CALLING FOR HELP, by Peter Handke, and the futurist poet Vladimir Mayakovsky's VLADAMIR MAYAKOVSKY: A TRAGEDY. Well, maybe not a tragedy. But I sure wouldn't want to call it an unqualified success either. Cambridge Ensemble Theater at the Old Baptist Church, 1151 Mass Ave.

COMING OUT, by Jonathan Katz, is a "documentary play about gay women and men in the U.S." Monday nights at 8 in the Charles Street Meeting House, 70 Charles Street in Boston.

THE EFFECT OF GAMMA RAYS ON MAN-IN-THE-MOON MARIGOLDS, by Paul Zindel, is about how a misunderstood high school girl wins adulation and new self-respect by doing a science project even though her mother is crazy, but it's a good play anyway. Lots of high drama and tension and funny lines and that stuff. Opens tonight at 7:30 at the Loeb Ex; tickets are free, as always, but it doesn't hurt to pick them up in advance.

GUYS AND DOLLS. Talk about high drama and funny lines. Not to mention great songs. 8 p.m. in the Leverett Old Library.

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, by Dale Wasserman, is just remarkable. For one thing, you're likely to find yourself holding yourself back from cheering the hero and booing the villainess, the Big Nurse who runs the lunatic asylum. I'm told sometimes the audience doesn't even hold itself back, it just cheers and boos. 7:30 p.m. at the Charles Playhouse, 75 Warrenton Street in Boston.

PROMISES, PROMISES, by Burt Bacharach and Neil Simon and all those people. Mostly unfulfilled, according to The Crimson. Benefits Radcliffe Grant-in-Aid. 8 p.m. at Agassiz.