“The Seagull” is a difficult play to do, as is always the case with Chekhov. This production, directed by Ian Rickson, is an accomplished one, with Peter Sarsgaard impressive as Trigorin, Carey Mulligan attractive the emotional as Nina and the rest of the cast fitting neatly into the kind of ensemble so essential for the play to achieve cohesive effectiveness. The durable work is yet another drama about a family with deep problems that lead to unhappiness and with characters scrutinized mercilessly, and although set in the past and in Russia, the problems are recognizable as applicable to a more modern setting despite societal differences.

The malaise is apparent from the start as Zoe Kazan, playing Masha, laments about being in mourning for her life. Masha is indeed miserable and frustrated, and Kazan manages to look as well as act totally downcast, but also delivering lines in a manner that makes an audience see perverse humor in her unhappiness. Frustrated writer Konstantin, Arkadina’s son and an especially unhappy soul, is played by Mackenzie Crook, whose performance must be--and is—effective, for his tragic existence is pivotal to understanding the play.

There are neat, defining touches, as when Arkadina departs on a trip, and, ruble-pinching as always, leaves a pittance for the servants. Unrequited desires and sadness permeate the drama, as does the desperation of Arkadina and Konstantin.

Alan doesn’t merely like his favorite horse. He loves his horse. It is a case of sexual attraction mixed up with religious worship and a passion for life that can be extinguished if he is cured. The idea is somewhat like what director Stanley Kubrick posed in the film “A Clockwork Orange” with the likelihood that if the protagonist was cured of his violent behavior, all of the passion for life and music would be expunged. Kubrick’s film made more philosophical sense, however, than the gibberish in Shaffer’s writing.

Griffith’s performance, however, is another example of his fine acting as he makes the most of what the playwright offers him. But it is the staging that dominates. Six men, clomping on wire “hoofs” and wearing impressionistic horse heads constructed in steel-like frames, act with their bodies when they move about, especially when rendered frantic by the eye-piercing during Alan’s moment of utter rage.

A flashback in Alan’s treatment gets to the bottom of the reasons for his crime in a stable scene in which Alan is seduced by the nervy, turned on Jill, cheerfully played by Anna Camp, with both Camp and Radcliffe boldly enacting their long, crucial scene completely in the nude. Thea Sharrock has staged the play with maximum effectiveness, abetted by John Napier’s scenic design, David Hersey’s dramatic lighting, Gregory Clarke’s turbulent sound design and the movement contribution by Fin Walker. The supporting cast is up to the task, including Carolyn McCormick (“Law and Order” favorite as Dr. Olivet), here playing Alan’s mother, and Kate Mulgrew as Hesther Saloman, the professional who implores Dr. Dysart to take Alan’s case.

First a total salute to the fearless foursome—Christina Bianco, Gina Kreiezmar, Jared Bradshaw and Michael West, with a special compliment to pianist David Caldwell.

Let’s take Bianco, the pint-sized one. She may be mini, but her talent soars to king-size as she stretches to a remarkable range. Whether sexily satirizing Bebe Neuwirth in “Chicago,” bouncing around the stage as the “Be-Littled Mermaid,” singing as Frankie in “Jersey Goys,” mocking Kelli O’Hara in a hilarious riff on “South Pacific,” doing a Laura Benanti in “Gypsy,” Sutton Foster in “Old Young Frankenstein,” Kerry Butler in “Xanadude” or Bernadette Peters in a comic ode to Stephen Sondheim, Bianco is fabulously funny. But her Kristin Chenoweth in “Glitter and Be Glib” reaches the heights in a dead-on impersonation complete with her hitting the stratospheric high notes. What a talent!

Gina Kreiezmar also has dazzling turns, especially with her Madame Defarge in “A Tale of Two Cities,” and in her wonderfully devastating take off on Patti LuPone in “Gypsy,” as she belts triumphantly and runs rampant over Michael West as a hapless Boyd Gaines who dares to share a stage with the mighty LuPone. Her Liza Minnelli is also memorable as she mocks her to the nth degree in “Liza One Note.” Kreiesmar’s range is also enviable, as she demonstrates as Mary Poppins singing “Stupid Careless Fictional Nonsensical Verboseness” and “Feed the Burbs,” satirizing suburban audiences who love such shows. She and Bianco uproariously square off in a boxing match as Barbara and Violet in “August: Osage Rehab.” Kreiezmar will break you up as Rafiki and Nala in a spoof on “The Lion King,” as Idina Menzel in “Wickeder,” and as Frau Kenuppledick in the take off on “Spring Awakening.”

The men are also great singing comedians with satirical gifts. Michael West’s rapping spoof of Lyn Manuel Miranda in “In the Heights’ is uproariously unforgettable, as is his James Barbour ribbing in “If Dreams Came True,” knocking “A Tale of Two Cities.” He takes on Mel Brooks in “Old Yong Frankenstein,” the lead in “Sweeney Todd” and has a host of other chores that distinguish him, whether hamming it up or singing in good voice. He also happens to have an impressive physique.

