Critics' picks - theater

August 15, 2008

NOW PLAYING

"The Mistakes Madeline Made"

If you've ever suffered a supervisor so relentlessly chipper that bossicide seemed the only solution, Elizabeth Meriwether's scintillatingly dark comedy may be for you. At Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, through Aug. 24. Tickets: $29. 508-349-9428, www.what.org - Sandy Macdonald

"Othello"

John Douglas Thompson brings a majestic physicality to the title role in a production that feels at once fresh and familiar, unexpected and right. At Shakespeare & Company, Lenox, through Aug. 31. Tickets: $15-$60, 413-637-3353, www.shakespeare.org - Louise Kennedy

OPENING

"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"

William Finn's exuberant (not exhuberant) musical, in a joint production by Barrington Stage Company and North Shore Music Theatre, comes to North Shore this week for a novel staging - in the round. It runs through Aug. 31 in Beverly. 978-232-7200, www.nsmt.org