Staged reading reveals parallels between Greek tragedies, modern wars

A proud war veteran who feels betrayed by his country's leaders and haunted by his experiences contemplates suicide when the fighting ends. Another veteran is wounded as he prepares for battle, but instead of receiving proper medical care, he's left on his own in horrible pain and increasing bitterness. Stories of soldiers who have served in Afghanistan or Iraq? Actually, these tales come from plays written over 2,500 years ago in ancient Greece. But the characters and drama from Sophocles' "Ajax" and "Philoctetes," experts say, touch on many of the same issues faced by soldiers in modern war.

Weekend Planner - Theater

A dramatic epic crammed with philosophy, psychology, history and politics, Goethe's "Faust" is rarely performed as a stagework in its entirety since it runs to an estimated 21 hours. New York actor Glen Williamson, however, has boiled it all down for you into an easy-to-handle 90-minute opus he calls "Beat the Devil! Faust, the Whole Story."

Lily Tomlin (and her cast of characters) find humor in life's absurdities

It's been over 40 years since Lily Tomlin first caught the public's attention via key comedic roles on TV's "Laugh-In" - like Edith Ann, a precocious 5½-year-old who waxed philosophical about life, and Ernestine, an obnoxious telephone switchboard operator with a simpering voice who delighted in harassing callers. Since then she has performed in films and on Broadway as well as on TV, walking away with a slew of awards, including six Emmys. Tomlin brings her act to the Calvin Theatre in Northampton on Friday in a show that begins at 8 p.m.

• Click here for Lily Tomlin & Jane Wagner

UMass theater practices welcome restraint in 'Midsummer Night's Dream'

Last week, I spent five or six hours running around a large and hilly New England college campus in 80-degree heat, meeting with professors and trying to decide whether to enter a graduate program there this fall.

Kathleen Mellen's Best Bets

ALIVE WITH DANCE

Turns out some students at UMass are stretching a lot more than their minds. Among those toiling on the Amherst campus are talented up-and-coming choreographers who study in an intensive dance program led by a renowned faculty. Tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. at UMass' Bowker Auditorium, "Alive With Dance" offers senior dancers a chance to present their creations to the public. Then, from April 26 to 28 at 8 p.m., at the Hampshire College Dance Studio Theater, an "Emerging Choreographers Series" will highlight new works by University Dancers and other Five College dancers. 545-2511

Kathleen Mellen's best bets

FOREST FAIRIES

If there's a lesson to be learned from William Shakespeare's comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream," it's gotta be: Don't trust the fairies.

In the Bard's madcap romp through an Athenian forest, young lovers and actors are mercilessly manipulated by the supernatural sprites, including the mischievous Puck.

ACT shines light on history of 'Radium Girls'

In the Roaring '20s, radium was considered a miracle cure, glow-in-the-dark watches were all the rage and Madame Curie was an international celebrity.