Guide to what’s happening in Boston this week
Theater
‘BLINK’
Sunday, 8 p.m.
Oberon, 2 Arrow St., Cambridge, $25-$40, 18+
866-811-4111
www.jazzincdance.com
Here’s your chance to go to a high school reunion without suffering the embarrassment of actually doing it! This interactive dance party/musical puts you in the midst of the action at a high school reunion where uncovered memories literally transport the characters (and you) back in time, as you all groove together to a pulsating funk, soul and rock soundtrack.
‘Twelfth Night’
Tuesday through Oct. 22
Plaza Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St., Boston, $29-$36
617-776-2200 ext. 225
www.actorsshakespeareproject.org
This play, one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, draws inspiration from medieval Christmas celebrations, which were basically crazy, drunken, 12-day parties presided over by a peasant “Lord of Misrule” (think John Belushi in “Animal House”), with masters and servants temporarily reversing their roles — that’s why the clown is the wisest character and the virtuous stickler is the most foolish.
Music
Boston Classical Orchestra
Saturday and Sunday
Faneuil Hall
1 Faneuil Hall Square, Boston
$19-$74, 617-423-3883
www.bostonclassicalorchestra.org
The BCO plays two very well-known pieces for this concert: Rossini’s overture to “The Barber of Seville” (a favorite of Bugs Bunny) and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, known as the “Eroica,” which was inspired by Beethoven’s admiration (later rescinded) for Napoleon. Sandwiched in between is a cello concerto by Saint-Saens featuring Boston-based cello virtuoso Allison Eldredge.
‘Loose, Wet, Perforated’
Saturday and Sunday
Zack Box Theatre, Boston Conservatory
8 The Fenway, Boston
Free-$15, 866-615-2723
www.guerillaopera.com
In this world premiere production by local troupe Guerilla Opera, the curiously-named Loose and Wet compete to rise in ranking in their guild system. One behaves virtuously, finding only despair; the other behaves selfishly and violently, finding great success. With its intimate setting and modern, somewhat atonal soundtrack, it’s a very different opera experience from the stuff downtown.
James Farm
Friday, 8 p.m.
Berklee Performance Center
136 Mass. Ave., Boston
$30-$42, 617-876-4275
www.worldmusic.org
James Farm is an acoustic jazz band — upright bass, piano, drums and saxophone. There’s no gimmick to their sound. You won’t find throwbacks to any particular era, cheeky covers of familiar pop songs or any grand conceptual intent. It’s just song-based, instrumental jazz music with plenty of group improv, totally accessible to non-jazz-heads, but never dull. Where do they get the nerve?
Art
Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
University Hall, Lesley
University, 1815 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, Free, massmice@gmail.com
www.masscomics.com
Local indie comics writers, artists, publishers, distributors, dealers and of course fans will gather at this show. With more than 100 exhibitors, including local alt weekly mainstays Karl Stevens (“Failure”) and Tak Toyoshima (“Secret Asian Man”), there’s sure to be something to pique your sequential art interest.
Earth: Fragile Planet
Through Sept. 30
President’s Gallery, MassArt
621 Huntington Ave.,
11th floor, Boston,
Free, 617-879-7333
www.massart.edu
This traveling exhibition from the Museum of American Illustration features the work of 40 top illustrators from around the world, including Oscar winner Shaun Tan, magazine cover artist Tim O’Brien and animation character designer Peter DeSeve (“Ice Age”), all addressing environmental issues. It’s split into five categories: earth, air, energy, water and wildlife.
Pavel Schmidt: Franz Kafka — Verschrieben and Verzeichnet
Through Oct. 16
Sert Gallery, Carpenter Center, Harvard, 24 Quincy St., Cambridge, Free, 617-495-3251
www.ves.fas.harvard.edu
This exhibition features 49 abstract sketches by this Swiss artist, each named either for a Kafka character or a person he knew. Each piece is randomly juxtaposed with a fragment of Kafka’s writing. The opening reception takes place next Thursday at 6 p.m. and includes a panel discussion with professors from Harvard, Princeton and the Universities of Zurich and Berlin.
Talks
From the Government and Here to Help
Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
C. Walsh Theatre, Suffolk
University, 55 Temple St., Boston, Free, 617-557-2007
www.fordhallforum.org
Ford Hall Forum presents a debate between Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, and David Callahan, co-founder of the public policy institute Demos, on one of the eternal questions in American politics: How extensive should the government’s role in economic regulation be? Expect the former to argue for less regulation and the latter for more.
Movies
The Greenhorns
Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle St., Cambridge
$5, 617-876-6837
www.thegreenhorns.net
This film documents the lives and struggles of young American independent farmers. They’re a diverse bunch — some urban, some rural, some who began with hardly any knowledge of agriculture at all — but they share a love of the earth, strong morals and an astounding work ethic.
Comedy
Bill Burr
Friday and Saturday
Wilbur Theatre
246 Tremont St., Boston
$27-$32, 866-448-7849
www.thewilburtheatre.com
Bill Burr’s accent and blunt, ironic comedy style give him away as a Mass. native. He shares his homeland’s distaste for pretention, and will even call out an audience if he thinks they’re feigning disgust at his frequently politically incorrect jokes. He appeared in two episodes of “Chappelle’s Show,” most memorably as a bigoted commentator in the hilarious “Racial Draft” sketch.
