Catalyst Collaborative@MIT – Underground Railway Theater’s science theater initiative with MIT – presents this World Premiere by award-winning playwright Melinda Lopez, commissioned by the National Institutes of Health to celebrate the 150th anniversary of “On the Origin of Species.” Surprises erupt as a muralist’s work is derailed by hallucinations, pregnancy, and dinosaurs in this witty take on how we understand – or do not – the theory of evolution. Charles Darwin comments on it all.

Local playwright Masha Obolensky electrifies with this “vivid” and “riveting” script, in its East Coast Premiere by The Nora Theatre Company. Drawn into the sensational 1920’s murder trial of Ruth Snyder, famed journalist-turned-playwright Sophie Treadwell finds herself compelled to give voice to Ruth’s story through her landmark play, Machinal.

A collaboration between Underground Railway Theater and The Providence Black Repertory Company, the East Coast Premiere of Harriet Jacobs by Lydia R. Diamond brings Harriet Jacobs’ astonishing true story, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl to the stage. The “immensely sophisticated” play about human oppression and how certain people rise above it allows Jacobs to reach out from her own era, and compel us to look at our history as if for the first time in her unsparing, yet poetic coming-of-age story.

Underground Railway Theater pairs two heartwarming journeys into the foibles of the holiday season. Joyful, whimsical, and rich with humor, both are told from the point of view of children – one a girl, one a boy – and set in the ’30’s – one in the Bronx, one in Alabama. In A Christmas Memory, Truman Capote recalls his close friendship with another social outcast, his wildly eccentric older cousin, and the enduring spirit for life they shared. Grace Paley’s The Loudest Voice takes us to a Russian Jewish immigrant school where “without shame” gentile teachers annually staged the Nativity. The inspired Wesley Savick crafts the perfect holiday alternative with an intergenerational cast, puppetry, music, and fruitcakes.

In celebration of Harold Pinter (1930-2008), described as “the most original, disturbing, and arresting talent,” The Nora Theatre Company brings to life one of his greatest psychological dramas, helmed by Associate Director Daniel Gidron. When an elderly tramp is given lodging in the derelict home of two brothers, the ensuing relationships and shifting alliances intensify with hilarious and unsettling consequences.