Compiled by Arts Fuse Editor

Our expert critics supply a guide to film, visual art, theater, author readings, television, and music. More offerings will be added as they come in.

Film

Ellen Jovin operating her grammar table in Rebel with a Clause. Photo: Courtesy of Brandt Johnson

Rebel with a Clause
September 13 – 16
West Newton Cinema

This is a charming and insightful documentary follows grammarian Ellen Jovin as she travels the country with her “Grammar Table,” sparking spontaneous conversations about commas, clauses, and the quirks of English with curious passersby. What begins as a playful educational project turns into a moving exploration of civility, curiosity, and the unexpected ways language brings people together.

Found Footage Fest: Porcelain VHS Treasures
September 14 at 7 p.m.
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge

Viewers are taken on a guided tour of treasure hunter Joe Pickett’s latest/greatest finds in this brand show for 2025. The entries include a psychotic dollar store salesman, a video catalog of frightening porcelain dolls, two wonderfully homemade Bigfoot videos, and a New Age “miracle” treatment from the ’80s called “Psychic Surgery.”

Hello Beautiful
September 18 & 19 at 7 p.m.
West Newton Cinema

Hello Beautiful delves into the harrowing yet transformative journey of Willow, a model whose life is shattered by a devastating breast cancer diagnosis. Based on Christine Handy’s bestselling novel Walk Beside Me, the film explores themes of identity, resilience, and the enduring strength of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable adversity. Post-Film Q&A with filmmaker Ziad H. Hamzeh and author Christine Handy.

D(e)ad
September 21 at 2 p.m.
Somerville Theatre

Tillie, a floundering young woman and her charismatic, alcoholic father struggle to resolve their fractured relationship in the weirdest possible way. After the guy dies, his specter appears in mirrors — he haunts everyone in the family but Tillie. Tillie’s sister Violet, mother, grandparents, stepfather, and even Violet’s free-spirited baby daddy are forced to do everything they can to make Tillie see her father. They even turn to employing a very reform rabbi to exorcize him. If they can’t get his spirit to leave, the family will be plagued by the ghost forever. Directed by actress, comedian, writer, and producer Claudia Lonow.

A scene from Comparsa, screening at CineFest Latino Boston.

3rd CineFest Latino Boston
September 24 – 28
This annual film festival highlights stories by and about Latinos committed to using the power of film to undercut stereotypes and bring cultures and communities together. Complete program and venue information

The feature lineup includes:

Comparsa: the opening night film is a stirring portrait of sisterhood, peace-building, and the transformational power of art.

Paquito D’rivera: From Carne Y Frijol To Carnegie Hall: the accomplished saxophonist and clarinetist was filmed in New York, Boston, Wolf Trap, VA, Miami and Uruguay. The film includes collaborations with pianist Chucho Valdés and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Backside offers an intimate and tender glimpse into the lives of immigrant workers.

Street Smart: Lessons from a TV Icon is a feature documentary about Sonia Manzano — known to millions as “Maria” from Sesame Street.

Mistura: In 1960’s Peru, a privileged French-Peruvian woman’s life unravels when her husband’s betrayal ostracizes her from elite society and leads her to embrace people from the very communities that she was raised to disregard.

La Bachata Del Biónico: Biónico is a hopeless romantic addicted to crack, who, along with Calvita, his drug partner, tries to find a job, a house, and a wedding ring to marry his fiancée.

Also on the schedule are local filmmakers & shorts: The Last Jews of Guantanamo; Where Is Samuel? (¿Dónde está Samuel?); Woman Who Lives at the End of Time; Bailando.

Taiwan Film Festival of Boston
September 19 – October 12
Various venues

TFFB aims to highlight the cultural beauty of Taiwan as a nation brimming with international flavors and transcendent artistry. Along with the poignant screenings there will be engaging panel discussions featuring the creators behind Taiwan’s most celebrated films. The aim of the fest is to show how Taiwan is a cultural and cinematic powerhouse that empowers audiences and filmmakers. Schedule of Screenings

It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This
September 19 , 20, and 23
Brattle Theatre

According to Variety: “The three-person creative team behind this found footage horror movie made an unusual pact before they even shot a frame: They would never make the work available for streaming, digital or physical purchase, only allowing it to play theatrically. Yet what might have seemed like a limitation ended up creating word-of-mouth interest in the microbudget production, which led to sold-out shows across the country without any promotional dollars.”

