Finally, a solution to all those ugly buildings on Fourth Avenue: a play!

The Manhattan-based Civilians theater company announced an ambitious plan this week to send “a team of professional actors” into several Brooklyn neighborhoods to “conduct interviews with residents, business owners, politicians and civic organizations” about the affect of “the surge of development in Brooklyn.”

The project is called “Brooklyn at Eye Level.”

The actors will start fanning out next month. They’ll present their “findings” on stage at the Brooklyn Lyceum on Dec. 4–7.

“We hope to delve deeply into the issues of development, eminent domain and community on a broad level, looking at changes in many neighborhoods and how they affects people’s lives on an intimate level” explained Steven Cosson, the Civilians’ artistic director.

Cosson said he would lead the “immersion” team himself to “collect information everywhere, from public events to beauty salons, developing insights into how buildings, services, public space and economic issues shape the ecology of the neighborhood around us.”

For more information, visit www.thecivilians.org.

Malling the Bard

The Gallery Players will follow up its hit production of “The Underpants” (see review at left) with “Like You Like It,” a version of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” set among the teen mall rats of 1980s suburbia.

“It’s a totally awesome mix of Shakespeare and John Hughes [‘Sixteen Candles,’ ‘The Breakfast Club’],” production spokesman Paul Siebold said.

Performances from Oct. 18–Nov. 2. For info, go to www.galleryplayers.com/plays/lyli.

Revolution, Pt. II

Williamsburg’s non-profit Brick Theater has unveiled its first “Mainstage Season” — and the action kicks off on Oct. 23 with “Lord Oxford Brings You the Second American Revolution — Live!”

Written by Robert Honeywell, the play imagines an America still bound to England — and in desperate need of overthrowing Queen Elizabeth II. Not enticing enough? Here’s Honeywell’s synopsis:

“Hello, white people. It’s awful being under the thumb of the British. Ever since they slaughtered General Washington at the Battle of Brooklyn, handed our Southern plantations over to the slaves and restricted our settlements to the lands east of the Appalachians, we’ve had little to celebrate. But Lord Oxford feels your pain. With his faithful orphan sidekick Pattie O’Pattycake and a merry band of Colonial actors, he’ll take your mind off the sorry state of the world through songs, skits and tableaux. Don’t worry. Chin up! The Declaration of Independence will live again.”

Five other new productions will follow. Tickets are $18 per show, $45 for three shows; and $60 for five. In other words, the more shows you see, the more you save!

Tickets for all shows at the Brick (575 Metropolitan Ave., between Lorimer Street and Union Avenue). Visit www.bricktheater.com for information.

On the boards

Look, you’re probably sick of “The Tempest,” Shakespeare’s last, but one of his best, plays. But the current production at Brooklyn College’s Gershwin Theater offers a sly twist: the audience is onstage with the actors.

The idea, says director Mary B. Robinson, is to make members of the audience feel like they, too, are stuck on Prospero’s island.

Catch “The Tempest” on Oct. 3–4 at 7:30 pm and on Oct. 4–5 at 2 pm at The Gershwin Theater (2900 Bedford Ave., at Campus Road in Flatbush). Tickets are $12 ($10 for seniors and $5 for students) and can be purchased by phone at (718) 951-4500 or online at depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/theater.

©2008 The Brooklyn Paper