14 theater productions to see this winter

This winter, local theater companies are offering productions on timely topics such as technology, transformation and history-making moments. There’s a play centering on artificial intelligence and healthcare, a narrative detailing one person’s transition from a woman to a man, and another about Israel’s fourth prime minister, the late Golda Meir. There’s also a musical, a puppet-centered re-make of a classic tale, a mystery and a play within a play where the protagonist pushes back against racism. But at the core of many of the season’s soon-to-be-staged shows is how creating connections, even unlikely ones, can change one’s life for the better. Here are 14 diverse productions from the season.

In “Lunch Bunch,” U.S. public defenders — whose too-heavy caseloads were examined to create new workload standards in a recent study published by the RAND Corporation — find respite and community in their highly curated group of colleagues who break bread together and obsess over what’s on the menu. Sarah Einspanier’s comedy features seven such lawyers at the mercy of the courts and their caseloads. They try to find meaning and exercise some semblance of control through their veggie-centered meals. Danielle Fauteux Jacques directs.

Enduring frightening experiences, from car accidents to significant falls, can help put one’s life into perspective. In "Northside Hollow," Harbor Stage Company co-founders Jonathan Fielding and Brenda Withers stage a dark tale of a miner who gets trapped underground after a major collapse. (Withers’ interestingly unsettling "The Ding Dongs" was mounted at Gloucester Stage last year.) Soon, a first responder arrives, signaling hope and salvation. Robert Kropf, the theater’s artistic director and co-founder, and Alex Pollock star in the production at the Boston Center for the Arts, which Harbor Stage premiered in 2015.

In Lyric Stage Company’s “Trouble in Mind,” sage Black actress Wiletta Mayer is eager to star in a new anti-lynching play premiering on Broadway in 1955 called “Chaos in Belleville.” Wiletta, portrayed by Patrice Jean-Baptiste, has high hopes for the show, written by a white playwright. But this grand opportunity is rife with challenges and racism that Wiletta rails back against at significant cost. The show within a show is penned by Alice Childress — known for writing the 1977 film “A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Sandwich” starring Cicely Tyson and the late Paul Winfield — and explores identity and the difficulties that come along with navigating American theater. The show was destined for a Broadway debut in 1957 contingent upon Childress softening the content, but she refused. The play finally made it to Broadway in 2021. The production will be directed by Front Porch Arts Collective’s Dawn M. Simmons, who helmed the stellar “K-I-S-S-I-N-G” last year, a collaboration between Front Porch and The Huntington.

An angry ship captain seeks revenge on a whale for biting off his leg in Herman Melville’s 1851 novel “Moby Dick.” But revenge never goes as planned. This tale, which found popularity in the 1900s, comes to the ArtsEmerson stage in the production of the same name with a life-sized whale, video projections, an orchestra and 50 puppets. Directed by Yngvild Aspeli, this adaptation is produced by the innovative Norwegian theater company Plexus Polaire. The show premiered in October 2020 and was created and written with Plexus Polaire actors and puppeteers.

The existential search for connection — the cure (one hopes) for loneliness — anchors John Kolvenbach’s “Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight.” The one-person play centers on Man, portrayed by celebrated Broadway actor Jim Ortlieb, who tries everything to escape isolation. But what, or who can help? And if Man succeeds, how long before loneliness rears its head again? Kolvenbach directs this probing show — timely in a COVID-affected world — that reportedly seeks audience participation. According to a statement on the production website, Kolvenbach hopes “to blur the line between the play and the people who are there” each night.

Company One kicks off the 2024 theater season with M Sloth Levine’s “The Interrobangers,” a tale in which four teens and a dog are sleuths aiming to solve a mystery. But digging around is bound to uncover secrets that the townspeople of Foggy Bluffs would rather keep hidden. Levine’s work, which they describe on their website as “sharp and sticky sweet,” has been presented at multiple local theaters. “The Interrobangers,” directed by Josh Glenn-Kayden, is produced in partnership with the Boston Public Library and The Theater Offensive and will premiere at the BPL main branch in Copley Square. This is Company One’s 25th year and all of the plays are free.

