Get your tickets now for three stage performances of “The Women,” a play by Clare Boothe Luce, presented by the Cary Arts Center, 101 Dry Ave., from Aug. 4-6 and also for three screenings at The Cary Theater of the films the play has inspired.

The play and the movies are witty satires on women and their roles in 1930s, 1950s and 2000s New York. Originally on stage in 1936, the play offers fresh insights into how those roles have and have not changed. Featuring a cast made up entirely of women, the play will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 4-5 and at 3 p.m. on Aug.6.

The films, being shown at The Cary Theater, offer unique insights into different eras of Hollywood film-making as well as distinct views of the roles of women all in the light of Luce’s original Broadway hit. Film screenings take place July 29, 30 and August 3:

• July 29 at 7 p.m. – The 2008 update directed by Diane English starring Meg Ryan, Annette Benning, Candice Bergan, Debra Messing and more among an all-woman cast.
• July 30 at 2 p.m. – The 1956 musical version retitled “The Opposite Sex” starring Joan Collins, June Allison and Ann Miller, and the only version to feature men, including Leslie Neilson.
• August 3 at 7 p.m. – The 1939 film directed by George Cukor starring Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer and Rosalind Russell among the all-woman cast with stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age.

To further the connection between screen and stage, WUNC’s “The State of Things” film experts Marsha Gordon and Laura Boyes will host the 1939 version on August 3 and have a conversation about the film and play following the screening. The July 29 and 30 screenings will feature sneak peeks of the play with cast members performing scenes that will later appear in the films that follow.

Tickets for the play are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors age 55 and older. Tickets for the films are $5 ($3 or $4 for Film Circle Members).  You may purchase them:

• in person at the Cary Arts Center, Monday, from 4-8 p.m.; or at The Cary Theater, Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• anytime online at www.etix.com
• through the eTix Phone Center, 1-800-514-3849, Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m., or Sunday 12-8 p.m.
• at the door the time of performance, if not sold out.

For more, go to Cary Arts Center at www.townofcary.org or call (919) 462-2055. And for more fun in Cary, follow on Twitter @TOC_fun and search our calendar at www.townofcary.org/calendar.