Indecent Proposal

The humiliation on Fear Factor was bad enough. Let’s hope that America’s sadomasochistic obsession with reality TV never reaches the extreme proportions of the play opening at Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre (3614 Main). In The Dead Guy, down-and-out protagonist Eldon Phelps gets an offer he can’t refuse: $1 million and one week to spend it — in the constant presence of a camera crew, of course. But this act of televised charity comes with a horrible catch. At the end of the week, Phelps must die. And because the best reality TV is interactive, viewers get to decide how he’ll croak. Relevance Productions presents a five-day run of this nightmare, written by Eric Coble and directed by Trevor Belt. The Dead Guy starts at 8 p.m. General-admission tickets cost $15; see relevanceproductions.com.

— Crystal K. Wiebe

Dec. 15-20, 8 p.m., 2010