A moment of crisis brings two fathers — Keith (De’Lon Grant), a Black mortgage broker who is gay, and Ryan (Jesse Hinson), a white divorcee — together in friendship in the New England premiere of “A Case for the Existence of God.” In the play, helmed by Melinda Lopez (writer of “Black Beans Project” and director of “Mr. Parent”), Ryan aims to provide a good life for his daughter by buying some land, and Keith wants to help him. However, Keith’s managing his own problems as he tries to adopt his foster child. The idea for the tale stems from becoming a father, shares playwright Samuel D. Hunter in an interview with Signature Theatre. Through that process, Hunter concluded that cynicism is easy and comforting, a luxury he could no longer afford after becoming a parent. The play examines how to press on with hope in an increasingly complicated world. Hunter’s work does not shy away from complex emotions or themes. His play “The Whale” about a severely obese man trying to connect with his estranged daughter was adapted for film in 2022 starring Brendan Fraser. The movie garnered two Academy Awards.

How much power should technology have over one’s life? As major discussions around ChatGPT, and the ever-listening Alexa in homes and smartphones in hand, it seems that tech is trumping the man vs. technology conflict. In the world premiere of Francisco Mendoza’s “Machine Learning,” the play explores one of the ways that AI can help. In Mendoza’s narrative, Jorge’s father, Gabriel, has liver cancer. To help, Jorge builds “Arnold,” a nursing app to provide his dad’s treatment. But as “Arnold” gets smarter, Jorge must contemplate his responsibilities as a son, a caretaker and a creator. The play is produced in partnership with Teatro Chelsea and is a Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production.

“The Crucible,” a partially fictionalized tale considered part of the American drama canon, focuses on the Salem Witch Trials. But the tale’s tragic hero is up for re-examination in “John Proctor is the Villain” by high school girls in rural Georgia. While studying the original play by Arthur Miller, the group explores gender-based power dynamics and is pushed to make a choice when one of their friend’s fathers is accused of inappropriate behavior by a female colleague. The students must confront their ideas on agency and feminism in this coming-of-age story by playwright Kimberly Belflower.

What does it cost to become one’s true self? And is there a cost too high? In his memoir “Becoming a Man,” P. Carl details his life as he transitions at age 50 from living as a queer womanto a man. In the world premiere of his play adapted from the memoir, P. Carl navigates family, work, friendship and the secret conversations he’s newly privy to. The production, centering on the courage it takes to become one’s authentic self, is co-directed by Diane Paulus, who commissioned the play, and P. Carl.

From 1969 to 1974, the late Golda Meir served as the fourth prime minister of Israel and the first female head of government in the Middle East. Meir’s trailblazing life is at the center of William Gibson’s play “Golda’s Balcony.” (Gibson also wrote “The Miracle Worker.”) The show comes to Boston after a successful run in the Berkshires over the summer. Elliot Norton Award-winning actress Annette Miller reprises her role as Golda Meir. (Miller originated the role in 2002.) Daniel Gidron, the show’s original director, returns to lead the show at the Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre at the Emerson Paramount Center.

Loneliness and interdependence are the focus of Polish-born American playwright Martyna Majok’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Cost of Living,” which threads the lives of four people together. The narrative delves into the lives of a truck driver and his estranged wife, who reconnect after she’s in an accident, and a Ph.D. student with cerebral palsy and his newly hired aide who must contend with the challenges of being caregivers and being cared for. Accessibility activist and SpeakEasy’s community and artistic programs manager Alex Lonati directs.

Playing it straight post-prison is King Hedley II’s top priority. He dreams of entrepreneurship — opening a video store in his neighborhood — and earning an honest living. But what he finds when he gets home is that his community, the Hill District of Pittsburgh, is rife with crime and struggling from redlining amid the Reaganomics that shaped the 1980s. Company One’s Summer L. Williams will direct “King Hedley II” at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury. The play is the late August Wilson’s ninth offering in his 10-play American Century Cycle documenting the Black experience in America.

Set in the Great Depression of the 1930s, Irish playwright Conor McPherson tells the tale of travelers who connect in a guesthouse in Minnesota. Their stories spill out and friendships are formed, set to the re-imagining of 20 hit songs by Bob Dylan, including “Forever Young,” “All Along the Watchtower,” “Hurricane,” “Slow Train Coming” and “Like A Rolling Stone.” McPherson’s Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “Girl From The North Country,” also directed by McPherson, features Tony Award-winning orchestrations by Simon Hale.