As a bit of a supplement to Lance Lusk’s fall preview, here are the upcoming shows I’m most excited to see in the order of the level of my excitement. My excitement level is generally based more on how I feel about the particular play or playwright, with less emphasis on the company putting on the production. Let’s do this.

Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw at Stage West (Oct. 20-Nov. 27). A lot of Stage West’s upcoming season thrills me (The Real Thing, one of my favorite Stoppard plays, and Joe Orton’s What the Butler Saw), but nothing gets me more than the first show— the delightful Arms and the Man, which actually happens to be my favorite play of all time. My copy is tattered and worn, the pages are creased and highlighted. I have lines of dialogue memorized. It’s also well-loved by others, with six Broadway runs since its first production in 1894, but Stage West’s space should give it a good home. Casting is clearly key in all productions, but I think it’s especially important here. Fingers crossed.

Bad Dates by Theresa Rebeck at Contemporary Theatre of Dallas (Oct. 21-Nov. 13). I love this playwright to the point of insane writer envy. I lamented not too long ago that none of the theaters around town were doing any of Rebeck’s work, and lo and behold, here comes CTD with her one-woman one act about a single mother recently transplanted to New York and attempting to date again. Rebeck is consistently hilarious, and more than that, she speaks to certain “way we live now” issues better than any other writer I can think of at this particular moment. She does it with dark humor and (occasionally) Franz Kafka jokes, creating characters  fueled by an appealing mix of vitriol, love, and disappointment with acute predisposition to misanthropy. Her latest full length play, Seminar, just moved to Broadway with a seriously stellar cast (Alan Rickman, Lily Rabe, Hamish Linklater), so, you know. Rebeck should be on your radar, and this one act should be an excellent vehicle for actress Shannon J. McGrann.

In The Next Room, Or the Vibrator Play by Sarah Ruhl at Kitchen Dog Theatre (Sep. 9-Oct. 8). Another writer I quite enjoy, and Kitchen Dog gives this semi-historical comedy (a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize and nominated for three Tony Awards) its regional premiere.  The early 1900s might have brought us light bulbs, but it also shoved something else into the spotlight: the vibrator, a formerly hand-cranked clinical tool used to treat the disease of female hysteria. (The one in the play is powered by the electric mystery stuff, in case you were wondering.) To me, Ruhl is deft and very funny, and the worlds she creates look a lot like ours only perhaps more eloquently defined. The rules are solid, but delightfully permeable at the same time. Anyway, I’m ready for a laugh that requires (or at least inspires) some thought.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde at Wingspan Theatre Company (Oct. 6-Oct. 22). WingSpan has a mission I’m generally leery of— an emphasis on plays written by or about women. I like women. I am one. But I’m in the Theresa Rebeck camp that protests the need to make the distinction between playwrights and female playwrights. Regardless, The Importance of Being Earnest fits their bill, sort of, as the role of Lady Bracknell is formidable despite its actually rather small size. But it’s Algernon, a male, who gets all the best lines. Stolen Shakespeare Guild tried their hand at Earnest last year, the Roundabout Theatre Company recently closed a wonderful production of it on Broadway, and now we’ll see it at the Bath House. It’s such a popular play that people make the mistake of thinking it’s easy to do, which I think is just one of Wilde’s excellent deceptions.

Image: Max Hartman (Dr. Givings), Martha Harms (Mrs. Givings), & Austin Tindle (Leo) in Kitchen Dog’s In The Next Room, Or the Vibrator Play (Photo: Matt Mrozek)