ongoing - Sun. Feb. 7

 "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

So ends F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby." Since it was written in 1925, this timeless tale of love and loss has become a staple in schools and a book that thousands turn to again and again. It is a human story and a super-human story and it is a book that few can put down once they start. Such is the premise of “GATZ,” a play that is being brought to the American Repertory Theater by the internationally-acclaimed company Elevator Repair Service (www.elevator.org) through Sun. Feb. 7 at the Loeb Drama Center.

In this marathon six-hour performance (which is presented with two parts separated by a dinner interlude), a typical Everyman finds a copy of Fitzgerald’s masterwork in his office and, instead of using his time for company business, begins to read. As with so many readers of the story of the mysterious life of Jay Gatsby (ne Gatz), he cannot put it down. In fact, the more he reads, the more he sees how the lives in the book reflect those in the real world. The more he reads, the more the worlds of reality and fiction blend and the more is revealed in both.

 ongoing Sun. Feb – 7

I met Arthur Miller once. It was at an A.R.T. party with a lot of other theater world notables. I was covering the event for the Globe, writing what was then called "Names & Faces." (Now that it has more faces on the page, it’s been renamed "Names.") When I was introduced to Miller, my head was spinning with possible things to say/ask. I mean, Lord … As it turned out, I probably mumbled something along the lines of "pleased to meet you, it’s an honor." Which was certainly better than I might have blurted out: "You were married to Marilyn Monroe! What was that like?"

If I’d asked about theatre, he might have responded, "The production of a new play, I have often thought, is like another chance in life, a chance to emerge cleansed of ones imperfections." He did say that to someone, once.

This is recalled because Miller’s "All My Sons" - it ran for 328 shows on Broadway when it opened and won a Tony - is up at the Huntington Theatre through Sun. Feb. 7 and it remains, under the direction of David Esbjornson, one of the most emotionally wrenching and powerful plays you’d care to see.

Thurs. Feb. 4

 "If you don't want a wild one/Quit hangin' 'round with me," sings one of the three gals who goes by the surname Darlin. Later, another (the same?) Darlin sings, "I'm drivin' nails in my coffin/Every time I drink a bottle of booze/I'm drivin' nails in my coffin/Though I'm drivin' those nails over you." And then there's a song that proclaims proudly, but with some shame, that one of Those Darlins ate a whole damn chicken. "Not just the leg/Not just the wing/The whole damn thing!" They blame it on the booze. Those Darlins are bassist Kelley Darlin, guitarist Jessi Darlin and Nikki Darlin on, yes, baritone ukulele. You'd probably call 'em an alt-country group, but the Darlins opt for pop/2 step/garage on their myspace page. By picking the same last name, the mini-skirted Darlins, of course, reference the brothers Ramone. A gang. In it together. All equal. As Kelley says, “I think we approach things in a unique way, a very egalitarian way, where there’s not the lead singer and ego and all that.”Or as Nikki puts it, “We perform, the three of us, and we’re straight in a row on the front of the stage.  No one’s holding back.”  I'd say that punk rock informs their attitude, but this trio from Murfreesboro, Tenn. - which has a drummer of indeterminte gender somewhere in the mix - is a country group in the same way the Knitters is a country group.. They play T.T. the Bear's Thursday Feb. 4. with the Pine Hill Haints opening around 9. Tix: $10.

10 Brookline St., Cambridge, 617-492-0082 www.ttthebears.com

ongoing – Feb. 7

   “Nothing will bring you closer to reality than facing your own mortality,” says artist David Rosen.
       This is something he knows intimately.  We caught up with the 50-year-old South African native and Somerville resident as he was hosting a party in January, celebrating his art show at the restaurant/bar Tremont 647.  The exhibit, up through Feb. 7, is called “David Rosen: Paintings 2008-2009, Zen and the Art of Painting Fearlessly.” On the final day, from 2-4 Rosen will be reading from his work, as well.

 The painter and T-shirt designer was candid about what brought him to this point: Lung cancer. He was diagnosed in late 2008 and went through three months of what he called “full-frontal intensive radiation and chemotherapy” at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
     “I’m still dealing with side effects,” Rosen says, “but look how healthy I am. Cancer was good for my life.”

Sun. Jan. 31 

Damon & Naomi – two locals who’ve made an international rep under their own names and their previous band Galaxie 500 – are playing the Brattle Theatre Sunday Jan. 31 ... with a bit of a wrinkle. They'll be presenting Naomi's new film, "1001 Nights," a travel-logue of the band's adventures from 2001-2009. Not only that, Haden Guest, director of Harvard Film Archives will be on hand for a post-gig Q/A session. (Sharon Van Etten opens the show.). As to Damon & Naomi,  they’ve appeared in a lot of different combinations – including a full-on band – but this one it’s just them and Ghost’s guitarist Masaki Batoh (who’s played with D & M many times going back to ’95),.