlin’s re-imagining of Tennessee Williams’ domestic tragedy sets the events in the New Orleans of 1965. With Debbie Yones as faded Southern belle Blanche DuBois, and Marjorie Joseph and Max Carley as Stella and Stanley, the battling Kowalskis. In this version, theirs is an interracial marriage. Showtimes, tickets and other info can be found at this link.

The Meeting is at Stageworks Theatre (Tampa) April 17-May 3. Jeff Stetson’s drama, also set in 1965, imagines a fictitious encounter between two pivotal figures in the American Civil Rights Movement: Malcom X (Lance Markeith Felton) and Dr. Martin Luther King (Marc Coleman). It’s directed by Rory Lawrence, co-founder of the Tampa Bay Theatre Festival. Showtimes, tickets and other info can be found at this link.

X ≠ X (X Does Not Equal X) by playwright Steven Patrick runs April 16-May 4 at Ybor City’s LAB Theatre Project. As with all LAB shows, this play is a world premiere. Anne Tully Griswold directs the story of an eccentric history professor who presents his theory to students, and the world, with unexpected results. “Compassion, logic, and grief may seem simple on paper,” Griswold says, “but life is not linear, and neither is this story.” Showtimes, tickets and other info can be found at this link.

LAB Theater Project’s “X ≠ X (X Does Not Equal X): Cast portrait. Photo provided.