A couple of venues are going or gone. Even so, overlap suggests there are more stages than plays.

San Fernando Valley theater is experiencing pronounced growing pains these days. Burbank is brimming with stages. The prestigious Back Alley theater is gone from its longtime Burbank Boulevard site, and next month, Actor’s Alley pulls up stakes. And although a healthy number of new plays are on the boards, sometimes there don’t seem enough to go around. Currently two theaters are battling over production rights for the same play.

In Sherman Oaks, Actor’s Alley’s comedy improv troupe returns in “The Alley Oops Go to the Movies,” mixing set pieces and improv sketches with the audience. After its run May 4 to 26, the company will take up residence at the former Main Stage on Riverside Drive, where Ira Levin’s “Cantorial” will have its West Coast premiere at the end of June.

At Burbank’s Alliance Theatre, N. A. Riehl’s “Up Cat Creek,” a drama about a Colorado mountain family whose lives are turned upside down by a violent stranger, continues through June 10.

Tonight marks the opening of Lee Blessing’s “Independence” at the Burbank Theatre Guild. The four-character story of a young woman’s return to her Midwestern hometown features television actresses Lauren Tewes and Marion Ross. The closing date is June 4.

Remember “Independence”? Well, the Gnu Theatre in North Hollywood had planned to mount its own version of the play, but a suit brought this week by the Burbank producers has temporarily put the Gnu production on hold. Meanwhile the theater will be presenting Sam Shepard’s battling-brothers saga, “True West,” plaing May 8 to July 5.

Burbank’s Golden Theatre winds up its popular production of “West Side Story” May 6, followed by the musical “Working” (based on Studs Terkel’s interviews), playing May 18 to July 8. Stephen Sondheim’s sinister musical “Sweeney Todd” follows in late July.

At Group Repertory Theatre in North Hollywood, Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter” runs through May 5, followed by Logan Ramsey’s staging of Hal Kesler’s “XX Century XX,” which premieres at the end of May. The vintage comedy, “Room Service,” follows in August.

Burbank’s Gypsy Playhouse wraps up its run of Neil Simon’s offbeat “Fools” on Sunday.

At the Richard Basehart Theatre in Woodland Hills, Kim Harlan Kapin’s comedy “Only You” closes Sunday; opening May 18 is a rental production of Moe Baker and Ilene M. Biderman’s “The Dream Store,” a show-biz romance comedy set in the famed Schwab’s drugstore.

In North Hollywood, Theatre Exchange continues its production of Tom Carricos’ father-son drama, “Two Men Out, Runner on Third,” playing through May 12.

Theater West Fest winds down its annual run at Theatre West in Studio City; the alternating bill of original one-act plays continues through Sunday. For children, Storybook Theatre’s production of “Little Red Riding Hood” also ends Sunday.

At Burbank’s Third Stage, Claris Nelson’s “Passing Fancy” and Robert Mearns’ “Now Departing” share a double bill until May 13.

“An Oasis in Manhattan,” S.K. Hershewe’s 20-year-old comedy about a tyrannical Lebanese-American father (played by Vic Tayback), continues at Burbank’s Venture Theatre, where it has been extended through May 11.

At the West End Playhouse in Van Nuys, Michael Kavanagh continues his popular tribute to Irish writer Brendan Behan, “Bein’ With Behan.” A new murder comedy, “The Heirs,” opens May 10; on alternate nights, a revival of William Mastrosimone’s rape drama “Extremities,” plays until May 9.

“Waking Jimmy Rizzo,” Frank Adamo’s comedy-drama on a family coming together at a funeral, continues at Sherman Oaks’ Whitefire Theater through May 27.