A scene from Impatience of the Heart. Photo: Goethe-Institut

Impatience of the Heart
September 21 at 11 a.m.

On a night out, a young soldier tries to improve his chances with an attractive woman by courting her grumpy sister. But when Isaac playfully pulls Edith off a bench, she slumps limply to the floor. Only then does he see her wheelchair parked on the side. Ashamed of the incident, and determined to correct the sisters’ image of him, an unexpected friendship soon develops between the two. But her growing mistrust — and his obsession with curing her — lead to a frenzied whirlwind that drags everyone into disaster. Loosely based on Stefan Zweig’s 1939 novel Beware of Pity. First of the Goethe-Institut Sunday series.

— Tim Jackson

A scene from Hong Sangsoo’s 2010 film Hahaha. Photo: HFA

The Seasons of Hong Sangsoo at the Harvard Film Archive, through November 9

Hong Sangsoo has directed 27 features over 26 years, a feat accomplished through a radical reduction of means. “He funds each movie with the proceeds of his previous films, and he makes his films as he goes. After selecting actors and locations, he enters production without a script; every morning, he writes the scenes on the docket for that day or the next. Since he uses much of what he shoots, he can edit an entire feature in as little as a day or two. This modest and pragmatic approach produces works of paradoxical complexity, notable for their breezy irreverence and their emotional and philosophical depth.” (Dennis Lim in The New Yorker) Read the HFA’s Haden Guest’s profile of Hong Sangsoo here.

A scene from Cosmic Coda.

Cosmic Coda: A Journey Through Space, Time, and Discovery
At the MIT Museum, Gambrill Center, 314 Main St, Cambridge, on September 30 at 7 p.m. (Panel discussion begins at 6 p.m.)

“How do you build a machine to test an idea—Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity—that’s beyond most people’s comprehension? And what does an astrophysicist actually do on a regular Tuesday while probing the depths of space?

In Cosmic Coda, a naive grad student filmmaker (MJ Doherty) asks these questions in 1985—then returns nearly 40 years later to continue the journey, capturing one of the most profound scientific discoveries of our time as it happens.

Beginning with a panel discussion with physicists Lisa Barsotti, David Kaiser, and Lyman Page, followed by a special screening of the full documentary , this program traces the story of LIGO and the landmark detection of gravitational waves. Together, participants will be able to explore how our understanding of the universe — and the very nature of scientific discovery — has evolved across generations. This screening is presented to honor the life of MIT physicist Rainer Weiss.” Arts Fuse review

A scene from Naruse Mikio’s 1955 film Floating Clouds. Photo: HFA

Floating Clouds… The Cinema of Naruse Mikio screening at the Harvard Film Archive, through November 3.

A generous retrospective of the films made by a Japanese filmmaker Harvard Film Archive calls “still underrated and underappreciated.” Here is what The Arts Fuse‘s Betsy Sherman wrote about the HFA’s 2005 Centennial Tribute to a “Japanese master” who spotlit “the plight of women on the margins of society”: “Was he a precursor to Lars Von Trier, who seems to take sadistic delight in putting his female protagonists through the wringer? Or was Naruse an artist of rare courage, who could depict the pitfalls of desire while retaining a respect for those who fall prey to it?” Arts Fuse preview

— Bill Marx

Pick of the Week

God & Country, streaming on Amazon Prime

A scene from God & Country. Photo: Amazon Prime

God & Country, a feature documentary film directed by Dan Partland and co-produced by Rob Reiner, examines the enormous growth of the Christian Right and how it has become deeply entwined into politics, affecting legislation, mobilizing voters, and shaping public discourse. The film features informative interviews with pastors, insiders, and politicians. It looks back at the rise of the Religious Right and the Moral Majority and at the church’s complicity in segregation and racism, battles over abortion and same-sex marriage, education and more. For Andrew L. Seidel, a constitutional and civil rights attorney, the January 6 attack on the Capital showed how “Christian Nationalism supplied the permission structure to attack the beating heart of democracy.”

