Theater

CRITIC’S PICKS

October 30, 2011|By Don Aucoin, Globe Staff

OR, Stacy Fischer excels as 17th-century writer Aphra Behn, trying to finish her first play amid constant distractions from King Charles II, the actress Nell Gwynne, and a former colleague from Aphra’s days as a spy. Through Nov. 6. Lyric Stage Company, Boston. 617-585-5678, www.lyricstage.com

THE DIVINE SISTER A wholly enjoyable spoof of nun-centric movies and plays, directed by Larry Coen and starring Jeffery Roberson, a.k.a. Varla Jean Merman, as the imperious but oddly endearing Mother Superior. Through Nov. 19. SpeakEasy Stage Company, Roberts Studio Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts. 617-933-8600, www.speakeasystage.com

CLYBOURNE PARK A compelling and well-acted production of Bruce Norris’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, which revolves around the racially charged question of who will live in a certain house in a certain Chicago neighborhood during two different - or maybe not so different - periods of history. Through Nov. 20. Trinity Repertory Company, Dowling Theater, Providence. 401-351-4242, www.trinityrep.com

YOU BETTER SIT DOWN: TALES FROM MY PARENTS’ DIVORCE

First the members of the Civilians, a New York-based investigative theater company, interviewed their own parents about how they met, fell in love, fell out of love, and split up. Then they created this absorbing theater piece, in which they portray their parents. Through Oct. 30. Presented by ArtsEmerson. Paramount Center Mainstage. 617-824-8400, www.artsemerson.org

THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW When you’re Ryan Landry, nothing succeeds like excess, which makes him just about perfect in the role of Dr. Frank N. Furter, the pansexual transvestite/mad scientist/alien who debauches a pair of young innocents. Friday nights through Dec. 2. Presented by Oberon and the Gold Dust Orphans. At Oberon. 866-811-4111, www.cluboberon.com