Although Mark Twain’s writing darkened in tone toward the end of his career, his 1905 short story, Eve’s Diary, is a notable exception. Late actor David Birney combined the comic battle-of-the-sexes tale with an earlier Twain story, Extracts from Adam’s Diary, to form The Diaries of Adam and Eve. Actors Meredith Baxter — Birney’s former wife — and Michael Gross, who famously portrayed parents in the 1980s sitcom Family Ties, star in the fundraiser production at the New Mexico Actors Lab. In the combined story, Eve, portrayed by Baxter, is more intelligent and more eager for a relationship than Adam, played by Gross, who tires of Eve’s constant chatter. Theater founder and managing director Robert Benedetti directs, reuniting him with Gross, whom he instructed at the Yale School of Drama in the early 1970s. A meet-the-stars reception with dessert is at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12; tickets are $150 per person or $275 per couple. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, through Saturday, Feb. 11, New Mexico Actors Lab Theater, 1213 Parkway Drive, $35 or $60 for couples (check for ticket availability), 505-395-6576, nmactorslab.com — B.S.