Habeas Corpus. A British comedy about doctors, subtitled "A Tale of the Permissive Society." Its cast inclues June Havoc, Celeste Holm, Jean Marsh, Rachel Roberts and Donald Sinden. At the Colonial Theatre, 106. Boylston Street, Boston. Performances through November 15, evenings at 8 p.m., matinees Thursday and Saturday at 2 p.m.

Equus. The Anthony Perkins Broadway hit about psychoanalysis and horses. At the Wilbur Theatre, 252 Tremont Street, Boston. Starts November 18, with evening performances at 8 p.m., matinees at 2 p.m. Previews November 13, 14 and 17 (evenings), and November 15 (evening and matinee).

George M! A supremely entertaining version of the Joel Grey Broadway hit about the life of entertainer George M. Cohan, thanks mainly to Greg Minahan, the show's director, who plays the title role with phenomenal energy and conviction. Minahan's charismatic performance is complemented by a lively George M. Cohan score--including standards like "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "Over There" and "Give My Regards to Broadway,"--and foot-stomping choreography. The best Grant-in-Aid musical in at least three years. At the Agassiz, November 13-15 and 20-22, at 8 p.m. Tickets $3.50 and $3, $2 for students.

Moonchildren. The Dunster House Drama Society's production of Michael Weller's play about the emotional and political concerns of eight students sharing an apartment in the sixties. See Ruth Liebmann's review on page 2 of today's Crimson. In the Dunster House Dining Hall, November 14, 15, 21 and 22, at 8:30 p.m.

Old Man Boyle. An original play by Harvard senior Howard O'Brien, runner-up for the Phillis Anderson Prize in playwrighting last year. The play's main character is a slightly senile old man, who is wheeled to Central Park each day by two cops and communes there with a variety of bizarre characters. At the Loeb Ex, November 13-15. Performances Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 6 and 9 p.m. Tickets available free at the box office the day preceding each performance.

Pacific Overtures. A new Stephen Sondheim-Harold Prince musical about Matthew Perry's trip to Japan and its effect on the lives of two Japanese families. At the Shubert Theatre, 265 Tremont Street, through November 29. Performances Monday through Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees Thursday and Saturday.

The Merchant of Venice. The Loeb takes on Shakespeare's not-so-funny comedy about the struggle between justice and mercy in a Venetian courtroom. Jon Epstein's performance as Shylock should be good. At the Loeb, November 13-16 and 19-22, at 8 p.m. Tickets $3.50 and $3.

The Phoenix. It's a good week for original theater at Harvard. In case you miss Old Man Boyle, the Adams House Drama Society is presenting The Phoenix, an original musical by Paris K. C. Barclay, whose musical revue Several Characters in Search of an Overture was performed last year at the Ex. The show's about a family of three--mother, father and daughter--who each take out an ad in the personal column of the Boston Phoenix in an effort to find happiness outside of their family life.

In the Adams House Dining Hall, November 13-15, at 8:30 p.m.

The Tempest. It's also a good week for Shakespeare. The Tempest is being performed by the Boston Shakespeare Company at their playhouse at the corner of Berkeley and Marlborough Streets in Boston, through November. Performances Thursday through Saturday, at 8 p.m. Tickets $4, student rush $3. Julia M. Klein

Deathwatch. After 30 religiously criminal years, Jean Genet shifted to writing with a disconcerting blend of mysticism and street-eroticism about homosexuals, pilferers and murder--the making of Deathwatch.

Three sweat-suit-clad prisoners invoke their fate and will with caresses, sudden scraps and the dancing-out of a killing. These toughs have a strangely romantic side; they tell about wanting to change into a rose after stealing or about being distracted from the tell-tale blood of a murder by lilacs. The rhythm of splayed hands and bare feet tapping, heads jerking and manacles dragging accompanies the actors' monologues and replaces visible props. The tension is overemphasized, but real. Presented by the Cambridge Ensemble, 1151 Massachusetts Ave., November 13, 14 and 15 at 8 p.m.