Rev. Rob Schenck, a former Christian nationalist leader, says: “I remember quite well when I was being trained as a minister never to prepare a sermon without consulting the Dictionary of New Testament Theology edited by Gerhard Kittel, a good German evangelical scholar. No one ever told me he was Hitler’s resident theological advisor who gave him the justification for genocide.”

At one point, the late Charlie Kirk posits that “The founding fathers always believed that Christians deserved to be counselors to the king, but not deserved; they needed to be counselors.” Explaining the vision of Kirk’s group Turning Point USA, evangelical podcaster Paul Vischer suggests — with trepidation: “If [a person decides] that America is irreplaceable in God’s story and democracy gets in the way . . . democracy has to go.” The film is a breathless overview that provides wide perspective on a movement that is quickly gaining, not just influence, but power in all corners of American life.

— Tim Jackson

Television

My two recommended shows happen to be premiering on the same date this September. Streaming lets us have plenty of viewing options, but it also presents us with an often dizzying array of choices.

Anjli Mohindra as Grace Narayan in The Red King. Photo: AMC+

The Red King (September 25, AMC+) This British series debuted in 2024 and I was immediately intrigued hearing that it had folk horror elements. The later is not as common as you’d expect it to be on TV these days, even though folk horror has generated plenty of runaway popularity as a subgenre in cinema. The opening credit sequence for The Red King is a bit heavy-handed: a sort of collage of folk horror figures: it feels like a low budget community theatre production. And, even though some viewers will be looking for a pagan vibe and masked figures, the series begins with a familiar crime procedural trope. A disgraced police detective has been demoted at her job (after witnessing a shocking sudden death) and relocated to a remote island village. For Grace (Anjli Mohindra), the odd local customs are creepy yet intriguing: her room above the local pub has corn dollies and artwork depicting harvest rituals (yes, homages to 1973’s folk horror classic The Wicker Man). Though it lacks the subtle storytelling of HBO’s The Third Day (which contains many similar elements), the fine cast helps elevate a unusual, and promising, narrative. I have high hopes for a second season — with some tighter writing.

English Teacher (September 25, FX, Hulu, Disney Plus) If you haven’t watched this one yet, it’s well worth catching up with before the new season begins. I love when a new series comes along that manages to be socially relevant and dramatically compelling without being turning saccharine or didactic. English Teacher was an immediate hit among savvy viewers because of its snappy dialogue and relatable situations. Like the mega-hit Abbott Elementary, this series is an unflinchingly snarky — though often warm-hearted — look inside the daily lives of teachers. Comedian Brian Jordan Alvarez (The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo) stars; he also wrote and directed several episodes. The show’s protagonist is Evan Marquez, an unapologetically gay high school teacher whose open lifestyle is a source of both pride and controversy at an Austin high school. Despite its being the most liberal large city in Texas, the Austin community has its share of homophobia. English Teacher doesn’t shy away from cheering for Evan’s strong stance on social justice issues, but its charm lies in how his impulsive and sometimes wrong-headed choices work out. The writing is fresh and whip smart, so far. A second season is eagerly anticipated.

— Peg Aloi

Theater

Playwright Jez Butterworth. Photo: HTC

The Hills of California by Jez Butterworth. Directed by Loretta Greco. Staged by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave, Boston, through October 12.

Yet another “critically acclaimed on Broadway and the West End” play about “the unbreakable bonds of family.” But this entry in the well-worn genre is by the talented dramatist Jez Butterworth, so it may upend expectations. The plot, according to the HTC, deals with “the four adult Webb sisters’ homecoming to the seaside guest house in Blackpool where they grew up. As girls, their fierce and ambitious mother Veronica trained them for a singing career à la The Andrews Sisters. Now adults, the sisters must reconsider the choices their mother made, the nostalgic call of youthful harmonies, and the unbreakable bonds of family.”

