BETTER LIVING : About a family faced with the return of their abusive patriarch ten years after they tried to kill him. The three daughters find idiosyncratic ways to deal with their dysfunctional parents. The mother's out-of-the-ordinary ideas include taking a jackhammer to the basement floor to build a cavern where the family can live better. the father, an ex-cop, commandeers his wife's project, putting the whole family into survivalist mode. [nytheatre.com]

BEAUTIFUL CITY : Property developer Tony Raft has had architect Paul Gallagher design a new shopping mall - one with underground passages for the shop owners to use to come and go so as to keep them away from the hoi-polloi. Paul is taken ill in Tony Raft's office. At the hospital he becomes embroiled with a number of odd people. A nurse whose mother is a witch. the witch's brother-in-law a low level criminal and his very dangerous son. Tony Raft's mother who may be in the Mafia. Conflict arises between them with Paul in the middle. A policewoman sorts everything out