Maggie, A Girl of the Streets, Side Studio, through Nov. 21. Director Jimmy McDermott and an astonishing ensemble brilliantly stage Adam Webster's evocative, smart adaptation of Stephen Crane's 1893 slice-of-life novel about New York's poor. Don't miss it! RR
Mustapha's Bride, National Pastime Theater, opens Nov. 19. Michael Sokoloff and the ensemble who gave us the erotic and ultraviolent Yuba City are back again in this late-night homage to Jean Genet. Expect flesh, violence and sex in a Turkish prison. MSB
Rules for Good Manners, T.U.T.A. at Prop Theater, through Nov. 28. Gay playwright Jean-Luc Lagarce mocks the rules of proper behavior in this contemporary French work, given a simple, elegant, understated production by T.U.T.A. Great costumes! JA
Sweeney Todd, Porchlight Music Theatre at Theatre Building, through Nov. 28. Don't miss the finest musical production in town. Creepy, funny, and tuneful, this is Sondheim's masterpiece and Porchlight's triumph. RR
By Jonathan Abarbanel, Mary Shen Barnidge and Rick Reed