The stage is set

Actors are rehearsing, curtains soon will rise and the fall arts season will be in full swing. Here's a roundup of the first of many performances:

Some companies are sharing resources to stretch budgets, while others are celebrating finally being home again.

'Circle Mirror Transformation' by Pure

A prime example is that Pure Theatre, which has been searching for a home, will open its season Sept. 3 at the Charleston Ballet Theatre's studio/theater on King Street.

"We were so lucky to perform at the Circular Congregational Church's Lance Hall for two years, and are so very grateful to the church for having us," says PURE co-founder Sharon Graci. "Jill Bahr and Patti Cantwell at CBT have graciously offered their space to us when they are not using it, and we are thrilled."

PURE's eighth season-opener is Annie Baker's new play, "Circle Mirror Transformation," which won a 2010 Obie Award and other off-Broadway honors.

A professional actor who for 29 years appeared in hundreds of regional and off-Broadway plays in the New York area, Randy Neale says, "Since moving here in 1996, I've been in four plays at PURE and feel so lucky to be in this one."

Fittingly enough, it is an acting class that provides the impetus for "Circle Mirror Transformation," and Neale teaches drama and other classes at Charleston Collegiate School.

Graci, the show's director, says the script traces the lives of a handful of small-town Vermont residents who gather each week to attend an acting class taught at the local community center. As time passes, exercises required in the class end up shaping the participants' lives in significant ways.

Neale says he thinks this play requires an unusual style of acting. "The script requires a subtle type of acting, no histrionics or overblown outbursts, just a very natural type of dialogue, which I really admire."

Neale portrays James, husband of Marty, who co-directs the town's community center.

"James is an economics professor who doesn't care about acting but who is roped into joining the class by his wife," Neale says. "As the small class meets once a week for six weeks, the members learn personal information about each other as the acting exercises reveal human frailties."

Other cast members are: Paul Whitty, Carri Schawb, Pam Galle and Sullivan Graci Hamilton.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 3 and 4, 10, 11 and 16-18, and at 2 p.m. Sept. 12 at the Charleston Ballet Theatre, 477 King St.

Tickets are $20-$30 with $15 student tickets 30 minutes before show time. Tickets may be purchased by calling 866-811-4111, online at www.puretheatre.org or at the door.

'Is He Dead?' by Footlight Players

Are you worth more dead than alive?

Mark Twain seemed to think so in "Is He Dead?" an unpublished farce he penned in 1898. Discovered by Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin, the play was adapted for Broadway by experimental playwright David Ives ("All in the Timing").

Greg Tavares, co-founder of The Have Nots! and Theatre 99, directs "Is He Dead?" as the opener of The Footlight Players' 79th season, which begins Friday.

Set in 1846, the story takes place in Barbizon, France, where a group of financially strapped artists decide to help Jean-Francois Millet, an undiscovered genius artist threatened with debtor's prison.

The artists hope to increase the value of Millet's work by publicizing his "death" and throwing a full-scale fake funeral. But a surprise guest attends.

Playing the "dead" artist is College of Charleston senior Peter Galle. A philosophy major, Galle says, "Philosophy and acting are inextricably related. Philosophy asks us to look into the interior of our lives, and acting asks us to look into the interior of a character's life."

Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sept. 2, 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11, and at 3 p.m. Sunday and Sept. 12 at 20 Queen St. Tickets are $25 for the general public; $22 for senior citizens and $15 for students. To purchase, call 722-4487 or visit www.etix.com.

'Cymbeline' by College of Charleston theatre

" 'Cymbeline's' plot is much like a modern adventure film such as an 'Indiana Jones' movie, but with Shakespeare's beautiful language," says Todd McNerney, chairman of the College of Charleston's theater department and director of Shakespeare's "Cymbeline," currently playing at the college.

The play tells of virtuous young princess Imogen, the rightful heir to Cymbeline's kingdom, who must overcome mistaken identities, an evil stepmother and epic battles to claim her right. The cast includes Evan Parry, David Hallat, Susie Hallat, Robbie Thomas, Samantha Pedings and George Metropolis.

Performances are at 8 p.m. Sept. 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7, and at 3 p.m. Sept. 5 in the Robinson Theatre on campus. Tickets are $15 and $10 and may be purchased by calling 953-5604 or at the door.

'Hairspray' by Charleston Stage

Give it a spritz.

Charleston Stage celebrates its 33rd season at the newly restored Dock Street Theatre with a rendition of "Hairspray," and that's no tease.

The inimitable John Waters' 1988 cult classic film told the tale of a Baltimore girl with a heart and passion as outsized as her hair. At the time, it was a surprising turn toward PG country from the schocky shockmeister, but the story's engaging meld of satire and nostalgia was almost immediately embraced by denizens of the musical theater.

Now it's a stage classic as well.

Opening Sept. 3 at 7:30 p.m. and running through Sept. 19, "Hairspray" centers on the "pleasantly plump" Tracy Turnblad, for whom dancing is the centerpiece of life. When the popular "Corny Collins Show" heralds a dance competition for America's next teen dance star, Turnblad jumps at the chance to put on the pumps and realize a dream. But in an era of persisting racial and class divisions, she must vault over these barriers, capture the regard of heartthrob Link Larkin and even spend the night in jail to achieve her ends.

"Hairspray" features a hit score including "Good Morning Baltimore," "You Can't Stop the Beat" and "The Nicest Kids in Town," with music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman. Spoken dialogue (the "book," in stage parlance) is by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan.

Marybeth Clark directs the Charleston Stage production, with musical direction by Amanda Wansa and choreography by Lindsey Lamb Archer. Starring are Mary-E Godfrey as Tracy Turnblad, Nicholas Piccola as Link Larkin, Ira Lindberg Harris as Seaweed, Allison Schnake as Amber Von Tussle, Tamia Horton as Lil' Inez and Crystin Gillmore as Motormouth Maybelle.Additional performances are slated for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 4, 8-11 and 16-18, and 3 p.m. Sunday and Sept. 12 and 19.

Tickets are $38-$52 for adults, $36-$52 for seniors (60+), $22-$52 for students. Call 856-5316 or visit www.charlestonstage.com.