Five Reasons to Leave the House This Weekend
Photo by Eli Akerstein
DANCE
“Bach Reinvented” From Urbanity Dance and Emmanuel Music
In this performance, platforms for dancers will encircle Emmanuel Church and dramatic spotlights will transform the space. Musical director Ryan Turner explains, “It’s sort of a theater in the reverse round. Everyone is encompassed by dancers.” Performers will move to the sounds of Bach’s The Contest between Phoebus and Pan and Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins. While the history and meaning of the two pieces is complex, Turner explains that there is a “subcurrent in both pieces speaking out against the cultural climate at the time.” Urbanity Dance is known for their innovative and edgy contemporary dance shows that feature acrobatic movements, while Emmanuel Music is the resident ensemble group at Emmanuel Church.
$10-$150, Saturday, April 9, 2016 at 7:30 p.m., Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury Street, Boston, web.ovationtix.com.
Photo of Andrew Bird via Reuben Cox
MUSIC
Andrew Bird
Indie folk singer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird will be performing at the Wang theatre as part of his current world tour. His new album, Are You Serious, was released on April first and features a collaboration with Fiona Apple. In an interview with NPR’s Bob Boilen, Bird described the album thusly: “These are just the strongest melodies and the strongest ideas that occurred to me over a three to four year period, distilled.”
$35-$50 Saturday, April 9, 7:30 p.m., Wang Theatre, 270 Tremont Street, Boston, citicenter.org.
Tom Hamilton, Attorney General Maura Healey, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Photo via Lisa Kessler
COMEDY
Banned in Boston
In this annual show, local celebrities and media personalities alike gather for comedy and music. Each year Banned in Boston takes place to support Urban Improv, an organization dedicated to teaching kids important skills— like conflict resolution— through improv. Show cofounder and co-producer Lisa Schmid Alvord explains, “It’s like the Saturday Night Live of Boston.” Last year Governor Charlie Baker, Congressman Jim McGovern, and Senator Ed Markey left behind politics for a night to sing. This year, among others, Congresswoman Katherine Clark and President of Boston City Council Michelle Wu will be there.
$150-$250, Friday, April 8, 7:15 p.m., House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne Street, Boston, urbanimprov.org.
Image of Jesmyn Ward provided
READING
Jesmyn Ward with Steve Locke
“My father said that if I had not fought, I would have died,” Jesmyn Ward writes in her memoir, Men We Reaped. As part of an ICA Reads pick, Jesmyn Ward will be in town for a reading. Her book that focuses on the death of five different men in her hometown in rural Mississippi and addresses issues like class and race. The New York Times raves that the work, “reaffirms Ms. Ward’s substantial talent. It’s an elegiac book that’s rangy at the same time.” She’ll be in conversation with local artist Steve Locke.
Free (Tickets available two hours before event starts), Sunday April 10, 3:00 p.m., Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston 100 Northern Ave, Boston, ica.org.
Image via A.R. Sinclair Photography.
THEATER
Arcadia
Directed by Lee Mikeska Gardner, this Tom Stoppard play explores science, truth, time, and dichotomies. Half the show is set in the 19th century and covers the life of a young female math whiz, Thomasina. The other is set in present day, following a writer and an academic as they research the history of the grounds where Tomasina lived. Stoppard, the playwright behind Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, is known for the wit and wordplay in his work.
$15 – $69, Thursday, April 7, 2016 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, April 8, 2016 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 9, 2016 at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, April 9, 2016 at 7:30 p.m., Central Square Theatre, 450 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, centralsquaretheater.org.
