Ease on Down the Road: Want to be a drama nerd but don’t know how? Athens Creative Theatre is holding an audition workshop on Thursday, Aug. 2 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Quinn Hall, Memorial Park. The workshop is open to anyone age 8 and up, and will be a tutorial on techniques and tips for acing that audition. It costs $15 per person or $25 for families.

ACT will give you a chance to take those skills for a spin when it holds auditions for its upcoming production of The Wizard of Oz. Auditions will be held Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 13 & 14, 6–8 p.m. for children 8–14 and 8–9 p.m. for ages 15 and up. The latter group will be asked to bring a prepared 16–bar solo piece from a Broadway musical with sheet music. Auditions are by appointment only, so call (706) 613–3628 to secure a slot and to get more information.

Be Chaste, Posthaste: A tip for those romance readers contemplating time–travel sex tourism (and there are a lot more of them than you’d think): just as most medieval Scots probably didn’t look like Mel Gibson, most ancient Spartans looked nothing like Gerard Butler. On the other hand, if you pinpoint your trip to a certain period during the Second Peloponnesian War, I like your chances.

The Town & Gown Players end their 2011–2012 season with a production of Aristophanes’ classic comedy Lysistrata, opening Aug. 3 at the Athens Community Theatre. (See the trailer here.) Set during the war between Athens and Sparta, this bawdy farce revolves around a scheme by the women on both sides to end the war by withholding sex from their husbands and boyfriends, a plan that plays out with devastating and hilarious results. Yes, it’s a 2,500–year–old play about blue balls.

This very adult play—parents are advised to leave the kids at home—has held up well over the millennia, and this particular version is a new translation by Wesleyan classicist Sarah Ruden that has been roundly praised for the vitality of its language and has been selected for The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Dr. Ruden is scheduled to attend and conduct a talk–back session on Friday, Aug. 10 after the show, so many of you will want to reserve seats for that night. The show runs Friday–Sunday, Aug. 3–5, and Thursday–Sunday, Aug. 9–12. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Thursday–Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $15, $12 for students, and $8 for students on Thursday, Aug. 9, and may be reserved by calling (706) 208–8696.

Oconee Youth Playhouse will present the new musical "Freckleface Strawberry" through Aug. 5.

For the Kiddies: Oconee Youth Playhouse will present the new musical Freckleface Strawberry, based on the best-selling books by actress Julianne Moore, Aug. 3–5 at the Oconee County Civic Center. Shows are at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $16 for adults, $14 for students and seniors, and $12 for age 12 and under and can be purchased in the lobby of the Oconee County Civic Center starting one hour before each show. For more information, visit the Oconee Youth Playhouse website or Facebook page or email [email protected].

Sealy Pillow–Top: The 1959 musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress, based on the story of The Princess and the Pea, tells the story of an awkward prince named Dauntless, a prospective bride named Fred and the hoops Fred must jump through to prove herself worthy in the eyes of the overprotective Queen. It’s a fun show, appropriate for all ages.

The Winder–Barrow Community Theater presents its production of Once Upon a Mattress at the Winder Cultural Arts Center Friday–Sunday, August 10–12 and 17–19. Friday and Saturday showtimes are 7:30 p.m, and Sunday shows begin at 3 p.m. Tickets are $12.50 ($10 for students, teachers and seniors) in advance and $15 and $13 at the door. Call (770) 867–1679 for information.

Redneck Ribaldry: Back when I was an undergraduate at UGA and the hills were black with buffalo, I had a summer job working in a comedy club in Marietta. One of the first comedians I ever saw perform there was James Gregory, one of the hardest–working touring comics in the South. He had a signature bit about product warning labels for the terminally stupid that I recall as being funny as hell.

James Gregory brings his 30th–anniversary tour to the Melting Point on Thursday, Aug. 16 at 7:30. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. You can also reserve tables for parties of two or four. It’s a bit pricey for an Athens show, but fans of unabashed Southern comedy in the vein of Jeff Foxworthy or Ron White won’t be disappointed. Go to www.meltingpointathens.com for details and to get tickets.

Y'all Smell Somethin'?: For those who like their comedy with a bit more edge and the potential for violence, comedian Doug Stanhope brings his Big Stink Comedy Tour to the Georgia Theatre on Tuesday, Aug. 21, at 8 p.m. A veteran of TV, stage and festivals where bottles are chucked at him regularly, Stanhope offers an alcohol–fueled, no–holds–barred act to the mic. You either love him or hate him. For those who love him, tickets are $20 and available at www.georgiatheatre.com.