The Mountaintop by Katori Hall. Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent. Staged by the Front Porch Collective at The Modern Theatre, 525 Washington Street, Boston, September 19 through October 12.

According to the Front Porch Collective, this 2009 play is “a gripping reimagination of events the night before the assassination of the civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On April 3, 1968, after delivering one of his most memorable speeches, an exhausted Dr. King retires to his room at the Lorraine Motel while a storm rages outside. When a mysterious stranger arrives with some surprising news, King is forced to confront his destiny and his legacy to his people.”

Kristina Wong in Food Bank Influencer. Photo: Sally Blood

Food Bank Influencer, written and directed by Kristina Wong. Directed by Jessica Hanna. Presented by Arts Emerson at the Emerson Paramount Center, Robert J. Orchard Stage, 559 Washington Street, September 19 through 21.

According to the ArtsEmerson website: “Self-proclaimed ‘Food Bank Influencer’ Kristina Wong offers her rendition of the American Musical that nobody asked for by celebrating our emergency food system. Having experienced food distribution (or lack thereof) from New York to the Navajo Nation, Wong shares irreverent commentary while illuminating American food insecurity and the subsequent national pastime that is collecting and giving away free food. But, how will she pull this off with humor?” Good question.

Mother Play: a play in five evictions by Paula Vogel. Directed by Ariel Bock. Staged by Shakespeare and Company in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, Lenox, through October 5.

The New England premiere of “a sharp-witted, darkly comedic exploration of family, identity, and survival,” the play follows “hardheaded matriarch Phyllis (Tamara Hickey) and her children, Martha (Zoya Martin) and Carl (Eddie Shields), across four decades and five apartments, enduring cockroach infestations, painful conflicts, and the constant push-and-pull of love and expectation. Phyllis wants her children to follow a prescribed path, but each is determined to forge their own way.” The play had its Broadway premiere in 2024, and it earned four Tony nominations, two Drama Desk Awards, and an Outer Critics Circle Award.

Davis Robinson and Lisa Tucker as Mr and Mrs Taske in the Beau Jest Moving Theatre production of Lifeboat Drill. Photo: Benjamin Rose

Three Plays of Survival: Lifeboat Drill, Fin du Monde, and Come and Go. The first two pieces are by Tennessee Williams, Samuel Beckett penned the third. Staged by Beau Jest Moving Theatre in Martin Hall at the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, September 18 through 20. There will also be performances at the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival, September 25 through 28.

Three tales of surviving the endgame with partners, friends, and spouses—that undiscovered country from which no one returns. This evening of short works will also be featured in the final 20th anniversary Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival, where the theme is Last Call—a look at Beckett’s influence on the work of Williams. Beau Jest honcho Davis Robinson previewed the production for the Arts Fuse.

Passengers, staged by The 7 Fingers. Written, directed, and choreographed by Shana Carroll. Co-produced by TOHU (Montréal, Canada) and ArtsEmerson (Boston, États-Unis), presented by the American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Drama Center, through September 26.

“Montréal’s acclaimed physical-theater troupe is back in Boston to perform its unique blend of circus, music, dance, and superhuman skills. Travel is a metaphor for life’s ever-changing landscape in this show.” Part of the A.R.T. season, which, in the words of artistic director Diane Paulus, proffers shows that “all grapple with what it means to be human.”

Primary Trust by Eboni Booth. Directed by Dawn M. Simmons. Staged by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, through October 11.

According to SpeakEasy Stage, now entering its 35th season, this 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning play is “about how even the smallest acts of kindness can change a life. The plot centers on Kenneth, who for years has worked by day at the independent bookstore in his small town and then spent his evenings sipping mai tais at the local tiki bar. But when he is suddenly laid off, Kenneth’s carefully ordered world starts to shift—pushing him into unexpected friendships, unlikely courage, and a life he never imagined.” David J. Castillo, Arthur Gomez, Janelle Grace, and Luis Negrón comprise the cast. Arts Fuse review

Jenny S. Lee and Max Jackson in the Brit d’Arbeloff Women in Science/ Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production of Silent Sky.  Photo: Nile Scott Studios

Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson. Directed by Sarah Shin. A Brit d’Arbeloff Women in Science/ Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production at the Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, through October 5.

