When I first learned that Geneseo’s Richmond Hill Barn Theatre was staging author Michael Frayn’s Tony Award-winning Noises Off this fall, I’ll admit that the news made me chuckle, and not just because the show is so funny.

Judging by Friday’s performance of The 39 Steps at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre, it’s apparent that director Tom Morrow likes sight gags and British humor. He handles playwright Patrick Barlow's comically melodramatic take on the 1915 spy thriller – and Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film – with care, avoiding over-the-top staging but highlighting the humor in ways that elicit a lot of laughs. (Whereas overselling the gags would likely elicit groans.)

As of this writing, area venues have announced the titles to a collective 70 plays and musicals opening between August 31 and November 30. You wanna know my favorite title? Theatre Cedar Rapids’ The Time When Presley and Mrs. Luther Took a Stand in the Alley, Kinda Sorta. It’s the Kinda Sorta that makes it priceless.

The District Theatre's production of Next to Normal may feature the best performance I've ever seen from Sara King, one that even tops her notably angst-ridden, humorous Van's Sister in the former Harrison Hilltop Theatre's Dog Sees God two years ago, and her subtle, hurt, hopeful Lucille in the District Theatre's Parade earlier this year.