Every Thursday, we round up Pay-Whats and other cheap seats at local theaters. Just so’s your weekend is a little easier.

Before we start, sing along with the general rules: (A) Reservations for these? Not so much. (B) They’re offered on a space-available basis, so have a backup plan. (C) Click each theater name for details and contact info. Oh, and you might tell ’em City Paper sent you.

It bears repeating (for another week or two, anyway): The best deal in town right now is the always-$10-a-seat Catalyst Theater, making a zoot-suit riot out of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Bertolt Brecht‘s cautionary black comedy about the Hitler-style rise of a Chicago gangster. It’s gotten rave reviews (including mine), and it’s been extended to Nov. 11.

Otherwise, here’s what I know about:

  • Red Light Winter, Studio Theatre (regularly $40-$48). Adam Rapp‘s “engagingly convulsive drama” (sez Mondello) “begins with a comically inept suicide attempt and evolves into a bleak if frequently laugh-provoking chronicle of romantic yearning.” Joy Zinoman directs; FREE performances tonight, Thursday, and Friday at 8 p.m. Reservation required; call 202-332-3300 and mention CuDC. At the Zinoplex, 14th and P Streets NW.
  • Never the Sinner, Actors Theatre of Washington. (Regularly $31.50) John Logan’s crime-scene-and-courtroom drama about the Leopold & Loeb murder. Mondello weighs in here. Pay-What performances tonight, Thursday, and Friday at 8 p.m., plus Sunday at 7 p.m. At the Source Theatre space, 1835 14th St. NW.
  • Equus, Washington Shakespeare Company (regularly $25-$30). The play about the horse-fucker. (Well, sorta kinda.) Harry Potter himself (meaning Daniel Radcliffe) stars in a flashy London revival in March; locally, and now, the accomplished Lee Mikeska Gardner directs what’s actually a major piece of 20th-century theater (by Amadeus author Peter Shaffer) involving sex, obsession, religion, and yes, a naked young man on the back of a horse. Critics see it next week. Pay-What previews this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (whoops) Monday at 8 p.m. At Clark Street Playhouse, 601 South Clark St., Arlington.
  • Monster, Rorschach Theatre (regularly $21.50). Neal Bell‘s adaptation got an Olney Theater production a while back; now come some of the District’s youngest, Turk-iest theatrical Young Turks with their take. Critics see it Monday; a YouTube preview is here. Pay-What previews this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 8 p.m. At Sanctuary Theatre/Casa Del Pueblo, 1459 Columbia Road NW.