In 2007, writer/performer Lauren Weedman released her acclaimed essay collection A Woman Trapped in a Woman’s Body: Stories from a Life of Cringe, the title of which is a perfect if wordy summation of Weedman’s world of self-lacerating horror humor, as presented by a seriously gifted performer. For her latest solo theater work No… You Shut Up, Weedman dissects her life as an “aging outsider” drawn to other people’s broken families. Expect butt-clenching brilliance. (Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, www.brownpapertickets.com. 8 pm, $20. Through May 8.

David Schmader—former weed columnist and Stranger associate editor—is the author of the solo plays Straight and Letter to Axl, which he’s performed in Seattle and across the US. His latest...