What to Watch in San Diego this Weekend: 3/7/14

A new month brings some new theatre, so what are you going to check out this weekend?

SPRING AWAKENING -Starts this weekend!
Too much or too little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. That is never truer than when a group of curious and bold 19th-century teenagers are in the process of the provocative journey from adolescence to adulthood and figure out if all that they know or don;t know is true. This is an eight-time Tony Award-winning musical featuring an alternative rock score by Duncan Sheik this show contains mature themes, sexual situations and strong language. Cygnet Theatre www.cygnettheatre.com

A MASKED BALL - Opening this weekend!
This opera was inspired by the real-life assassination of Swedens' King Gustav III. This Verdi opera rivals any soap opera on television and stars Polish tenor Piotr Beczala and Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova. In the opera King Gustav III and Amelia, wife of the kings best friend, Count Anckarström, never goes beyond friendship, jealousy and politics cause Anckarström to join a band of conspirators and ultimately to murder the King at a masked ball. Who says that opera or history have to be boring? San Diego Opera www.sdopera.com

THE WHO AND THE WHAT- Closing weekend!
Written by 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Ayad Akhtar, this play examines what happens when our modern lives are in conflict with our traditions. Zarina is brilliant and outspoken, which leads her to clash with her more traditional and conservative Muslim father and sister. Zarina finds her release in her writing, but what happens when that could potentially tear her family apart? La Jolla Playhouse www.lajollaplayhouse.org

DETROIT
What happens when you meet people who suddenly make you wonder if you are truly happy with who you have chosen to be? This play is the Obie winner and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and it explores the American dream and the pursuit of happiness, as Ben and Mary-a couple who are comfortably settled into their suburban lifestyle but find themselves challenged by their new free-spirited neighbors. With biting humor, playwright D'Amour challenges American cultural assumptions about status, comfort, ambition and community. San Diego Rep www.sdrep.org

THE SCHOOL FOR LIES
Molière's wit is always good for an entertaining night of theatre, but when you combine it with Tony Award-nominee David Ives' off-color tribute to "The Misanthrope" it becomes something you should not miss! In a glittering world of gossip, glamour and scandal, a gaggle of misbehaving characters chatter away in hilarious rhyming couplets while trying to woo each other. See just how hilarious that can be! North Coast Repertory www.northcoastrep.org

THE WINTERS TALE
Now is the time to see the sow with the famous stage direction "exit, pursued by bear!!" This Shakespearian masterpiece explores the powerful emotions tat can shape our life and the choices we make: love, friendship and forgiveness. Directed by the Old Globe's Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, this is one not to miss! The Old Globe www.theoldglobe.org

Photo Credit: Cygnet Theatre