So does Jared Bradshaw, with a powerful voice as well, as when he does a very funny impression of Paulo Szot in the skewering of “South Pacific.” He also excels as the monster in the “Frankenstein” number, as well as in every other assignment, but his best moment is as Daniel Radcliffe in “Equus—Let Me Enter Naked.” This segment is also a prime example of the cleverness in writing by deftly mixing two shows. With the buzz about Radcliffe graduating from Harry Potter to baring his body in “Equus,” Bradshaw does a Gypsy Rose Lee strip to make the point. He had the audience screaming with laughter on the night I saw the show.

The action centers on the well-to-do McBane family that has a skeleton in its closet. A brother regarded as a drunk and irresponsible member of the family signed over his share of the business to his brothers and went westward. His surviving children, now grown, two sons and a daughter, whose mother has also died, have come to pay a visit to the McBane home. Their agenda is to claim what they believe is their rightful inheritance as a result of what they regard as proof that their father was swindled.

Priestley makes it more complicated. It is not only a matter of money. The siblings need a resolution to gain a sense of self-worth after years of growing up in poverty and struggling to exist. There is also the need to move forward in life and escape the all-consuming pent-up anger that they have. In addition, there is the question of whether everyone in the McBane family knows the truth of what happened.

Jeanine Serralles, Saxon Palmer and Aaron Krohn are excellent as the aggrieved siblings. Gerry Bamman is outstanding as David McBane, the brother who is hostile to the unwanted visitors, trying to keep a lid on the situation and buy them off with a pittance. His performance deepens when he is shaken by a discovery.

Jack Wetherall is effective as Malcom, David’s brother, and Robin Mosely is nastily impressive as Mildred, their stern sister-in-law who is in ill-health. The family circle includes Sandra Struthers-Clerc as David’s daughter Elspie and Chad Hoeppner Mildred’s nephew John.

Chet Carlin has a colorful role as the family doctor who over the years has been privy to goings on in the household, and Fiana Toibin is important as Bridget, the housekeeper.

Priestley’s writing meanders some, but the scope is probably needed to house all that is at stake and the various levels of character illumination. Director Lou Jacobs’s staging is effective in building up the developing tension, and Roger Hanna has designed a set that makes the McBane home look lived in and what we might expect for the family.

The framework for the play presented by The Directors Company is a lecture given by the heroine at an American high school in 1988, with flashbacks into Irena’s story in occupied Poland from 1939-1945, and also in 1988 Jerusalem. Director Michael Parva interweaves the time frames fluidly and Feldshuh covers the transitions smoothly, creating a vibrant, courageous but always believable character. Irena died in 2003 at the age of 85.

No matter how many artistic works emerge from the Holocaust, the subject offers an endless reservoir of stories that bear telling, and this is one of them—the saga of a Catholic woman who was eventually named by the Israeli Holocaust Commission as one of the Righteous Among the Nations, an accolade given to gentiles who risked death to help and save Jews. In a ceremony at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Israel, Irena was awarded the Israel Medal of Honor. She holds a special commendation from the Vatican and her story is part of an exhibition at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington

So much for credentials. The play is successful because it vividly dramatizes Irena’s story, taking up the tale after Irena, a nurse, had worked with the Polish underground in the east, was captured and raped by Russians after they invaded, and then having escaped, was captured by the Germans and put to heavy work in a munitions factory. Thanks to an elderly SS Officer Eduard Rugemer, effectively played by Thomas Ryan, she was given lighter mess hall duties and then installed as his housekeeper.

Brazenly, Irena hid the Jews in Rugemer’s villa basement, managing to keep her secret until an accidental exposure. There is a finely acted emotional confrontation between Rugemer and Irena, in which she asks him to kill her and let the others go. But the officer, who confesses his long lust for her, strikes a bargain in which she hears of his yearning that she convey love for him and calculatingly makes the sacrifice of becoming his mistress in exchange for allowing the Jews to survive. Feldshuh as Irena recounts how as a result she became known as the German officer’s whore during the occupation. The play doesn’t address whether or not she ever developed any real feelings at all for him during the years when they were together.

First, a bit of history: “Enter Laughing” written by Joseph Stein from Carl Reiner’s novel, was a hit as a play in 1963 and served to give a boost to the career of Alan Arkin, who then played the lead, a young man green to the world of acting. It then became a film. In its further 1976 reincarnation as a musical under the title “So Long, 174th Street,” Robert Morse had the lead, but by then nearly 45 he was too old for the part. For whatever reasons, the show flopped.

In this latest version, Grisetti is exactly right for the lead role of David Kolowitz. He is absolutely likable from the moment he steps on stage. He combines the awkwardness of a young man stumbling into a possible acting career in a broken down theater company with his comic gifts, plus the ability to dominate the stage in a glowing manner that suggests star quality. Grisetti gives a performance that is as endearing as it is amusing.

