Cassiopeia is a rare piece of theatre, highly poetic and idiosyncratic, about the chance meeting on an airplane of a math prodigy and a maid from the rural South. Both social misfits, they discover a common past and a shared profound connection that they lost decades ago. A gravitational pull reunites these two old souls amid scientific theory, constellations, and a moment of serendipity that electrifies their mutual desire.

Based on a chapter of American history they never taught us in school, this fierce, funny fantasia with music tells the post-Revolutionary War story of the Harpe brothers, who launched a murderous rampage as a counterrevolution against the new democracy. American Misfit explores our addiction to revolution as the story skips like the needle on a record through our American rebels from Washington to Reagan, viciously skewering the big American idea of change — all swinging to the rhythms of Rockabilly music.

Nancy Keystone’s Alcestis is a visceral exploration of the literal life-and-death struggle of a woman who volunteers to die to save her husband’s life, and the deals people make the with the gods to avert the death decree. Hilarious, heartbreaking, highly stylized and physical as only Keystone and Critical Mass can be, this piece freshly investigates the nature of sacrifice, death, and the overpowering will to live.

Stripped to its very essence, Kubzansky’s Richard II is theatrical, raw, and performed with only three actors. As Richard says: “thus play I in one person many people—and none contented.” Shakespeare’s tale still resonates deeply today, posing the ultimate identity crisis. When arrogant King Richard is deposed by Bolingbroke, who has good reason to lead a rebellion and seize the crown, Richard is left bewildered as he struggles to find a new identity, and Bolingbroke is overwhelmed by how hard it is to be king. After all, who are we without our names or titles?