Theater: New and Noteworthy

Blithe Spirit (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival). Nöel Coward's look at love on Earth and beyond the grave. Thursday through Aug. 7.

Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope (New Freedom Theatre). Reset in Philadelphia, this 1971 Broadway hit concerns the African American experience, including slumlords, student protests, and feminism. Thursday through July 30.

Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash (People's Light, Malvern). A retrospective of one of the godfathers of Americana. Wednesday through Aug. 14.

Reviewed by Bill Chenevert (B.C.), Ellen Dunkel (E.D.), Hugh Hunter (H.H.), Julia M. Klein (J.M.K.), Wendy Rosenfield (W.R.), Jim Rutter (J.R.), David Patrick Stearns (D.P.S.), John Timpane (J.T.), and Toby Zinman (T.Z.).

Boeing-Boeing (Hedgerow Theatre Company, Rose Valley). This 1960s French farce, put on for all its physical humor. Result: nonstop laughter. Through Aug. 21. - J.R.

Broadway on Butler (Act II Playhouse, Ambler). A celebration of the great Broadway composers. Through July 24.

Comedy of Errors (Delaware Shakespeare Festival, Rockwood Park, Wilmington). Shakespeare's farce of mistaken identities - and mistaken motives. Through July 31.

The Harassment of Iris Malloy (People's Light). One night in Atlantic City, a single mother places a bet on a new life after an intimate encounter with a decorated U.S. senator. Full of unexpected twists and knockout performances. Ends Sunday. - W.R.

I Am Not My Motherland (Orbiter 3; Lantern Theater Company's St. Stephen's Theater). A Palestinian American surgeon and her Israeli American resident botch a life-saving operation, and a story unravels. Through July 31.

Julius Caesar (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, DeSales University). This, the original "taut political thriller," is Shakespeare's poetic masterpiece on power, friendship, and conscience. A brilliant, riveting production. Ends Sunday. - H.H.

The Little Mermaid (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, DeSales University). The ocean can't contain a mermaid curious about the world beyond her home. Through Aug. 6.

The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron? (Montgomery Theater). Robert Dubac's one-man show on the mysteries of the male mind. Ends Sunday.

The Producers (Broadway Theatre of Pitman, N.J.). Max and Leo launch a bomb of a show - on purpose. Through Aug. 7.

Roseburg (New City Stage Company). A politically minded new play, for this political season, about gun control in 1968 - and now. Very effective, with themes that are eerily, distressingly topical. Through July 31. - B.C.

Sex With Strangers (Cape May Stage). Laura Eason's Off-Broadway hit about a blogger who tracks down his idol at a bed-and-breakfast, and sex and much else ensues. Through July 29.

Sister Act (Walnut Street Theatre). One of the more successful repurposings of a hit film into a stage musical. It's getting to be a habit. Lots of kitsch, laughs, and amens. Ends Sunday. - B.C.

Summer One-Act Bonanza (Old Academy Players). Yearly extravaganza of one-act plays by local playwrights and players. Ends Sunday.

The Taming of the Shrew (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, DeSales University). Shakespeare's knockabout comedy about the marriage of true opposites. Through Aug. 7.