One Week Only

The Bay at Nice
Staged reading of David Hare's passionate debate over the nature of art and life. Readers Theatre Repertory, at the Blackfish Gallery, 420 NW 9th Ave, 295-4997, Fri-Sat 8 pm, $8

Closing This Week

Brainwaves Improvisational Comedy
Improv utilizing props from the audience. Brainwaves, at the Hollywood Theater, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, 796-9550, Fri-Sat 8 pm, $12

A Bicycle Country
Three Cubans build a raft to sail away from their poverty-stricken village. The emotional turmoil of the oppressed meets the high suspense of an ocean adventure. It's a premise that seems almost foolproof, and yet somehow The Miracle's production of A Bicycle Country still manages to fall flat. It's certainly not the fault of director, Andres Alcala, who maximizes the staging potential of his tiny, claustrophobic platform set that must serve as both a house in Cuba and the raft. His cast is also not to blame, as all three put in stellar performances, with Kyra Zagorsky standing out strongest as the beautiful amd fiery Ines. No, the main problem here is Nilo Cruz's script, which forces romance between Ines and the much older Julio, and then tries to use their poorly developed relationship as a focal point around which jealousy-infused drama on the raft must circulate. Cruz stretches this weak conflict as far as it will go, then runs out of things for his characters to do and so falls back on trite "descending into madness," soliloquies that feel recycled from a thousand other castaway stories. The Miracle Theater, 525 SE Stark Street, 236-7253, Thurs 7:30 pm, Fri-Sat 8 pm, through May 11, $15

Greatest Hits Volumes III & IV
Two different shows of sketch comedy, presented over two different nights. The 3rd Floor, at the Miracle Theatre, 525 SE Stark, 258-1681, Volume III is Fri, Volume IV is Sat, both shows 11 pm, through May 11, $9 per show, $16 both shows

Puppets VS People
Improv comedy competition between puppets and people. Comedysportz Arena, 1963 NW Kearney Street, 236-8888, Sun 4 pm, $10, or $9 with can of food

That's Infotainment
Improv that is one-half documentary and one-half fictional scenes inspired by the documentary. Brody Theater, 1904 NW 27th Ave, 224-0688, Fri-Sat 8 pm, $10

Current Runs

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Shakespeare's greatest acid trip. Tygres Heart Shakespeare Company, 1111 SW Broadway, 288-8400, Thurs 7 pm, Fri-Sat 8 pm, Sat-Sun 2 pm, through May 19, $11-36

Jerusalem; Nat Turner's Uprising
The story of healer, preacher, and prophet Nat Turner, who, 100 years ago, was hung for obeying the mission God spelled out for him: to set slaves free. Hand 2 Mouth Theatre, 1829 NE Alberta, 235-5284, May 9-10, 16-17, 23-26, @ 8 pm, $8

Pump Boys and Dinettes
The Pump Boys, who sell gas on Highway 57, sing country western songs for two hours with the Dinettes, who own the diner next door. Triangle Productions, at the World Trade Center Auditorium, 121 SW Salmon, 239-5919, Thurs 7:30 pm, Fri-Sat 8 pm, Sun 1 pm, through May 25, $20-25

Roundabout Utah
Long form improv based on audience suggestions. Your Other Left, at the Comedy Sportz Arena, 1963 NW Kearney, 236-8888, Sun 7:30 pm, through May 19, $7-8 with can of food

The Birthday Party
The play that put Harold Pinter on the map is a fascinating power struggle between a man named Stanley and two mysterious galoots who mess with his mind. The Profile Theatre Project at Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont, 242-0080, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Sun 2 pm, through May 26, $12-20

* The View From Here
Heather Pearl is a long, lean graceful beauty. Michael O'Neill is a short, stout jiggly man with pigtails who somehow occupies a unique grace of his own. Together, they have crafted a physical exploration of the different stages of romance based largely on the teachings propagated by the Dell' Arte schools of theater. Their abstract interpretations of the pitfalls of relationships are fairly low-brow, but entertaining all the same. O'Neill exploits his flab for all its worth by running around the stage in nothing but a tutu for ten minutes and both players engage in various movement sequences that make up for in spectacle what they lack in originality. Nomadic Theatre Co, at the Russell Street Theatre, 116 NE Russell St, 358-3441, Fri-Sat 10:30 pm, through May 18, $10

Vitriol and Violets: Tales Form The Algonquin Round Table
The Algonquin Hotel was a gathering place for some of the most fascinating literary personalities in 1920s New York, including Dorothy Parker, Alexander Woollcott, and Harold Ross, amongst others. Cygnet has tried to reconstruct the scenes that might have unfolded there with a play built largely from the characters' own quotes and published works. Such an approach is inevitably funny, thanks to the wit and intellect of the characters covered, but the script here by Shelly Lipkin, Louanne Moldovan, and Sherry Lamoreaux also fails to embellish these figures beyond the reputations that precede them. The result is a series of amusements based on the glee of recognition, an animated museum of newspaper snippets, and boozy repartee. MARJORIE SKINNER Cygnet, at the Russell Street Theatre, 116 NE Russell St, 493-4077, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Sun 7 pm, through May 18, $15

What the Butler Saw
Farce about a British psychiatrist who runs an asylum and tries to keep up with the demands of his sexually frustrated wife. Triangle Productions, at Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont, 239-5919, Thurs 7:30 pm, Fri-Sat 8 pm, Sun 5 pm, through May 25, $15-19