Bootleg Shakespeare. A true story about a radium-poisoning scandal. A black comedy whose characters include a talking apartment and a ghostly Justin Timberlake. Those are some of the enticements that Richmond-area theaters will present in the 2009-10 season. Firehouse Theatre Project artistic director Carol Piersol might have been speaking for many company leaders when she said of her play-selection process, “I make a pile of plays that hit me in the gut - and then I try to get variety.“

A modern Irish classic within 20 years of its first production, Brian Friel’s “Translations,“ first performed in 1980, is a tightly knit ensemble work that derives considerable dramatic action from the theme of change that tears at the fabric of the small community of Ballybeg. But it is ultimately, and more importantly, about language. “Translations” is a fitting stimulus for the intellect that raises relevant questions about language and culture, and about hegemony—one nation’s political and cultural dominance over another.

Flaws in ‘Steal Away’ undercut fine actresses Ramona King’s 1981 play “Steal Away” is subtitled “A Folktale” in its published version, but Sycamore Rouge’s new production of it has the wishful title “A Folk Comedy.“ It’s not very comical; rather, it’s a creakily concocted tale about some folks in Chicago during the Depression. Or, as folks are starting to call it, the First Depression.

It’s Christmas and—uh-oh—time again for “A Christmas Carol,“ the perennial holiday cash cow for theaters everywhere. “Inspecting Carol” is the 1991 effort by Daniel Sullivan and the Seattle Repertory Theatre to wring a twist on the old Charles Dickens chestnut by conflating it with Nikolai Gogol’s comedy “The Government Inspector” and Michael Frayn’s farce “Noises Off.“