The Effect, Strawdog Theatre Company, through Nov. 23: Is love in the brain or in the mind, playwright Lucy Prebble asks, and can it save two human guinea pigs (and their handlers) in a pharma trial? MSB
Sunset Boulevard, Porchlight Music Theatre, through Dec. 8: Sure, love or hate composer Andrew Lloyd Webber—I think this one of his best scores—but ya’ gotta’ love Hollis Resnik pouring heart into desperate, dangerous, deranged Norma Desmond. JA
—By Mary Shen Barnidge and Jonathan Abarbanel