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, remember 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.

Worth noting this week: The local edition of the global Samuel Beckett Centenary Festival. Freebies include a “listening party” next week at the Warehouse (they’ll stage four of the radio plays), plus a festival-style screening, from next Tuesday to Friday, Oct. 10–13, of excerpts from the superb “Beckett on Film” collection—from the 6-minute Catastrophe to the 84-minute Endgame.

Plus, if you haven’t gone to see Josh Lefkowitz’s show, you should. It’s great, and it’s a $15 seat—through Sunday in the rehearsal room at Woolly. Book now; it’s a small space.

And here’s a reminder we like to trot out occasionally:

• Lots of D.C. theaters offer rush seats (sometimes called stampede seats or Hottix or some other silliness) a half-hour or so before showtime. Theater J‘s, for instance, are $15 on weekdays and Sundays, $20 on Saturdays, available 30 minutes before curtain if a show’s not sold out.
• Studio Theatre, I gather, is actively looking for new ushers right this minute. (See this page—and be nice to Solomon, ‘cause he’ll hook you up.)
• And remember there’s always TicketPlace, the half-price day-of-show outlet down in Penn Quarter.

Otherwise, here’s what I know about:

• The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Catalyst Theatre. Brecht’s in exile, writing about the Germany he’s just fled—but he wants the world to listen, so he sets his parable about Hitler’s rise in gangland Chicago, circa 1930. And it’s a comedy, natch—blacker than black, but a comedy nonetheless. Scot McKenzie stars; critics see it Saturday. Pay-What previews tonight, Thursday, and tomorrow, Friday, at 7:30 p.m. At Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 7th St. SE.
• Enemy of the People, Shakespeare Theatre Company. Henrik Ibsen’s titanic whistle-blower drama, directed by an actual Norwegian. CP says: “The play’s a fierce attack on party politics and self-interested timidity, but it’s also a study of a terribly flawed hero … and [Kjetil] Bang-Hansen’s production focuses mercilessly on the latter.” $10 seats tonight, Oct. 5, through Oct. 12; calendar is here. Offer good by phone only: Call 202.547.1122, option 3, and mention promotion code 3437. At the Lansburgh Theatre, 450 7th St. NW.