The plot, according to the CST website: “1900. Cambridge. Enthralled by the night sky, Henrietta Leavitt joins the Harvard Computers, a sisterhood of scientists who chronicle the stars. Despite dismissal from her male supervisors, she records her own observations of Cepheid stars and changes the way we look at the universe forever.” The cast includes Lee Mikeska Gardner, Erica Cruz Hernández, and Max Jackson. Arts Fuse review

From Here to Where, Book by Umberto Crenca. Music by the Gillen Street Ensemble. Staged by the Wilbury Theatre Group, 475 Valley Street, Providence, RI, September 18 through October 5.

A world premiere musical that, according to the Wilbury Theatre Group website is “part lyrical sermon, part political exorcism, and part late-night jam session, From Here to Where is an ensemble-driven living composition that confronts questions of existence, power, and transformation. Structured less like a story and more like a reckoning, it unfolds through monologue, music, movement, sculpture, film, and satire—swerving between psychic vignettes, sacred ritual, and primal scream.”

Our Town by Thornton Wilder. Directed by Courtney O’Connor. Staged by Lyric Stage at 140 Clarendon Street, 2nd Floor, Boston, September 19 through October 19.

Director Courtney O’Connor on this production of one of American theater’s warhorses: “Far from a saccharine period piece, I’ve long felt Our Town is a primal scream begging us to fully see, embrace, and deeply honor the beauty and the pain in our community, our loved ones, and ourselves, in our lives in moments big and small. I can’t wait to explore with our artistic community, a combination of faces you’ve seen through many, many moments and ones we’re meeting for the first time. Who we are, who we have been, and who we are yet to be are all contained within each of us, and they all equally share in the rich tapestries of our families, our stories, and our town.”

Editor’s Note: Our Town is a “primal scream” — really? Why not address what is happening today — America’s slide into authoritarianism — by challenging audiences with a play that spoke directly to the ongoing crisis? Wilder’s 1942 drama The Skin of our Teeth, a commentary on fascism and humanity’s on-and-off again struggle for survival, would be a far more hard-hitting, and appropriate, choice.

Eleanor by Mark St. Germain. Directed by David Ellenstein. Staged by Portland Stage at 25A Forest Ave, Portland, ME, September 24 through October 19.

According to the Portland Stage website: This one-woman show is a “peek into the life of one of the most influential women in American History. Eleanor spins a tale of politicians, society, and the small moments between historical giants. Taking us from childhood through the presidency, and from affairs of the heart to affairs of state. This stunning portrait of the first lady we think we know explores quiet, private memories that made Eleanor who she was, an advocate for the underdogs, a paragon of fairness, and, above all, the heart of the country.”

Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival Productions will be staged in locations all over Provincetown, September 25 through 28.

“The theme of this year’s Festival will be ‘Last Call,’ with live performances of plays by Tennessee Williams that celebrate endings. It’s not the last of the Festival, but it is the last of the four day celebrations. The Festival will transform after 2025 and the mission of the Festival will continue in new ways, championing Williams in other forms in Provincetown — and around the world. As Festival Curator David Kaplan puts it, “We’ve enjoyed our run: productions of over a hundred different plays by Williams from Adam and Eve on a Ferry (2008) to Will Mr. Merriwether Return from Memphis? (2018). From A to W, if not quite A to Z.”

The 20th season will feature a daring new production of a classic play by Williams, a fresh take on a rarely produced late play by Williams, a new adaptation of a text by Williams, and several short plays by Williams’ peer, Samuel Beckett. A highlight of the twentieth season will be a production of Williams’ classic Sweet Bird of Youth, in which the glamorous Alexandra DeLago proclaims ‘There’s no more valuable knowledge than knowing the right time to go.’ See Arts Fuse interview with the Festival’s artistic director, David Kaplan.

Émile Zola at his writing desk. Photo: Wikimedia

Paul and Émile by Kai Maristed. Directed by Sasha Brätt. Staged by Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater at the Julie Harris Stage, Outermost Performing Arts Center, 2357 State Highway Route 6, Wellfleet, September 20 through October 12.

