CMU Drama Staging’The Rover’; ‘Between Riverside and Crazy’ at The Public (Tues., 11/29/16)

Aphra Behn called ’em as she saw ’em … and in her day, she saw a lot.

1) Once almost forgotten in the mists of time, Aphra Behn has been resurrected recently as a cultural hero. Make that heroine: she wasn’t the first female playwright but during the 1600s she became one of the first women to earn a living from the art. An intriguing character herself, Behn turned to writing after undercover work as a spy for King Charles II of England. Her edgy comedies were immensely popular in the Restoration period, the years after Cromwell’s dour Puritan rule, when a spirit of liberation swept through English society. Later critics, however, deemed her writing to be the scandalous work of a too-loose woman’s mind and consigned her to history’s proverbial dustbin.

Today, amid a new spirit of liberation, Behn is back. A modern play about her, Liz Duffy Adams’ Or, was staged by off the WALL Productions two years ago. This year Carnegie Mellon’s School of Drama is performing a Behn original, The Rover. Catch it if you want to catch that Restoration feeling. 8 p.m. Performances through December 3. At Purnell Center on the Carnegie Mellon campus, 5000 Forbes Ave., Oakland. (MV)

2) Stephen Adly Guirgis has won a rep for writing plays that leave you laughing, shuddering, and amazed. His works include The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, an epic fantasy set in Purgatory, where Judas is on trial, and the dark 12-step comedy The Motherfucker with the Hat. Pittsburgh’s smaller theater companies have staged those two and others, and now The Public, the city’s largest company, is doing Guirgis’ winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Between Riverside and Crazy. Your friendly EC theater writer has not seen this one, but it is said to display Guirgis’ signature touches: surreal humor and tense personal drama springing from extreme characters placed in bizarre situations. The central character is a black ex-cop who retired from the NYPD after an incident in which he was shot several times by a white fellow officer. He’s haggling over a lawsuit for damages while dodging eviction from his Riverside Drive apartment, which is peopled by an odd crew ranging from the ex-cop’s son (an ex-con not yet cured of his criminal ways) to a spiritual/sexual healer called Church Lady. Therefore the action unfolds Between Riverside and Crazy. 7 p.m. Performances through December 11. At the O’Reilly Theater, 621 Penn Ave., Cultural District. (MV)

3) Local and seasonal—from the antipasti to the house cocktails, that’s chef-owner Stephen Felder and co-owner Cara Delsignore’s approach to Italian cooking at Stagioni. On Tuesdays through Fridays, Stagioni, like any truly authentic Italian restaurant, closes at 2 p.m. after lunch. In Italy, they call this a “riposo” (think Spanish siesta). It reopens at 5 p.m. for dinner, where patrons can expect the finest pasta, polenta, and salad dishes, along with “piatti principali” (translated, “main dishes”), like ricotta gnocchi  and roasted quail. To ensure regulars never get bored, Stagioni promises a menu that changes frequently depending on what’s coming into season in the region. On Saturdays and Sundays the restaurant is open strictly for dinner. Stagioni also hosts events, like their Monthly Sunday Supper—four courses, served family-style. These suppers sell out quickly, so those interested should call to make reservations. 2104 E. Carson St., South Side. (CM)

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