The Must-Do List: Watch a Play at Cleveland Public Theatre

Don’t settle in. You might be asked to dance onstage in the Christmas cabaret, a performer on strings might whiz overhead or your seat may move entirely. Cleveland Public Theatre is dynamic in its use of the two-story main theater and in the content it tackles onstage — from female presidents to the fear of the Middle East. Come to be challenged. Bonus: Weave through its annual September benefit, Pandemonium, to discover 300 artists in transformed hidden spaces such as a lounge singer in a closet or executive artistic director Raymond Bobgan singing folk songs in a bathtub. 6415 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, 216-631-2727, cptonline.org