The world premiere of a historical drama by esteemed novelist, Wellfleet resident, and Arts Fuse critic Kai Maristed. According to the WHAT website: “Paul Cézanne and Émile Zola were inseparable as schoolboys in Aix-en-Provence. Once up in Paris, they shivered sharing a bed and eating broiled sparrows, impatient for the world to recognize their genius, one as painter, the other as writer. Then, inexplicably, came a bitter falling out and a mystifying two decades of silence. After a chance encounter reunites the pair, the bonds of friendship are tested as buried secrets are revealed. The decades of resentment fade as they recognize the genius in the other’s creations.” Arts Fuse feature

Apollinaire in the Park. Staged by Apollinaire Theatre Company at 189 Winnisimmet Street, Chelsea, September 20 and 21.

In celebration of Apollinaire’s 30th anniversary, the company is debuting a brand-new version of Apollinaire in the Park. “The entire Chelsea Theatre Works building, along with the surrounding street and park, will come alive with Free Performances, a Beer Garden with Local Food and Craft Vendors, Live Music, Art Exhibitions, Youth Activities, Bilingual Programming, Workshops, a Squirrel Fashion Show and two Free theater-themed Escape Rooms. The marquee event of this festival will reunite actors from across Apollinaire’s three decades to collaborate on an original play created and performed within just 48 hours! The 48 Hour Play at 7 p.m. on Saturday will lead into Apollinaire’s 25/26 Season Announcement, followed by Live Music!”

The Kittie Knox Plays by Patrick Gabridge, Claire Gardner, and Kirsten Greenidge. Directed by Michelle Augillon. A trilogy of plays staged by Plays in Place and performed outdoors (with bikes!) at two different locations in the greater Boston area: at the Eustis Estate Museum & Study Center, Milton, on September 20 and at Herter Park, Boston, on September 27. Show times: 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 4:30 p.m. (Rain dates on Sundays)

According to the Plays in Place website: “Kittie Knox was a young biracial cyclist who fought against race-based limitations in America’s post-Reconstruction reaction against Black advancement. During her cycling career (1893 – 1899), she became a well-known century (100-mile) rider, protested the League of American Wheelmen’s color bar, and refused to conform to conventions about ‘lady-like’ speed, and fashion while cycling. The plays chronicle the dramatic story of a turbulent time in America’s history with lessons for today’s struggle for racial and gender equality and justice.”

Cold War Choir Practice by Ro Reddick. Directed by Aileen Wen McGroddy. Staged by Trinity Rep at 201 Washington Street, Providence, RI, through October 5.

The world premiere of a play with music that might have some political relevance. In other words, a rarity in these parts. According to the Trinity Rep site: “It’s twilight in Ronald Reagan’s America and the specter of nuclear war hangs over the country — but rent is still due on the 1st. When a prominent Black conservative brings his mysteriously ill wife home for the holidays, the unplanned reunion sets long-simmering tensions within the family to boil — and throws each member into a bizarre maze of Reaganomics, Cold War espionage, capitalist cult predation, and… choir practice.”

Playwright and performer Sabina Sethi Unni. Photo: courtesy of the artist

NOTE: Boston area theaters have pretty much decided to ignore what is happening in America and beyond — mounting threats to democracy, the slide toward authoritarianism, the climate crisis, growing economic inequality, the round-up of immigrants, the expansion of internment camps, ongoing genocide in Gaza, the war in Ukraine, etc. The American Repertory Theater tells us that this is the time to put “a Spotlight on Wonder.” I disagree. I have decided to spotlight in each Coming Attractions a stage production, in America and elsewhere, that grapples with today’s alarming realities. Sometimes the productions will be available via Zoom, sometimes not. It is important to present evidence that theater artists are reflecting, and reflecting on, the world around us.

Flood Sensor Aunty, written and directed by Sabina Sethi Unni. Part of the inaugural Wellesley Repertory Theatre Festival, staged by the Theatre Studies Program and Wellesley Repertory Theatre at the Alumnae Hall Amphitheater, Wellesley College, Wellesley, on September 27 and 28.

