‘My Man Kono’
The New York Times once described Charlie Chaplin’s longtime assistant, Toraichi Kono, as “the keeper of his privacy.” An immigrant from Japan who made fleeting appearances in Chaplin films, this “combination valet, bodyguard and chauffeur” is the title character of Philip W. Chung’s historically based play, which follows Kono’s fortunes as he is suspected of espionage and imprisoned in an internment camp during World War II. Jeff Liu directs the world premiere for Pan Asian Repertory Theater. (Through March 9, A.R.T./New York Theaters)
‘Grangeville’
This new two-hander by the Obie Award winner Samuel D. Hunter (“A Case for the Existence of God”) stars Brian J. Smith and Paul Sparks as estranged brothers with different fathers, discrete wounds and far-flung lives — one in their Idaho hometown, the other in a city thousands of miles away. But they have a shared filial task: caring for their sick mother. Jack Serio (“Uncle Vanya”) directs for Signature Theater. (Through March 16, Signature Theater)
‘Dakar 2000’
The Obie-winning playwright Rajiv Joseph (“Guards at the Taj”) spent three years serving in the Peace Corps in Senegal. That country is the setting for his new thriller, about a Peace Corps volunteer who finds himself under the protection of a State Department operative as the year 2000 approaches. May Adrales directs this world premiere for Manhattan Theater Club. (Through March 23, New York City Center)
‘Curse of the Starving Class’
The New Group can be relied on to sprinkle its shows with stars, and so it goes with this revival of Sam Shepard’s 1977 Obie winner, a poetic tragicomedy about a family living the flip side of the American dream. Directed by Scott Elliott, it’s led by Calista Flockhart as Ella Tate and Christian Slater as her drunken, combustible husband, Weston. Cooper Hoffman, whose father starred in Shepard’s “True West” on Broadway, plays their teenage son. (Through March 30, Pershing Square Signature Center)
‘Liberation’
Bess Wohl, who so deftly traced an older woman’s feminist awakening in her Broadway comedy, “Grand Horizons,” here tells a mother-daughter story, stretching from Ohio in 1970, during the era of women’s consciousness-raising groups, to a half-century later. In a world-premiere production for Roundabout Theater Company, Whitney White directs a cast that includes Betsy Aidem, Susannah Flood and Kristolyn Lloyd. The show contains nudity, and audience members are required to place their phones in locked pouches during the performance. (Through March 30, Laura Pels Theater)
