Lucky us: Bellingham TheatreWorks has roosted in the Fairhaven Arts and Events Center this July. Here’s hoping that their summer repertory theatre blossoms annually.

Six nights a week, through July 28, superb community theatre, fueled by staff and students from Western Washington University and their alumni and friends, perform plays: “Wit,” by Margaret Edson; “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” by Tennessee Williams; and “The Clean House”, by Sarah Ruhl. Two won Pulitzers and Ruhl’s was a finalist.

Death is a theme in each, most obviously in “Wit.” Vivian (Beth Wallace, in a stupe...