Slip into something comfortable on a stage near you

Though many theaters go on hiatus in the summer, three troupes are keeping local marquees lit with new productions of these well-known works:

Though infrequently produced here since the Seattle Repertory Theatre presented it in 1993, John Guare's tragicomedy still has the potential to raise provocative questions about contemporary ethos.

The 1990 play, a hit on Broadway and the basis of an absorbing 1993 film with Stockard Channing, centers on a well-heeled Manhattan couple who take in a charming, young black con man.

He claims to be a college friend of one of their kids, as well as the son of movie star Sidney Poitier. And when the charade is exposed, the unsettling hoax puts into relief the widespread fixation with celebrity, the hypocrisy of posh and "progressive" Upper West Siders, and the enigmatic psyche of an artful charlatan.

The Repertory Actors Theatre (ReAct) is presenting the play at Richard Hugo House, and you have to admire the company's tenacity. Within the past two years, ReAct (which emphasizes cross-racial casting, and donates part of every show's proceeds to charity) has been subjected to three burglaries: one at Richard Hugo, another at the Bathhouse Theater and a third at a rental storage facility.

Despite losing most of its technical equipment, props and other valuables, spunky ReAct soldiers on, says founder-director David Hsieh, who is staging "Six Degrees of Separation."

Theater previews

The thefts were, Hsieh notes, "discouraging and heartbreaking at times, but the shows still went on and the theater community has been very supportive." He adds that wherever ReAct performs now, "We bring our own locks, and we're very, very careful about locking everything up securely!"

"Six Degrees of Separation" plays through July 30 at Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave., Seattle (www.reacttheatre.org or 206-364-3283).

In a season of recycled hit shows from the past, Taproot is presenting (for the third time) this folksy musical, which transcends its cornball premise.

A glorified church concert circa 1938, "Smoke on the Mountain" (a popular show around the country, and longstanding hit in country-music mecca Branson, Mo.) features a generous spread of tried-and-true bluegrass gospel tunes ("I'll Fly Away," "Church in the Wildwood"), as performed by a fictional Ozarks singing clan.

And Connie Ray's entertaining script treats the Depression-era travails of these not-so-simple folk with gentle humor and genuine affection.

An added bonus at Taproot is the encore presence of musical director-performer Edd Key and his singer wife, Theresa Holmes, who keep those homespun sounds (think: the soundtrack for "O Brother, Where Art Thou?") flowing.

"Smoke on the Mountain" plays Wednesday-Aug. 12 at Taproot Theatre, 204 N. 85th St., Seattle (www.taproottheatre.org or 206-781-9707).

Ship ahoy! The ardent local Savoyards devoted to the "topsy turvy" operettas of William S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan are dusting off one of the best-known.

Last presented by Seattle's G&S Society in 1998, the show happily plunders swashbuckling lore for a delectably absurd yarn about the sweetest, most sensitive band of singing pirates you'd ever want to meet up with.

The gang includes Frederic, an awfully nice young British brigand who falls hard for pretty Mabel, the daughter of a "very model of a modern major general" in the Queen's Navy. Though the company is amateur, you can expect from them a full-dress treatment of the musical.

"Pirates of Penzance" runs July 14-29 at the Bagley Wright Theatre, Seattle Center (www.pattersong.org or 206-341-9612).

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com