I WAS MOST ALIVE WITH YOU The world premiere of Craig Lucas’s intricate, frequently absorbing, occasionally sluggish new drama, enacted in spoken word and American Sign Language, about the struggles of a Southern California family to cope and to communicate when adversity hits, and hits, and hits again. Through June 26. Huntington Theatre Company at Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. 617-266-0800, www.huntington theatre.org

KURIOS: CABINET OF CURIOSITIES This Cirque du Soleil show conjures an entrancing world that is equal parts steampunk fantasia, “Alice in Wonderland,’’ Federico Fellini, and Jules Verne. That world is brought to vaulting life by performers who find loopholes in the laws of gravity, physics, and probability while using their bodies to deliver a geometry lesson. Through July 10. Cirque du Soleil at the Big Top, Suffolk Downs, East Boston. 877-924-7783, www.cirquedu soleil.com/kurios

PETER AND THE STARCATCHER Turns out there is a cure for Peter Pan fatigue, and it can be found in Rick Elice’s whimsical, family-friendly prequel, which explores how an unnamed orphan was transformed into The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. There are no special effects to speak of in Spiro Veloudos’s high-spirited, low-tech, hard-to-resist production, unless you consider charm a special effect. Added bonus: The return to a Boston stage of the gifted Erica Spyres (pictured with, from left, Tyler Simahk, Marc Pierre, and Matt Spano). Through June 26. Lyric Stage Company of Boston. 617-585-5678, www.lyricstage.com DON AUCOIN

Don Aucoin can be reached at aucoin@globe.com.