The Tall Boy, Stage 773, through Dec. 15The celebrated talent behind this touring show ( Tandy Cronyn, Kay Boyle, Simon Bent ) create a tragedy you'll take away with you, of children twice orphaned by war, abroad and at home. MSB
The First Deep Breath, Victory Gardens, through Dec. 22August Wilson and Chitlin Circuit comedy influence Edward Lee Colston's long, overwrought yet entirely engrossing family epic; a luminously acted world premiere marking Colston as one to watch. JA
The Winter Wolf, Otherworld Theater, through Dec. 29Death lurks in winter's cold and darkness, but our brave young heroine drives the wolf from the door in Joseph Zettelmaier's 70-minute holiday fantasy, back for Year Two. MSB
Rutherford and Son, Timeline Theatre, through Jan 12Githa Sowerby's 1912 hit remains riveting drama in 2019, portraying a wealthy English industrial family ( perhaps her own ) crushed by an oppressive, ethically bankrupt patriarch. MSB
By Mary Shen Barnidge and Jonathan Abarbanel