Enter ancient Persia, and be transformed by the power of storytelling – again! The Nora Theatre Company and Underground Railway Theater revive their award-winning production (2012 Independent Reviewers of New England Awards for Best Ensemble, Best Puppetry, Best Costumes, and Best Director) of Dominic Cooke’s Arabian Nights. Based on One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of folk tales from the Middle East and Asia, Arabian Nights is rich with suspense, romance and hilarity – stories irresistible for all ages, At its heart is the power of the imagination to heal, inspire, and transform.

On the eve of a national conference Zelda (Underground Railway Theater Artistic Director, Debra Wise), an acclaimed evolutionary biologist, is visited by Rachel, an ambitious graduate student. The two women share a zeal for science, a bold and contrarian approach to the male-dominated field, and much more. During the course of the visit, the young scholar challenges the older woman’s “grandmother hypothesis” with a radical theory of her own that she believes will change the way people regard sex. Emotion and evolution clash with humor and passion in Sarah Treem’s (HBO’s In Treatment) new play about the competitiveness and sacrifices needed to succeed as a woman in science.

A new musical comedy inspired by the legendary National Public Radio show! Our hero – the overweight, always-late invertebrate Rusty Fenders – has racked up as many miles as his ‘93 KIA. Attempting to salvage happiness from the junkyard of his life, he collides with his ruthless boss Beaulah Gasket, his unrequited office romance Sheila, and the red-hot fantasy car Miata C. LaChassis. Can the Wizard of Cahs put the brakes on Rusty’s musical wipe-out? Car Talk: The Musical!!! is low-brow, high-octane fun. Car and Theater Magazine named this show the “best automotive musical of the twenty-first century, so far.”

How Do You Spell Hope? are true stories of overcoming obstacles to literacy – a Cambridge high school athlete, Frederick Douglass, a Latina immigrant – woven together by puppets and actors in a world of giant pop up books. A play for all ages.

Machetes… Rock ‘n’ Roll… Burma Shave… Dwight D. Eisenhower… audiences will discover the unpredictable land of Terra Incognita with three intrepid women explorers who can never be quite sure where – or when – their next steps will lead them when. On the Verge is written by Eric Overmyer, directed by Wesley Savick, and stars Deanna Dunmyer, Alicia Kahn, Anna Waldron, and Barlow Adamson.  Eric Overmyer’s vividly imaginative On the Verge(or The Geography of Yearning) follows the adventures of three fiercely independent Victorian women explorers as they spin through time from 1888 to 1955. As they embark on their trek to an unknown land, it becomes apparent that they are not on an ordinary expedition. While traversing the geography of yearning, they discover within themselves a powerful pull towards the future, absorbing knowledge while they travel through time.  Through their encounters with a kaleidoscope of unlikely characters, they satisfy their need for adventure in a journey of wildly unpredictable discovery. Full of pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to the mid 1950’s On the Verge is a play that is both joyfully feminist as well as a masterpiece of rhythm and word. It has become one of Overmyer’s most popular works, due to its heightened, dynamic interplay of language and the smart, comic insight into nineteenth century women and culture.