One is a variation of Hamlet, the other a variation of The Odd Couple. You can see them both at UC Davis — but you only have the next couple of days to do so.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead — Absurdist comedy, presented by the Department of Theatre and Dance, directed by Granada Artist-in-Residence Michael Barakiva. The courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, minor characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, star in Tom Stoppard’s reimagining of the famous play. Moving throughout a surreal alternate reality, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead attempts to answer the fundamental question “How do we know what we know?” Continues at 8 p.m. today and Saturday, Dec. 2 and 3, Main Theatre. Tickets: $17/$19 general admission; $12/$14 students, children and seniors. Advance tickets are available online, or in person or by telephone at the Mondavi Center box office, (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787. Box office hours: noon-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and one hour before ticketed events.

The Odd Couple — A female version, presented by Studio 301 Productions, the only student-run theatre troupe at UC Davis. Instead of Felix and Oscar from Neil Simon's original work, Studio 301 presents Florence and Olive as the divorcee friends who become roommates — terribly mismatched roommates, with vastly different personalities, and one being a clean-freak, the other not so much. The comedy only intensfies when the women entertain a couple of Spanish brothers on a double date. Continues at 8 p.m. today and Saturday (Dec. 1 and 2), and 2 p.m. Sunday (Dec. 4), Wyatt Pavilion Theatre. Tickets: $12 general admission, $10 students, available in advance at the Freeborn Hall box office, and at the door.

Auditions for House of Bernardo Alba

The Department of Theatre and Dance announced auditions Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 9 and 10, for The House of Bernardo Alba, to be directed by Granada Artist-in-Residence Juliette Carrillo. Federico Garcia Lorca completed the drama two months before his murder by Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War.

Wrought with sexual tension, the play explores themes of repression, passion and conformity, and inspects the effects of men upon women as five daughters are confined to their mother’s house for an eight-year period of mourning.

The auditions, open to students, staff and faculty, are scheduled from 6 to 10 p.m. in Main Theatre, with callbacks set for Wednesday, Jan. 11. People interested in auditioning are asked to sign up in 101 Art Building.

For your audition, you should prepare a contemporary or classical monologue, one to three minutes long, showing emotional range, and a one-minute story of a time when you felt oppressed in some way. Also, you should bring a resume and a headshot.

Rehearsals are set to begin Jan. 17, and the production dates are March 8 to 11 and 15 to 18 in Main Theatre.

Vivaldi, Bach and Handel

The University Chorus presents a program of Vivaldi, Bach and Handel in a concert at 7 o'clock tonight (Dec. 2) in Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

Featured artists: Cecilia Leitner, soprano; Danielle Reutter-Harrah, mezzosoprano; Eric Jurenas, countertenor; Brian Thorsett, tenor; Robert Stafford, baritone; and Steven Bailey, organ.

The program:

• Vivaldi — Beatus Vir, RV 597
• Bach — Magnificat in D Major, BWV 243
• Handel — Ode for St. Cecelia's Day

Bach orchestrated Magnificat for a large ensemble (large for its time), including three trumpets, two flutes, two oboes, strings, a five-part chorus and five soloists. Originally written in E-flat major for Christmas Vespers in 1723, as part of a reworking of cantatas in Leipzig, Germany, and revised by Bach 10 years later, in D major, for Easter. Today, this joyous work is often performed without association with either holiday.

Gift-filled December at the Mondavi

The Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts presents a gift-filled December:

• Tia Fuller Quartet — Jazz. Wednesday-Saturday, Dec. 7-10

• Mariachi Sol de México de Jóse Hernàndez — "A Mariachi Christmas." Thursday, Dec. 8

• Lara Downes Family Concert — "Green Eggs and Ham." Sunday, Dec. 11

• Blind Boys of Alambama Christmas Show — "Go Tell It on the Mountain," with special guests, Sara and Sean Watkins. Thursday, Dec. 15

• American Bach Soloists — Handel's Messiah. Sunday, Dec. 18.

But, wait, there's more: no handling fees for online ticket purchases in December! "Share the holidays with friends and family," the Mondavi Center declared in announcing the holiday special.

The offer is good for tickets for events in December and beyond in the Mondavi Center's 2011-12 season, and includes tickets for Department of Music and Department of Theatre and Dance events.

12th annual Colombian Serenade

Members of Davis’ Colombian community — many of whom are affiliated with UC Davis — are presenting their 12th annual Colombian Serenade, a family event Saturday, Dec. 10, showcasing the Colombian culture and raising money for a Colombian charity.

The sponsoring UEPAGE Foundation announced this year's theme as “The Barranquilla Moon," offering a taste of Colombian Carnival by paying tribute to the late Joe Arroyo and Estercita Forero, Carnival music icons who made their home in Barranquilla, Colombia.

UEPAGE leader Tina Castillo, academic and associate director of International English and Professional Programs at UC Davis Extension, said the foundation membership includes UC Davis students, alumni, faculty and staff, and their familiy members.

She said a portion of the serenade's proceeds will help support a microloan program for women and their families forcibly displaced by violence in Chocó, Colombia.

The entertainment lineup for the 2012 serenade features Los Primos, presenting folkloric music and accompanying the Semillitas Youth Folkloric Dance Troupe.

The organizers said Colombia Viva, celebrating its 10th anniversary, will sizzle the stage with salsa dancing and dazzle the audience with a folkloric and carnival medley.

Invited guests from Fiesta Dance 'n Fitness will perform dance hall hip-hop and Afro-Colombian numbers. The program also includes child musicians as piano soloists and in a piano-violin duet.

The Colombian Serenade is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. in the theatre at Davis High School, 315 W. 14th St.

Advance tickets ($12 adults, $7 children under 12) are available at The Avid Reader, 617 Second St., and Watermelon Music, 207 E St. Tickets at the door will cost $15 for adults and $10 for children under 12.

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