New onstage

Openings

SF Olympians Festival VII: Harvest of Mysteries: Now in its seventh year, this annual festival of staged readings is a great way to sample, on the cheap, the wealth of creativity of local indie playwrights. This year’s SF Olympians features 22 one-act and fulllength plays by 23 writers, each centered on a different figure from Greek or Egyptian mythology. Highlights include Stuart Bousel’s “Demeter,” billed as a Victorian romance; Jason Mendez’s “Hades,” in which the god of the underworld seeks Wi-Fi; and Veronica Tjioe’s “Nepthys,” which the playwright describes as good entertainment “for sisters, klutzes and people who still do laundry at their friend’s house.” Wednesday, Oct. 5-Oct. 22. $10-$12. Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy St., S.F. www.sfolympians.com Avant Gardarama!: To open its 18th season, the small experimental company Cutting Ball Theater has put together a bill of seven short plays, its first Avant Gardarama since 2008. One was written by Isaac Schott-Rosenfield, a 16-year-old student at Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts. Another, by Sonia San Sebastian, will be performed in Spanish with English supertitles. The “anchor piece” of the show, Guy Zimmerman’s “The Wasps,” about Jenna and Barbara Bush, will be directed by Paige Rogers, who just took the helm as Cutting Ball’s artistic director. Preview Wednesday, Oct. 5. Opens Thursday, Oct. 6. Through Oct. 23. $15-$60. Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor St., S.F. (415) 525-1205. www.cuttingball.com