The description of this show on the festival’s website: “Halfway between really funny devised theater and culturally competent community disaster prevention, this piece is about how the best way to protect yourself from flooding, climate change, and despair is through knowing your neighbors.” Sabina Sethi Unni “is a public theater artist, community organizer, and urban planner dedicated to telling funny stories about our crumbling infrastructure (and neighbors organizing to save it) in public spaces.”

— Bill Marx

Visual Art

Unknown Maker, Indian, Jabla / Jhabla (tunic). Bequest of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich

In the 7th century, after the sudden fall of the Sassanian Empire to Arab-Muslim forces, adherents of the Zoroastrian religion were forced to convert or flee to the Indian subcontinent. In India, these Persian refugees, known as Parsi, created a distinctive, hybrid culture and made disproportionately important contributions to Indian cultural and economic life. The Flower, the Labor, and the Sea, opening at the RISD Museum on September 27, is a rare glimpse into this rich heritage, which is little known in the West.

Drawn from RISD’s own collections, the exhibition looks at the complex history of Parsi gara embroideries, a textile tradition, worn by the Parsi community, that blends Indian, Persian, Chinese, and European influences, growing out of 19th-century international mercantile trade. The Parsi garas, jhablas, and borders are shown with a newly commissioned large-scale work by contemporary designer Ashdeen Lilawala.

Described as “a sculpted fusion of kitsch and catharsis,” Nancy Callan and Katherine Gray: The Clown in Me Loves You is the result of a four-year collaboration between the glass artists Nancy Callan (Seattle) and Katherine Gray (Los Angeles). The pair uses Venetian glassblowing techniques to explore the ever-ambiguous subject of clowns— in circuses, parades, at home, or in politics. The exhibition opens September 20 at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton.

On September 26 starting at 12:30 p.m., the Harvard Art Museums will present “Sketching Understanding— Drawing as a Way of Seeing.” Conducted by Harvard philosophy lecturer Remei Capdevila Werning, this talk will use the current exhibition of drawings by Edna Andrade to “explore how the act of drawing can be a powerful mode of thinking that generates unique ways of understanding.” Registration in advance is not required but check in with the Visitor Services desk on arrival to request to join the tour.

The RISD Museum offers its own drawing workshop with Interactive Drawing with Sketchbook Fight Club on September 25 at 5:30 p.m. Brad Pitt, alas, will not be in attendance: Sketchbook Fight Club is “an energetic, no-judgment drawing practice space” founded by Kit Millikan, who will conduct this “playful, low-pressure sketching session designed to help you explore mark-making in the heart of [the textile exhibition] Liz Collins: Motherload.” Open to all skill and commitment levels, the workshop, which repeats at 6:30 pm, is free but advanced registration is required through the museum’s website. Materials included or bring your own sketchbook.

Every Ocean Hughes, One Big Bag, 2021 (still). Video with sound; 40 min. Courtesy the artist

“Death has to be understood with the senses. The mind doesn’t get it.” So says a performer in the video, One Big Bag. The work is part of List Projects 33: Every Ocean Hughes, which opens at MIT’s List Center on September 18. In it, Every Ocean Hughes, who works in Stockholm and New York City, explores the issues around death and caring for the dead. With Help the Dead (2019) and River (2023), One Big Bag (2021) “is part of a trilogy that considers the intimate process of dying.”

Caroline Monnet, whose heritage is Algonquin-Anishinaabe and French, is the focus of Caroline Monnet: Man-Made Land, opening at the ICA on September 27. The ICA’s site on man-made land is the stepping off point for Monnet’s installation work, symbolizing Boston’s 400-year history of land reclamation. Expanding “fractal-like” in layers of commercial building materials, the work is a “meditation,” Monnet says, “on the interconnectedness of all living things…a way to transmit cultural knowledge and values across generations, reinforcing a sense of community and belonging.”

