TO SUNDAY

With the approach of the 19th Amendment’s 82nd anniversary (Aug. 26), Venus Theatre Company’s Women Behaving Badly: Suffrage on Stage—How the Vote Was Won presents five eclectic shorts about women’s lives and struggles, spanning the period from ancient Greece to today. In Lisa Voss’ “Psychodrama,” Therese (Jessica Gotta) is stonewalled by the legal system when she tries to escape a stalker. She sums up her frustration near the play’s end with a perfectly placed and well-delivered “Jesus Christ!” In Julianne Homokay’s “Sisters Lunching by the Seaside,” Clytaemnestra upbraids Helen for her role in the Trojan War while the two eat at an upscale restaurant. Equally adept at the absurd, the cast (pictured) closes with Voss’ “The Hen Gets a Flag,” a sidesplitting look at self-determination and dentistry: George Washington—or George Washington, Father of Our Country, as he’s credited in the program—says things such as (to paraphrase), “She’ll have all her teeth but will be alone. What’s the good in that?” Amy (Gotta) periodically spits up loose teeth, one of which her husband John (Dan DeLuca) later retrieves, brushes vigorously, and rushes backstage to return to her. Other cast members row (presumably across the Delaware) while chanting information about dental products. Gertrude Jennings’ “A Woman’s Influence,” set in pre-suffrage Britain, is the only piece that comes close to being a low point, with intentions that suffer a bit from a pat ending. The plays show at 7:30 p.m. daily; matinee Sunday at 3 p.m. to Sunday, Aug. 25, at the District of Columbia Arts Center, 2438 18th St. NW. $15. (202) 462-7833. (Joe Dempsey)