Stein’s book works smoothly and the music and lyrics by Stan Daniels, geared to the 1930s setting, hold up strongly, the score entrusted to a trio rather than a full orchestra in keeping with the small stage setup utilized to the maximum by director Stuart Ross.

There is a further special treat—the performance by veteran George S. Irving as the hokey theater operator. He is a master of timing and his reactions to the ineptness of his new leading man are priceless. More than that, Irving has a show-stopping number, “The Butler Song,” one of the most amusing numbers ever, as those who have heard him perform it in other contexts will attest. It is well worth a visit to this show just to savor Irving in action.

The rest of the cast is also superb, including Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry as David’s parents, with Eikenberry particularly shining as she sings “If You Want to Break Your Mother’s Heart.” Janine LaManna is a standout as the sex-hungry actress Angela Marlowe, who makes the most of another of the show’s special numbers, “The Man I Can Love.” Emily Shoolin is excellent as the nice girl Wanda, who competes for David’s affection.

Warren Carlyle has directed and choreographed the musical drama, and Tony Walton has provided framework structures that can be pushed around busily for different scenes. The production comes across as a serious attempt to do justice to the material, not as a slapdash effort, but despite the dramatic fireworks, the emotional impact is only occasional.

James Barbour has a powerful voice that helps him do justice to the role of Sydney Carton, who sacrifices himself to save Aaron Lazar as Charles Darnay from the guillotine, and talented Brandi Burkhardt sings gloriously in her big numbers as Lucie Manette. A large supporting cast and a huge ensemble stamp the production with a pageant-like effect as the action switches between Paris and London.

The plot involving past intrigue, banishment and resolution, with a story of young love in the mix, comes through with efficiency. Patinkin brings out Prospero’s wisdom in some key speeches, but the poetic feeling that is in the text is partially buried by the forcefulness of his interpretation. Patinkin’s approach is more dynamic than poetic.

It is also like that with Angel Desai as Ariel, who gives more of a hands-on impression than required to build a special aura for the play. Elizabeth Waterston as Miranda, Prospero’s daughter, and Stark Sands, as Ferdinand, are engaging as the young lovers instantly attracted to each other. Caliban, portrayed by Nyambi Nyambi, is underplayed.

Brian Kulick’s staging is Spartan but the set design by Jian Jung is a cumbersome affair characterized by a large hovering panel manipulated by stagehands to suggest the sky and whatever.

Pittu has also written the book and lyrics, with music by Randy Redd and co-direction by Neil Pepe and Pittu. The show is a presentation by the Atlantic Theater Company, with set designer Takeshi Kata having created a smart theater-like surrounding in the tiny performing space of the Atlantic Stage 2.

The professor conducting the class and mincingly fawning over the mincing Sterling is played by Peter Bartlett, who was the gay television host in “The New Century.” He is uproarously funny here, but it seems as if he is giving the same performance. The show is very gay in tone throughout.

An attractive chorus has been assembled to perform, revue style, the songs of a Jacob Sterling work called “Shopping Out Loud,” which contains some extremely funny lyrics. Brandon Goodman, Matt Schock and Heléne Yorke deftly handle the material as they would in any serious revue, which makes it all the funnier. Sample lyric: “Victoria’s Secret isn’t really a secret, it’s something that ev’ry woman knows; you can be whatever you want out in the world, but it’s best to be a whore beneath your clothes.”

The time is 1977, the place a small town north of Philadelphia. A family is under examination by playwright Leslie Lee, whose drama was presented by the NEC in the 1970s, and there is enough emotional turmoil to now remind one of “August: Osage County.” Contrivances are certainly there, but the acting and the author’s sensitivity to the struggles of growing up black in America combine to make the play resonate with power.

Director Ruben Santiago-Hudson handles basic flashbacks so that they flow easily. The flips back in time stem from the memories of Leslie Uggams as grandmother Lucretia Edwards, who is declining in health and seeming far removed from what she might have been in her youth. We get to look in on that youth periodically, with Yaya DaCosta giving a stunning portrayal of the youthful Lucretia trying to balance her romantic and sexual yearnings with three different men, each of whom fathered a child with her. The men are excellently portrayed too, with their own goals taking precedence over Lucretia’s needs. DaCosta is excellent conveying the mix of sexuality, hopes and desperation. On her part, Uggams provides just enough of the counterpoint between her elderly state and the possibility of what she might have been like earlier. Gilbert Owuor, Quincy Dunn-Baker and John Earl Jelks do a convincing job as the disparate men in young Lucretia’s life.

As for the Edwards family, Keith Randolph Smith is dynamic as Lucretia’s son Milton. a contractor who has learned to get long with his customers and work hard to provide for his family. But he has a problem with his two sons, Brandon Dirden as the older Nate, who is impatient with his father’s way of doing business, and Jason Dirden as Lou, who is the more sensitive, scholarly brother eager to break away. Lou is disillusioned about what he learns about his grandmother’s past, which leads to a piling on of melodrama. (Brandon and Jason Dirden are real-life brothers.)