By WOMEN’S THEATRE INITIATIVE

Chris Guthrie (right) and Shannon Rae Lutz perform in a brand new play for Women's Theatre Initiative, Dreampuffs of War

For a midsized city, Cincinnati has a vibrant theater scene. In fact, during the traditional season (September to May), it's hard to keep up with productions -- as a critic, I often attend two or three productions weekly. With the exception of venues presenting more mainstream summer fare (like musicals on the Showboat Majestic or at the Covedale Center, in addition to dinner theater productions at NKU), the pace in the summer is definitely slower. But the groups with attitude, spark and message are still at work, making July the perfect time to check out their offerings, especially if you've not seen them perform during the year. I have five productions to recommend:

DREAMPUFFS OF WAR (July 14-23, Columbia Performance Center). I'm sure you've never heard of this play, since it's brand new. It's being staged by the Women's Theatre Initiative (WTI) at a funky former church in the East End. Jennifer Haley's whimsical story about a woman going off to war is getting its world premiere. It's a piece that explores fantasies about wartime that include romance, sex, food and pets. Haley will be in Cincinnati to work with director Kate Wilford and a cast including Mary Tensing, Chris Guthrie and Shannon Rae Lutz. This is your chance to see a play that's still evolving. Tickets: 513-604-8545.

STICKS AND STONES MAY... (July 21-Aug. 13, Gabriel's Corner). The Know Theatre Tribe presents its shows in a church basement in Over-the-Rhine (1425 Sycamore St. at Liberty). This double-bill features two works by young local playwrights, commissioned by the Know, that focus on issues of diversity. Both pieces are built around on one concept -- the human mind. In the first, David Tucholski's Strong Force, a man struggles against cancer. In Jennifer Spillane's Refraction another man retreats into solitude but finds his isolation frequently disrupted. Tickets: 513-300-5669.

THE COMPLEAT WRKS OF WLLM SHKSPR (ABRIDGED) (July 21-Aug. 7, Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival). Maybe you're put off by the notion that Shakespearean plays will be heavy-handed, full of language you can't understand. That's really not true, especially in the hands of CSF's energetic and talented actors. But when three of them -- Rob Jansen, Joshua Neth and Jeff Sanders -- undertake this now-classic send-up of all 37 plays in less than two hours ... well, you're in for an evening of true hilarity, even if you don't know the "canon" from beginning to end. There's a bit of Rap, some cross-dressing, football (trust me) and lots of fun. These actors have lived and breathed the real thing, so they each have a certified license to poke fun. Tickets: 513-381-2273.

THE WATER CHILDREN (July 22-30, Fifth Third Bank Theater at the Aronoff Center). Ovation Theatre Company has a knack for unearthing plays that tackle controversial topics and open up dialogue without raising hackles. Wendy MacLeod's play explores the sensitive issue of abortion, presenting many perspectives and maintaining a sense of good humor. Christine Brunner plays an actress with liberal views who's cast in a commercial for a pro-life group; she has to wrestle with events from her past, attitudes in the present and a future that's up in the air. Tickets: 513-621-2787.

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (July 28-Aug. 6, Contemporary Arts Center). New Stage Collective is an ambitious group of young performers, mostly college theater majors who graduated from Cincinnati area high schools. This is their third summer of presenting shows that push the artistic envelop, and they're wrapping up their two-show summer season with their most ambitious production ever -- the Cincinnati premiere of Stephen Sondheim's 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, a work inspired by the life of Impressionist painter Georges Seurat. This one is all about making art -- the second act is about Seurat's great-grandson, another frustrated artist -- so it's especially fitting that New Stage is staging the show, using a multimedia approach, in the CAC's below-the-street black box theater. Tickets: 513-345-8405. ©

More Premieres in ETC's 20th Season
Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati has, at long last, announced its 2005-2006 season. Because ETC traffics in new plays, it's often a challenge to assemble a collection of shows that will materialize in a timely manner. Sometimes shows are still being written or refined, while others are so new that gaining permission to present them takes a while.

Nevertheless, ETC's D. Lynn Meyers has a great track record of getting early opportunities -- sometimes the first outside of New York City -- to present plays that eventually come to stages in other cities. Last season she hit the mark twice with The Exonerated and I Am My Own Wife, in addition to pulling up an excellent piece by Donald Margulies, Sight Unseen, from 1992 that hadn't been produced locally.

Meyers' subscribers seem to have a lot of confidence in the Over-the-Rhine theater; even before the season announcement, 60 percent of the regulars had already signed up for the company's 20th season. Apparently they agree with one of ETC's board members who told Meyers, "We like surprises."

Here's what they'll see:

INTIMATE APPAREL by Lynn Nottage (Sept. 7-25), a story about the dangers love, as experienced by an African-American woman in New York City a century ago. Esther, who will be played by Dayton actress Monica Williams, creates lavish undergarments for wealthy socialites and women of ill repute. It becomes what Meyers calls a "no-holds barred romance" when she receives a letter from a Caribbean stranger. Winner of the 2004 American Theatre Critics Association's Steinberg New Play Prize.

PERMANENT COLLECTION by Thomas Gibbons (Oct. 12-30). Inspired by a real and current controversy at a Philadelphia art museum, this regional premiere offers a provocative drama about a newly appointed African-American director and a museum's longtime Caucasian education director. Directed by the Cincinnati Playhouse's Michael E. Haney.

CINDERELLA by Joseph McDonough (book) and Fitz Patton (music) (Nov. 30-Dec. 30). A world premiere version of the classic fairytale told in a new way. Meyers says, "We create our holiday shows with 2,000 kids in the neighborhood in mind. They need to see something that relates to them." This version of Cinderella suggests that if the shoe fits it might be the wrong size.

MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS by Ron Hutchinson (March 8-26, 2006). A behind-the-scenes account of the frenetic collaboration between legendary film producer David O. Selznick, director Victor Fleming and screenwriter Ben Hecht as they prepare the screenplay for Gone With The Wind, one of the most popular cinematic epics of all time. This regional premiere originated at Chicago's Goodman Theater and had a successful run recently at the Manhattan Theatre Club. Directed by Drew Fracher.

WAYFARER'S REST by Joseph McDonough (April 26-May 14, 2006). Cincinnati's own playwright has earned two world premieres from Cincinnati theaters next spring. ETC will present the story of an American woman in rural England during World War II. She meets two strangers in a cabin deep in a forest who can tell her future. The cast will include ETC favorites Annie Fitzpatrick and Bruce Cromer. (McDonough's Stone My Heart is premiering at the Playhouse April 6-30 as the 2006 Mickey Kaplan New Play Prize winner.

Meyers has two plays she's weighing for her late January/early February slot and another she might stage during the 2006 Fringe Festival in early June. She also promises a variety of "sudden opportunities," readings and workshops that give local audiences a glimpse into works in progress. -- RICK PENDER