Have you ever felt like the walls were closing in? Beane (Francis Gercke) seems to have that feeling often. Tonight, for example, as he hunches over, then curls up in a worn easy chair in his dingy, half-lit apartment, the walls seem to actually begin to move in closer.

The West Coast premiere of John Kolvenbach’s charming and quirky Love Song plays to the strains of a muted, bluesy trumpet through Sunday, Feb. 22, at Cygnet’s Rolando Theatre, directed by Sean Murray.

Beane is a painfully shy, socially maladjusted toll collector, quite the opposite of his larger-than-life sister Joan (Jessa Watson), who storms around, terrorizing (or firing) hapless interns and worrying about Beane. Jo’s husband Harry (Daren Scott) seems to have his hands full just trying to keep up with Jo’s quicksilver mood changes.

One night Beane has a mystical encounter with Molly (Jessica John), a self-described “liberator” who seems to have entered his dingy digs in search of something worth stealing. Failing that (Beane has two outfits; his dinnerware consists of one spoon and one mug), she steals his heart.

The next time he sees Jo, the near-catatonic Beane is a changed man, burbling like a kid who has newly discovered language, tossing out long words and complex sentences Jo’s never heard from him. He’s suddenly aware of smells and tastes, understands what love songs are about and has discovered “the secret ingredient that makes things possible.”

His giddiness and wonder spread to Harry, who confesses to an interesting physiological response when passing a fruit stand. Even the hard-driving, no-nonsense Jo falls under Beane’s spell; she and Harry share a hilarious “playing hooky” set piece that is one of the evening’s highlights.

Gercke and John are perfect foils: his gawky angularity seems to let energy escape, while the concentrated dynamo of Molly’s frame seems always ready to spring into action – or out the door.

Love can expand horizons, free the imagination, allow the soul to take flight, or just lead to a delightful evening in the theater. That last will be available in this delightful 90-minute play through Feb. 22.

Love Song plays through Sunday, Feb. 22, at Cygnet Rolando Theatre. Shows Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m. For tickets, call 619-337-1525 or visit www.cygnettheatre.com.

Recently widowed socialite Diane MacIntyre (Linda Gehringer), casting about for a way to get through her grief, has volunteered to help with the resettlement of Ater Dahl (Warner Miller), one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, recently arrived in Chicago.

“You know, teach basic survival skills,” she explains to daughter Eve (Ashley Clements), who hoots derisively at the thought that her mother could teach anything about survival to Ater, who as a young child walked thousands of miles to escape death.

Such willful misunderstanding is typical of the characters in Mia McCullough’s Since Africa, which challenges their attitudes and assumptions about identity, family, home and belonging. Since Africa plays through March 8 at the San Diego Museum of Art’s James S. Copley Auditorium. Seema Sueko, who directed the piece a few years ago, helms this production as well.

Pastor Reggie Hudson (Willie C. Carpenter), for example, is as defensive about the good he is sure American missionaries have done in Africa as Diane is adamant in her conviction that Africans have lost more than they have gained in the association. (Hudson’s church has taken on the job of sponsoring some of the lost boys.) Neither Hudson nor Diane is willing to see the other side.

Meanwhile, Ater is genuinely puzzled by the American penchant for souvenir collecting. Seeing African masks in Diane’s house, he notes, “The Americans’ idea of art is to take something that is not part of your history and hang it on a wall.”

More expansive staging allows Sueko to give The Nameless One (Kristin D. Carpenter), a sort of African avatar, freer rein to express her African-inspired presence. She hovers, dances, plays statue and lends visual interest to what is otherwise a tightly controlled verbal piece.

Since Africa has much to recommend it, though it sometimes seems as though Ater serves more as a plot point, a catalyst for the philosophical and political points McCullough wants to make than as a central figure in his own right. This is especially noticeable because the play is being marketed as a piece about him. Still, the questions raised about identity, home and belonging are worth considering.

Since Africa plays through Sunday, March 8, at the Old Globe’s arena stage at San Diego Museum of Art’s James S. Copley Auditorium. Shows Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m.; matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets, call 619-23-GLOBE or visit www.theoldglobe.org.

Molière’s biting wit cut a bit too close to the bone for the comfort of some. His satire of religious hypocrisy Tartuffe caused such a ruckus in 1664 that the show was banned. A year later, Don Juan was suddenly withdrawn from production.

Molière was still smarting from those experiences when The Misanthrope first took the Paris stage in 1666. More personal than his previous plays, The Misanthrope satirized the hypocrisy of social convention – you know, that ingratiating but ultimately meaningless banter people engage in that we call greasing the wheels of society.

The protagonist is Alceste (Joel Gelman), a grumpy young man disgusted by the hypocrisy, corruption and injustice he finds in society. In particular, the niceties of social discourse annoy him: he calls his buddy Philinte (Josh Wade) on his effusive greeting of a guy he barely knows, sourly suggesting he should tell the truth and not be such a phony.

But Alceste has his own Achilles’ heel: the lovely and widely pursued Celimene (Cate Campbell), clever champion of the flippant satiric barb and tireless collector of suitors. She represents everything Alceste despises, but as he tells Philinte, “For all her falsity, that woman knows how to please me.”

Celimene was based on Molière’s young wife, actress Armande Béjart, from whom Molière had recently separated for her amorous liaisons with others. They acted together in the first production, seeing each other only onstage.

The UCSD Drama Department gives Richard Wilbur’s rhymed-couplet translation of this timeless satire a beautiful and sprightly production through Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre. James Winker directs.

The action takes place before Thomas George’s spectacular black-and-clear plastic ’30s-look backdrop. Costume designer Christine Crook has run riot with spectacular gowns for Celimene, an uproarious jacket (all red and feathers) for “the little marquis” Acaste (Patrick Riley), and appropriate togs for the other characters.

Gelman’s self-righteous glowering is no match for Campbell’s captivating glibness, but they’re great to look at.

The always-reliable Johnny Gill is a terrific Oronte, as are the other two fops, Riley’s over-the-top Acaste and Nathan Turner’s Clitandre.

Extremes may not be good in conduct-of-life terms, but UCSD shows they can be wonderful fun to watch onstage.

The Misanthrope plays through Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre. Shows Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. For tickets, call 858-534-4574