It's no secret Honolulu has a tremendously large and diverse community theater following, but the scene is busier and more diverse than usual this month.

Never mind the shows that have already come and gone since April ended—Morgan Lane-Tanner's imaginative “;adult”; puppet production, “;Madge's Shimmy Shack,”; at the UH-Manoa Earle Ernst Lab Theatre and T-Shirt Theatre's production of “;Bully…too?”; at the Farrington High School Auditorium. Set aside thoughts of the shows that opened in the first two weeks of the month and are still running—Moses Goods III in an encore run of “;The Legend of Kaulula'au”; at the ARTS at Marks Garage and Army Community Theatre's production of “;Threepenny Opera,”; which opened just last night.

Disregard for the moment as well the Kennedy Theatre double bill “;The Judith of Shimoda”;/”;Mahagonny Songspiel,”; which played for a weekend early in the month and which will return for three more performances next weekend. Focus instead on the two shows taking the stage tonight and two more that will open on Thursday.

Cheryl Flaharty and the IONA Contemporary Dance Theatre celebrate the group's 20th anniversary with “;Akasha,”; a compilation of five new works celebrating the four elements—earth, air, water and fire—along with several “;fan favorites”; from previous shows. Flaharty has teamed with Kaveh Kardan from UH-Manoa's Academy for Creative Media to create a piece in which projected animation interacts with dancers.

Other new pieces represent mankind being born from the earth, water and the life within it, the movement of a flame and a portrayal of light and equilibrium. One of the numbers from previous productions is “;Angels Have Landed,”; with six dancers in silver body makeup suspended above the audience and performing as moving sculptures.

FLAHARTY PRESENTS “;Akasha”; in a single performance tonight, and that means it will go head to head with the opening-night festivities for “;Guys and Dolls”; at Diamond Head Theatre. Larry Bialock, Mick Gallagher, Aubrey Lee Glover and Lydia Pusateri star in DHT's revival of the perennially popular 1950-vintage Broadway musical about big-time gamblers, gangsters, cops and the Salvation Army in New York City.

Three theater groups are participating in a monthlong series of events related to the career of controversial playwright/director Bertold Brecht. Brecht never lived here and never wrote plays about life in Hawaii, but Kumu Kahua is participating anyway with its staging of Tremaine Tamayose's “;The Hilo Massacre,”; a production with something of the same spirit found in Brecht's politically driven work in Germany in the 1920s. Originally written for Hawaii Public Television's “;Rice & Roses”; television show, Tamayose's script is being presented onstage for the first time when it opens Thursday.

Also opening Thursday is Manoa Valley Theatre's Hawaii premiere production of “;Sleuth,”; with MVT producing director Dwight Martin starring in a contemporary murder mystery about a wealthy writer who persuades his wife's lover to fake the theft of her jewelry. Todd Coolidge, seen as the sharp young hustler recently in the Hawaii Repertory Theatre's recent production of “;Mauritius,”; plays the lover.

Lastly, looking ahead to next Friday, “;The Judith of Shimoda”;/”;Mahagonny Songspiel”; opens the second half of its run at Kennedy Theatre. You'll find a review of the show here in HILife next week.