It is only fitting that as Lakewood Playhouse stages plays for its 70th season it should go old school with one of its works. Such is the case with its current production.



The community theater is staging Macbeth, the William Shakespeare tale of murder, betrayal, blind ambition and the state of the human condition in a world based on turmoil. There are sword fights, lies and deception, which all plays by the Bard seem to have. And, of course, there is the poetic dialogue that streams from the stage to the ears with underlining messages and double meanings for anyone who cares to listen to the language behind the words.



The show is directed by Lakewood’s ably minded and talented Associate Managing Artistic Director Scott Campbell.



Key roles in the cast are filled by drawing from the increasingly deepening pool of South Sound talent and from one notable exception.



The title role is played by Bryan Bender, who is likely best known to local audiences for his version of Mozart in last year’s hit Amadeus. Macbeth’s love interest is played by Rebecca Wood, a professional actor who is appearing at the community theater under a special appearance contract with Actor’s Equity, courtesy of an anonymous donor.



“We are excited to bring Ms. Wood to our stage,” said Campbell, “and were fortunate to receive anonymous underwriting for the cost of her contract.”



Trained at Juilliard School of Drama, Wood has recently been filming a series called “Federation One,” an offshoot of “Star Trek Hidden Frontier” franchise in which she has had three recurring roles during the last six years. She also holds a certificate in Shakespeare performance from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and spent three seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where she was in Noises Off, A Winter’s Tale, Taming of the Shrew, and Life is a Dream.



Macbeth runs at 8 p.m. Friday, Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 16. There is a pay-what-you-can performance at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, and an actor benefit matinee at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16. Tickets are $14 to $22 with special discounts for seniors, military, and anyone under the age of 25. Lakewood Playhouse is located at 5729 Lakewood Towne Center Blvd. , next to the Pierce Transit Center in the heart of the Lakewood Towne Center. For information, call the Lakewood Playhouse Box Office at 253.588.0042 or visit www.lakewood playhouse.org.



For something a bit different, this weekend is the last chance to see Encore! Theater’s version of Nunsense, a musical comedy written by Dan Goggin about a gaggle of habit wearers in search of a way to raise money after one of their own, Sister Julia, Child of God, has accidentally killed 52 members of her convent with some contaminated vichyssoise soup. The surviving nuns are able to bury 48 of their sisters while the remaining four find themselves stashed away in the freezer until the live nuns can raise enough money to bury them.



The cast includes: Mother Superior (Deborah Emans); Sister Mary Hubert (Teri DeShon); Sister Mary Leo (Megan McCormick); Sister Robert Anne (Lillian Amrine); Sister Amnesia (Anna Ellsworth) and Sister Mary Myopia (Michelle DeShon).



The show runs at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Sunday. On Oct. 31, a prize will be given to the audience member with the best costume. The indoor theater is located at 6615 38th Ave. N.W., Gig Harbor. Tickets are $6 to $15. Call 253.858.2282 or visit www.encoretheater.org.



The Three Penny Opera, a light opera about the clash between the classes, is ending its run at Capital Playhouse in Olympia this weekend.Tickets are $23 to $35; 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday; Capital Playhouse, 612 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia; 360.943.2744 or www.capitalplayhouse.com.



The Olympia Family Theater presents Roald Dahl’s The BFG (Big Friendly Giant), a story of Sophie, a lonely orphan, who hears that the child-chewing giants are “flush-bunking” off to England to “swollomp” some “human beans.” She then decides that she and the giant must stop them once and for all. The show runs at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday and at 1 and 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 2, $8 to $15, South Puget Sound Community College’s Minnaert Performing Arts Center, 2011 Mottman Rd. S.W., Olympia. www.olyft.org.