Presented by Crowded Kitchen Players at the Charles A. Brown Ice House, 56 River St., Bethlehem, through June 16,  regional playwright Paul Kodiak’s moving and thoughtful play takes an unflinching look at the devastating effect mental illness can have on loved ones.

John Corl is heartbreaking as Army veteran Oscar, who is the one struggling with dementia. Corl skillfully conveys Oscar’s inner turmoil as he grapples with his overwhelming memories of his time in World War II that threaten to make him relive the war.

As Oscar’s wife Lucy, Pamela Wallace also effectively conveys a wide range of emotions. She is in love with her husband of more than 50 years but is helpless and frustrated when she feels like she can no longer find “her Oscar.”

Audiences get a poignant glimpse of Corl’s Oscar before dementia began taking over, in a flashback from four years earlier. In the flashback, Oscar is sweet, playful and romantic with an attentive Lucy when they have a rendezvous on a park bench after Oscar gets off work..

“West Side Story” continues through June 16 at the college’s Lipkin Theater, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem Township.

Mutimer, who was the producing artistic director and founder of the summer program, died March 6. In honor of Mutimer, this year's summer theater was officially designated with his name. He was also remembered before the show started.

“West Side Story” is an exuberant and heartfelt production that is elevated by the outstanding choreography by Christina Sohns Williams, that is energetically danced by the talented cast.

Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival kicks off its 33rd season with an uproariously entertaining “The Play That Goes Wrong” through June 16 on the Main Stage Theatre, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, 2755 Station Avenue, Center Valley.

“The Play That Goes Wrong,”a new collaboration between the festival and 1812 Productions, Philadelphia’s all comedy theater company is wonderfully hilarious with one of the funniest casts I’ve seen in a long time that had me laughing even before the show officially started.

Pennsylvania Playhouse stages a satisfyingly gritty and unsettling production of “Cabaret” through June 16 at the playhouse at 390 Illick’s Mill Road, Bethlehem.

Billed as an immersive production, entertainers from the play’s Kit Kat Club greet audience members as they approach the theater and inside the lobby before the show. Performers also roam around inside the theater posing on the railing and dancing on the stage prior to the show’s start. The five-person band, led by music director Liam Mulligan (a welcome return of live musician to the playhouse) are on stage and entertaining before the show, adding to the immersive feel.