A pub, a pint and a play—that’s the concept behind a new Shakespeare series coming to the Press Room in Portsmouth this fall. There are plenty of other new performances on tap all around the Seacoast, as well.

drama
The players behind Shakespeare in Prescott Park were having too much fun to rest for the winter, so they convinced the Press Room to open the brick-and-beam upstairs venue for free play readings over supper and pints for one night each month this fall. The ShakesBEERience line-up commences on Sept. 24 with “As You Like It,” directed by Dan Beaulieu, director of their recent summer show, “Much Ado About Nothing.” Stay for the whole show or a single scene—the actors welcome you as you are, and promise to unpack the language in a fun and accessible way in the easygoing environment.

Elsewhere in more traditional venues, several local companies kick off a new season this time of year. New Hampshire Theatre Project returns to the stage at West End Studio Theatre in November with “Waiting for Godot,” directed by artistic director Genevieve Aichele and featuring the company’s longtime favorites Blair Hundertmark, Peter Motson, CJ Lewis and James Stewart. 

The Players’ Ring fall schedule will feature numerous original local scripts, including “The Upside of Being Down” by Miles Burns, as well as the return of their free play reading series with the acclaimed Generic Theatre, featuring “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams on Oct. 24, and “Life on Other Planets” by Lowell Williams on Nov. 14. Opening on Nov. 30, Generic Theater will also offer a full production of “Little Gem,” a comedy set in contemporary Dublin in which three generations of women share a year of their lives through interconnected monologues. 

Kent Stephens’ Stage Force also returns with a monthly play reading series, landing in the Music Hall Loft on the second Monday of every month. Shows featured include “The Retreat from Moscow” by William Nicholson in October, “Murderers” by Jeffrey Hatcher in November, and the holiday pastiche “Ragpicker’s Dream” in December, with an assortment of poetry, stories and song.  Stephens will also present “Time Stitches,” a set of short theater pieces written as a theatrical accompaniment to Strawbery Banke Museum’s current “Thread” exhibit, featuring fashions old and new. The show opens on Sept. 21 and runs in six performances at various times through Sept. 30, with tickets available through www.strawberybanke.org.

At WEST, the Act One Festival wraps up their three-month residency with two special highlights. Leslie Pasternack, who is now the festival’s associate director, has written and will perform “Clean Room,” featuring one woman, two masks, and characters from the edges of society we sometimes don’t want to see. She’ll also direct “Tragedy: A Tragedy,” a quirky, enigmatic script by Will Eno. Showtimes for these and a handful of other shows, including the “Mama Mia”-like spoof “Who’s Your Daddy?,” are listed at www.actonenh.org.

For those who prefer their drama hauntingly appropriate for Portsmouth’s popular Halloween season, Seacoast Repertory Theatre delivers some spine-chilling thrills the macabre and noir-esque “The Woman in Black,” Oct. 5-28, and The Players’ Ring brings back the popular “Interference,” with a totally revised script and a whole new set of scare tactics, Oct. 19-31, including several late night shows. They’ll also offer the classic “Wait Until Dark,” Oct. 19 to Nov. 4.

on screen
The Music Hall brings the London stage to Portsmouth once a month this fall, with digital screenings of National Theatre London HD in The Music Hall Loft.  Performances beamed across the pond include “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” on Sept. 19; “The Last of the Haussmans” on Oct. 23; and “Timon of Athens” on Nov. 7.

dance
Dance enthusiasts can look forward to State Street Ballet’s performance of “The Secret Garden,” a ballet for all ages inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s famous novel. The show will be at UNH Paul Creative Arts Center in Durham on Thursday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.  The Santa Barbara-based ballet company promises a fusion of dynamic visuals, cutting-edge choreography and shape-shifting costumes set to a cinematic score by Paul Rivera Jr. Tickets are $30 for adults and $10 for ages 17 and under.

comedy
The Music Hall is the place to go for stand-up, with a lineup diverse enough to include Margaret Cho, Bob Newhart and Bernadette Pauley and Al Ducharme. The fall bill also includes a celebrity from closer to home, as Maine-based writer and actor Susan Poulin reprises Ida LeClair (“Woman Who Runs with the Moose”) in a new show, “Ida’s Book Club” at the Music Hall Loft on Sept. 26. 
For local laughs, look for open mikes and comedy series at The Rusty Hammer in Portsmouth and The Grog in Newburyport.

And the last laugh goes to performance artist Kristina Wong of Los Angeles who overshares—a lot—in her latest one-woman show, “Going Green the Wong Way,” at Pontine Theatre Nov. 2-4. Pontine makes a point of delivering fresh and edgy artists to the Seacoast with a handful of unique touring shows like this each season. Their web site, www.pontine.org, also mentions shows that will be coming up through the spring as well, including their original production, “The Common Heart” about the American transcendental movement.