This electric new play isn't an apologia for Leni Riefenstahl, but you will leave the theater feeling uncomfortable new affection for Hitler's favorite director. The coquettish Leni the Younger (Alexandra Tavares) and the steely, wry Leni the Elder (Stranger Genius Amy Thone) discuss, argue about, and reenact scenes from their life. One of them knows her magnum opus, Triumph of the Will, will define the modern aesthetic of film—and doom her to a life of scorn. The other does not. (Erickson Theater Off Broadway, 1524 Harvard Ave, 800-838-3006. 8:30 pm, $10–$25, Thurs pay what you can. Through Aug 9.)

Canin isn't the kind of author who'll be found crushed to death when his mammoth shelf of awards collapses under its own weight. That's fine—book awards are ridiculous, anyway—but people need to pay attention to his body of work; all his novels are well-constructed, entertaining, and satisfying. Canin allegedly decided to become a writer after reading a Saul Bellow novel. That inspiration has never been more obvious or compelling than in his new novel, America America, a study of Nixon-era politics and morality. (Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. 7 pm, free.)