Short List

November 27 Friday

Classic literature is under attack yet again. Not by the usual vengeful critics or book-burning soccer moms, but by flesh-hungry undead marchers. It all started with Seth Grahame-Smith's mashup of Jane Austen's classic, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Now Anton Chekhov's dramedy The Cherry Orchard is turning. In a Twinhead Theatre reanimation, THE CHERRY ORCHARD WITH ZOMBIES features the same dramatic story about financial problems and increases the pickle tenfold with an attack from a horde of zombies. Through Nov. 29. $7-$12. Fri.-Sun., 8 p.m. Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery, 290 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Suite 8. 404-522-0655. www.eyedrum.org. (Kelly Quimby)

December 1 Tuesday

If you ain't down with the clowns, you better leave town, chump! Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, aka the INSANE CLOWN POSSE, are back with their "Dark Carnival" rap-rock psychopath anthems, delivered to the legions of devoted Juggalos. Mothers would be wise to hide away their children when these painted-up and pie-eyed mad men roll through town in support of their latest, Bang! Pow! Boom! Hed P.E., the Dayton Family and Certified Assassins also perform. $28. 7 p.m. Masquerade, 695 North Ave. 404-577-8178. www.masq.com. (Chad Radford)

December 1 Tuesday

Should you ever meet a woman with an accent who says she's a spy, don't take her home. You're only inviting a shadow organization to embark on a nationwide manhunt with a dizzying ending that only someone like Alfred Hitchcock could concoct. In the two-time Tony and Drama Desk Award winner THE 39 STEPS, a cast of four whirls through more than 150 characters, all while the audience struggles to figure it out first. Through Dec. 6. $15-$60. Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 and 8 p.m.; Sun., 1 and 6:30 p.m. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, 404-817-8700. www.cobbenergycentre.com. (Kelly Quimby)

Upcoming

DEC. 2-23 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY ART Station hosts the 1940s-style radio broadcast. www.artstation.org.

DEC. 3 JAY REATARD Rocks out the Earl. www.badearl.com.

DEC. 3-27 BLACK NATIVITY: A HOLIDAY GOSPEL CELEBRATION True Colors Theatre Company remounts Langston Hughes' Christmas story with a gospel twist. www.truecolorstheatre.org.

DEC. 4 SUE GRAFTON The mega-author discusses her latest, U Is for Undertow, at Decatur Library. www.georgiacenterforthebook.org.