On the Boards This Week

IN PREVIEWS

‘night, Mother

Opens Nov. 14

The Royale Theater, 242 W. 45th St.

Tue-Sat 8 p.m.; Wed, Sat 2 p.m.; Sun 3 p.m.

Don’t worry, this isn’t your average mother-daughter
evening at home, and this isn’t your average mother-daughter
relationship. The play begins when Jesse tells her mother over
snacks and bottles of nail polish that before the evening is out,
she’s going to kill herself. Will Jesse’s life end at
the play’s end, after she says “’night
mother” for the last time? Find out for yourself in this
deeply engrossing drama that strives to be as deeply emotional as a
mother-daughter relationship. —Lauren La Torre

OPENINGS

Spatter Pattern (or How I Got Away With It)

Sun, Oct. 31

Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 West 42 St.

Tue-Fri 7:30 p.m.; Sat-Sun 2, 7:30 p.m.

Using grim humor, this psychological thriller is a tale of
mystery and suspense. It tracks the formation of a friendship
between a screenwriter and a university professor accused of a
horrible murder. While the relationship begins out of
self-interest, mutual compassion and trust eventually forms between
the two men. As a result the audience gains an interesting
perspective into the methods of personal connection and survival.
Bell’s play may provide new insight into the relationships we
have with our own professors. —Emily Michal

CLOSINGS

I Am My Own Wife

Closes Oct. 31

The Lyceum Theater, 149 West 45th Street

Tue-Sat 8 p.m.; Wed, Sat 2 p.m.; Sun 3 p.m.

Don’t have any Halloween plans yet? Catch the final
performance of Broadway’s Tony-award-winning drama. Based on
a true story, this play by Doug Wright reveals the enthralling tale
of a German transvestite who manages to survive the Nazis and their
regime. I Am My Own Wife features a cast of forty different
characters—all played by the incredible Jefferson Mays, who
won a Tony for the one-man show. —Lauren La Torre

CAN'T SKIP

Dirty Tricks

With Judith Ivey

The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St.

Tue-Sat 8 p.m.; Sat, Sun 2 p.m.

In case you were looking for the play about the most overlooked
public figure, look no further than John Jeter’s Dirty
Tricks, the show about President Nixon’s Attorney
General’s wife—Margaret Mitchell. The play opens this
Tuesday—in the 32nd year after the incident at Watergate
Hotel and the 30th year after Nixon’s
resignation—starring Judith Ivey as its one-woman cast (she
plays Margaret Mitchell), and taking place in the twilight of
Nixon’s presidency. This not-to-be-missed play about a
not-to-be-missed-again historical figure is a must see.
—Adam Katz