If you were to tell me a marriage could teeter on the brink of destruction simply due to the addition of a dog … I’d have countered that no one would let canine conflict get that far. Only that’s exactly what happens in the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's production of Sylvia, written by A.R. Gurney and directed by Kathy Graham. Friday’s performance ultimately left me feeling like I am killing it with marriage, as both my husband and I agree on our position on getting a dog: While they’re great, dog ownership simply isn’t for us.

Alexander Richardson’s Their Town is inspired by Our Town, as opposed to being a direct update of Wilder's story. And by using the original text as inspiration, Richardson gave us a fresh take on what the classic play means in a modern world, updating characters, plot structure, relationships, stage design, and more.

Often, mass tragedies are best understood not through bare statistics, but through personal stories of those affected. My Brother's Gift, a play by Claudia Haas based on the real experiences of survivor Eva Geiringer Schloss, tells one of these stories. I saw it on Saturday at the Black Box Theatre, and director, designer, and Black Box co-founder Lora Adams and her cast and crew have put together a spare, straightforward production that serves both as a remembrance and a call to action.

Leaving Iowa, the winning comedy currently running at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre, follows Don (played by Kevin Babbitt), a middle-aged writer who reflects on vacations from his youth. In the play's present, Don travels across the cornfield states to spread his father’s ashes at his childhood home. And in a series of flashbacks, Don and his family find themselves in interesting situations with zany characters during their Midwest road trips.