This one-act musical mixes the hilarious pathos of a Christopher Guest spoof, the dark comedy of Groundhog Day, and the existential intellectual underpinnings of Sartre's No Exit. Steve is a dorky American tourist who is held hostage in a rural French town. Its wacky denizens (including a deaf-mute mime and a perverted puppeteer) torment him until he finally attempts to flee by winning a talent contest, the first prize of which is a new bicycle. Hope, here, is laughable. Watch for the typically-ridiculed-by-the-French human constructs like love (really lust), sexuality (always repressed), gender (a choice), identity (a necessary illusion) and faith (a crutch for the weak). Does Steve escape? And what of the strange, omnipotent forces keeping him stuck in his own private hell (France)? A bizarre twist of fate renders Steve dead and then reincarnated as half-man/half-bike, leaving the audience to wonder whether there's any meaning behind so many weird non sequiturs. Regardless, it's all very funny. —Denise Penny

• Where: The Players Theatre
• When: Fri, Aug 13 at 5 p.m.; Sun, Aug 15 at 2 p.m.; Mon, Aug 16 at 10:30 p.m.; Wed, Aug 18 at 9 p.m.; Sat, Aug 21 at 6:30 p.m.; Thu, Aug 26 at 8:15 p.m.; Sat, Aug 28 at 4:45 p.m.