Tom Stoppard is one of theater's cleverest wordsmiths. He penned Rosencrantz and GuildensternAre Dead and co-wrote the scripts for the films Brazil, The Russia House and Shakespeare In Love. His adaptation of Gérald Sibleyras'Heroes won the 2006 Olivier Award (England's equivalent to our Tonys).
[jump]Some of local theater's most talented professionals are providing their interpretation at HCC Studio Theater. With a cast that includes Steve Mountan, Jim Wicker and C. David Frankel, it's a pretty sure bet that Heroes is worth seeing. The comedy follows three World War I veterans as they plot their escape from a retired soldiers’ home. Stars Steve Mountan, Jim Wicker and C. David Frankel. Jo Averill-Snell directs.
See a free preview of Heroes tonight at 8 p.m. Official run begins Thurs., Jan. 9-Sun., Jan. 26; showtimes are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. ($20 regular admission; $15 students, seniors and military personnel.) HCC-Ybor Studio Theatre, 15th Street and Palm Avenue, Tampa. tamparep.org.
Also previewing tonight: Jobsite Theater’s The Hound of the Baskervilles is a comic romp in which three actors — Giles Davies, David M. Jenkins and Shawn Paonessa — play more than a dozen parts. The tour de force broke box office records when the Peepolykus Theatre Company premiered it in London in 2007, and after successful runs in Oxford, Liverpool and Winchester, it crossed the pond to New York on its way, finally to Tampa. Conan Doyle aficionados and comedy lovers take note. Previews Jan. 8-9, at 8 p.m. Official run begins Jan. 10, at the Straz's Shimberg Playhouse, Tampa; $28, $14 for previews. jobsitetheatre.org. —Mark E. Leib