“The Farnsworth Invention” – Through March 25 – La Jolla Playhouse, $29

Originally intended for the big screen, Aaron Sorkin’s “The Farnsworth Invention” was rewritten as a stage play, and made its debut at the La Jolla Playhouse on Feb. 20. Running until March 25, the play follows two rivals in 1920 — a Russian immigrant-turned-mogul and a Mormon farmer — who vie to spread and claim credit for the great 20th-century medium: television. Sorkin is no stranger to television; after all, he did pen the Emmy-award-winning series “The West Wing,” alongside notable screenplays like “A Few Good Men,” so his talent for snappy dialogue and compelling stories on such topics are likely to cross over well into the medium that gave him his start: theater. (CM)

“Tears of the Black Tiger – Opens March 16 – Landmark Hillcrest

After nearly seven years of negotiations, the legendary tribute to Thai westerns finally hits American theaters. Wisit Sasanatieng’s cult masterpiece follows gun-toting Dum, a good-hearted hero unsuspectingly caught up in a gang of bandits, torn between committment to his crew and a life of freedom. Between his upper-class girlfriend Rumpoey, her rigid father and his brutal gang, Dum, nicknamed Black Tiger, must ride across Sasanatieng’s vibrant, almost technicolor landscapes in order to get Rumpoey back. A combination of classic film-era American westerns and the realistic grit of the modern genre, “Tears of the Black Tiger” is a contemporary throwback to an age of escapism and downright fun. (CM)