A showcase of four commissioned works created to explore the female experience. Nicolas Lincoln's "Jane" is inspired by the artist's friendships with women, while Maia Maiden's "gangED" seeks to reclaim the negative connotations of the word "gang" and turn it into a celebration of women's community. The program also includes Jennifer Ilse's "Expedition of Coat (and Me)," a solo about growing up in a small town, and Denise Armstead's "DADance," which uses the relationship between horses and humans as a metaphor for the emotional dynamic between the sexes. More event details.

Your parents know Oswalt from his role as Spence on CBS' "The King of Queens." Your little siblings -- and you yourself, if you know what's up -- know him as Remy the rat in Pixar's "Ratatouille." But Oswalt began his career on the standup circuit, and along with fellow jokesters such as Zach Galifianakis and Brian Posehn, has championed the current alt-comic influx. Oswalt's routine muses on various facets of American culture, with his KFC Famous Bowl bit ("failure piles in sadness bowls," he jabs) having clocked more than a million YouTube views. More event details.

Hamlet's unfortunate messengers became grist for Tom Stoppard's absurdist drama. Mixing Shakespeare and Beckett, Stoppard creates an existential waiting room offstage for the characters. John Gaspard directs the show, with Connor Bohne as Rosencrantz and Dietrich Poppen as Guildenstern. More event details.

Theatre Pro Rata stages Shakespeare's battle of the sexes with Amber Bjork portraying the sly Kate and Grant Henderson as Petruchio, the suitor who gets caught in his own trap. Carin Bratlie, Pro Rata's artistic director, has staged this production at Gremlin Theatre. More event details.