Boston Calling not really your thing? There’s still plenty of other options around town all weekend, from plays to art exhibits to Somerville’s pride and joy: The annual Fluff Festival is here again! Head to Union Square to stock up on all your favorite fluff delicacies. MUSIC
Desert River
Saturday, 8 p.m.
Jordan Hall
30 Gainsborough St., Boston
$15-$50, 781-259-8195
The Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts presents this concert featuring Yazhi Guo, widely considered the reigning master of the suona, a double-reeded Chinese instrument. He’s an innovator not only as a player but as an intrument builder—his addition of a “flexible core” to the suona in the 1990’s greatly enhanced its versatility. Maya Beiser: Uncovered
Friday, 8 p.m.
Kresge Auditorium
48 Mass. Ave., Cambridge
$10-$20, 617-253-8089
arts.mit.edu
Cellist Maya Beiser, backed by bassist Jherek Bischofon bass andMatt Kilmeron drums, will perform classic rock songs by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Nirvana and other heavy hitters, in arrangements crafted by MIT’s Evan Ziporyn. If for some strange reason you still believe a cello cannot rock, this ought to convert you. THEATER
‘Appropriate’
Through Oct.10
Calderwood Pavilion
527 Tremont St., Boston
$25-$60, 617-933-8600
SpeakEasy Stage presents this play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, winner of the 2014 Obie for Best Play. In centers on an argumentative Southern family, the Lafayettes, whose patriarch is dead. Sifting through his things, they discover his involvement with—you guessed it—something extremely inappropriate, a dark side of their family history that only brings more chaos into their already fraught relations. ‘Einstein’s Dreams’
Friday through Nov. 14
Central Square Theater
450 Mass. Ave., Cambridge
$15-$45, 866-811-4111
Albert Einstein is one of modern history’s most famous figures, practically the avatar of science itself, and yet his story has rarely been dramatized. This play, adapted from the Alan Lightman novel by Wesley Savick, tells of his early days in Switzerland, working as a patent clerk by day and crafting the theory of relativity by night. ART
Through the Lens of History: Selma and Civil Rights
Through January 2
Grand Circle Gallery
347 Congress St., Boston
Free, 617-346-6459
www.gct.com/grandcirclegallery
This exhibition gathers photographs by James H. Barker documenting the 1965 civil rights protest march from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol at Montgomery. A native of Washington state, Barker provided both the perspective of an outsider and the compassion of a sympathizer, capturing the protestors not only as devoted activists, but in all the dimensions of their humanity. MOVIES
The Quay Brothers in 35mm
Friday through October 1
Brattle Theater
40 Brattle St., Cambridge
$9-$11, 617 876-6837
The spooky but humorous animated works of the Quay Brothers have a mood all their own, evoking the innocence, mystery and terror of childhood—that said, it’s definitely not for kids. Director Christopher Nolan selected this four-part mixtape, which includes 2000’s “In Absentia”, 1981’s “The Comb” and 1986’s “Street of Crocodiles”, plus Nolan’s own short documentary on the brothers, entitled, “Quay”. RELATED: The Quay brothers on Christopher Nolan and embracing digital ‘The Aryans’
Monday, 7 p.m.
Studio Cinema
376 Trapelo Rd., Belmont
$9-$11, 617-484-3980
The German filmmaker Mo Asumang made this documentary about the neo-Nazi movement across the globe, in which she interviews a variety of hateful characters and dispels many Nazi myths, foremost that of the Aryans themselves, who were not blonde and blue-eyed, but probably looked more like modern-day Iranians. She’ll appear at this screening in person to discuss the film. FESTIVALS
What the Fluff? A Tribute to Union Square Invention
Saturday, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Union Square Plaza
90 Union Sq., Somerville
Free
We would be remiss, dear reader, not to mention this annual Marshmallow Fluff-themed festival, celebrating the invention of the notorious spread right in Union Square in 1917. In terms of sugary disasters, this would have a much wider, longer impact than the famous Boston Molasses Spill of 1919. And for you out-of-towers, take note: the sandwich is pronounced “fluffah nuttah.” Lantern Festival
Saturday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Chinatown Park
Boston
Free, 617-350-6303
This second annual Lantern Festival at the Chinatown Gate features moon cakes, Chinese folk music and dance, martial arts demos, lion dances, vendors of all sorts and of course the dozens of lanterns. The Lantern Festival in China takes place in February/March, not September; the lanterns sometimes symbolize the old selves left behind at the start of a new year.