Take your pick and pay what you can

Restaurant Week meals aren't your only option for savings this week. Three new plays hit the stage with pay-what-you-can previews this week.

First up is Mike Daisey's heavily anticipated one-man show "The Last Cargo Cult" at Woolly Mammoth. Preview performances continue tonight at 8 p.m., and tickets go on sale at 6:30 p.m. Be aware that the lines form much earlier, generally between 5 and 5:30 p.m.

Find two more pay-what-you-can options after the jump.

The Madcap Players hit the stage with the world premiere of "Constant State of Panic," The surreal dark comedy examines love in a post-Homeland Security world through the story of a man who is paranoid about everything. His less alarmist half is played by Carleen Troy, who garnered accolades for her work in Theater Alliance's "The Bluest Eye" a few years back. Pay what you can to see the play on Wednesday; the performance starts at 8.

American Century Theater starts the new year with a new play, "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" The production, which premiered on Broadway in 1955, was written by George Axelrod, who also penned the "Breakfast at Tiffany's" screenplay. A lighter take on Faust, the show follows a middling journalist and aspiring Hollywood screenwriter who must face the consequences after making a deal with the devil. Catch the previews Wednesday and Thursday at 8 p.m.; there's a bonus PWYC night on Jan. 20.

Need some guidelines for what exactly "pay what you can" means? Check out Michael O'Sullivan's take on how low you can go without looking totally cheap.

-- Stephanie Merry