From left Blake Steinberg, Clarise Ballesteros, Amos McCandless and Maggie Birgel play a game-show scene in “Reckless,” at Davidson College’s Barber Theatre through Sunday. (Bill Giduz/Davidson College)

Davidson College’s production of the dark comedy “Reckless” opens Wednesday night and continues through Sunday at the black-box Barber Theatre on campus. Meanwhile, The Chuckleheads improv comedy group are back at Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius Nov. 23, while Activate Community Through Theatre plans youth auditions Nov. 21 for “Act Now: Stop Bullying.” Also Connie Company youth theater continues its run of “Narnia” this weekend at Davidson Community Players’ Armour Street Theater in Davidson.

‘RECKLESS’ AT DAVIDSON

The Davidson College Theatre Department this week produces “Reckless,” Craig Lucas’s darkly comedic misadventure of whimsical surprises and nightmarish tragedies.

The play runs Wednesday, Nov. 13, to Sunday, Nov. 17, at the Rupert T. Barber Theatre of the Cunningham Theatre Center. Shows are Wednesday to Saturday at 7:30pm, and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets are $10 general admission, $8 seniors, $7 faculty/staff and $5 students. The play is recommended for ages 13 and up. For more information call 704-894-2930.

Featuring quirky characters in a range of bizarre situations, Reckless follows the escapades of Rachel, who begins the play by fleeing from her murderous husband on Christmas Eve. Her ensuing journey includes an encounter with the devious physical therapist Lloyd Bophtelophti and an appearance on a televised game show.

Mark Sutch

Director Mark Sutch noted that the play presents a broad range of situations. “The play spans 15 years in 28 scenes, all over the course of about 75 minutes,” he said. “The challenge of achieving these rapid transitions from time to time and from place to place is exciting.”

Lloyd Bophtelophi, who has made many poor decisions in life, is trying to reinvent himself. He takes Rachel into his home after she runs away from her husband, but struggles with his feelings for her because he is already married to a paraplegic woman named Pooty who feigns deafness to earn double disability benefits.

“There are a lot of weird circumstances in this play,” said Amos McCandless ’14, who plays the part of Lloyd Bophtelophi. “Reckless is decidedly contemporary because it struggles with the alienating effects of modern society and technology, and deals with issues of identity and isolation.”

Added McCandless, “I’m also excited because my character gets to goof around in a Santa Claus costume, and I always enjoy acting out funny physical things like that.”

The play repeatedly focuses on the Christmas season, Sutch said. “Christmas holds a dual meaning for many people—joyous festivities on one hand, and a bittersweet sadness on the other because of growing older and missing those who have been a part of our lives. These qualities are exaggerated both in the play and our production of it,” he said.

CHUCKLEHEADS AT THE WAREHOUSE

The Chuckleheads, a Charlotte-based improvisational theater group, will present “The Sittin’ at the Kids Table Comedy Improv Musical Variety Extravaganza on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 6 and 8pm at The Warehouse Performing Arts Center in Cornelius. (The 6pm show will be family friendly, the gourp says. The 8pm show? Expect adult language and situations.)

Each show will include Thanksgiving themed unscripted improvisational comedy games (ala Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Improv-a-ganza, and the Second City,) musical games/activities, game show elements, and the heavy-duty audience participation that are staples of the five-year-old Chuckleheads’ improv comedy troupe’s shows. And it’s all made up on the spot.

The Warehouse PAC is at 9216-A Westmoreland Rd, Cornelius. Tickets $10 in advance at www.planetimprov.com ^[1] or by reserving a seat at 704-301-1564 or scott@planetimprov.com ^[2]. Tickets are $15 when purchased at the door. Parking free.

The Chuckleheads are the house improvisational troupe of the 501c3 non-profit corporation, Actor’s Crib Inc.

More at www.planetimprov.com ^[1]

‘NARNIA’ AT ARMOUR ST. THEATRE

Davidson Community Players’ Connie Co. youth theater group presents the final performances of its musical “Narnia” this weekend at the Armour Street Theatre, 307 Armour St., Davidson. It’s a musical adapted from C.S. Lewis’s children’s classic “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” with original music, choreography, and costumes.

Remaining performances are Nov. 14-15 at 7pm, Nov. 16-17 at 1 and 4pm. Tickets $10, available by calling the box office at 704-892-7953 or at www.davidsoncommunityplayers.org ^[3].

AUDITIONS FOR ‘ACT NOW:  STOP BULLYING’

Activate Community Through Theatre (ACT) invites youth aged 13 – 18 to audition for “Act Now: Stop Bullying” on Thursday, Nov. 21, from 1:30 to 3:30pm ^st 1:30 – 3:30pm at The Warehouse Performing Arts Center, 9216 Westmoreland Road in Cornelius.

“Act Now: Stop Bullying” is a series of four 10-minute plays relating to the bullied, the bully and the bystander.  The production will tour schools in 2014.  Rehearsals are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:30 – 4pm starting Dec. 5.   Performance dates:  TBA.

Youth are asked to bring a headshot and resume or a snapshot and summary of their experience.  For more information and to schedule an appointment, contact Wrenn Goodrum  at 704-707-6757 or www.activatecommunitythroughtheatre.com ^[4]