Curators from the MFA’s Department of Contemporary Art offer a four-session course on two special exhibitions of the work of two important contemporary artists: Rituals for Remembering: Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Martin Puryear: Nexus, September 17 – October 8. Participants can attend individual lectures or register through the MFA website for the four-session package at a discount: in-person, $96 for members and $120 for others, or online, $52 for members and $68 for others.

— Peter Walsh

Popular Music

Shonen Knife with The Pack AD
September 21 (doors at 6:30)
Sonia, Cambridge

Sonic Youth invited Shonen Knife to open a show for them at the latter’s home city of Osaka, Japan, and later covered one of their songs on a tribute album. Kurt Cobain said of them, “When I finally got to see them live, I was transformed into a hysterical nine-year-old girl at a Beatles concert.” He invited them to open Nirvana’s European tour in their pre-Nevermind days. Influential, enduring, and hugely entertaining, the trio – under the perpetual leadership of Yamano – has released 22 collections worth of impossibly catchy tunes that evince their love of, among others, girl groups, The Beach Boys, and the Ramones, 13 of whose songs they covered on 2011’s Osaka Ramones. 2023’s Our Best Place is now available with alternate versions – including two in Japanese – of four songs.

Kula Shaker with Levitation Room
September 21 (doors at 7/show at 8)
Brighton Music Hall, Allston

Kula Shaker’s output has been sparse since 1996, when their debut LP K and the singles “Hey Dude” and “Hush” were huge successes in the UK. However, the London quintet has been more prolific than ever in the past four years. Their third album since 2022, Wormslayer, is slated to appear on January 30, 2026. In my Arts Fuse colleague Rob Duguay’s interview with Crispian Mills, the Kula Shaker lead singer described the band’s forthcoming effort as “a condensed form of Kula Shaker that’s been tried and tested … The album is a series of songs with more extended musical hashed out jams alongside pop songs, so it’s a mixture of that operatic storytelling that we’ve gone for in the past with the pop format.”

The Courettes
September 21 (doors at 7/show at 8)
Warehouse XI, Somerville

Whether it’s the “clickety-click” that unmistakably brings to mind the girl group sound of the 1960s (“Wall of Pain,” the Blondie-referencing lyrics (“Here I Come”, “Stop! Doing That”), or pining for the California sun (“California”), the Danish-Brazilian duo The Courettes unapologetically work from a retro palette. Referring to their latest collection, The Soul of…The Fabulous Courettes, singer and multi-instrumentalist Flavia Couri confidently asserts, “We wanted to show our love of the Spector Wall of Sound and Motown. It was a clear mission and we’ve absolutely nailed it.” Perfectly willing and eager embrace other sounds as well, Flavia and her husband Martin Couri also flaunt their love of the organ-embracing and distinctively fuzzy garage rock guitar on “Shake,” “You Woo Me,” and “Better Without You.” The Soul of… is a cornucopia for those who wish that they’d been around when these styles were the rage.

The Baseball Project and The Minus 5
September 23 (doors at 7/show at 8)
Crystal Ballroom, Somerville

In terms of their alternative/indie bona fides, The Baseball Project and The Minus 5 put the “super” in supergroup. Although other artists feature on their recordings, the current touring lineup (“team roster,” as the former calls it) of both comprise Steve Wynn of The Dream Syndicate, well-résumé drummer (and Wynn’s spouse) Linda Pitmon, Mike Mills and Peter Buck of R.E.M., and Scott McCaughey of The Young Fresh Fellows and contributor to R.E.M.’s final five albums. As The Minus 5, this quintet will perform selections from that band’s extraordinary new album, Oar On, Penelope.

Camp Saint Helene with Spirit Hotel and Noble Dust
September 25 (doors at 7/show at 8)
Deep Cuts, Medford

Since introducing themselves in 2019 with a cover of Crosby, Stills & Nash’s “Wooden Ships,” Camp Saint Helene has recorded to LPs, an EP (this year’s Call for Me), and started their own record label (Misery Mother). “Farfisa Song,” from this Catskill quartet’s 2019 second LP, attracted the attention Angel Olsen, who recorded her own version late last year. Salem’s Spirit Hotel and Boston’s two-time New England Music Awards nominee Noble Dust will open their September 25 show at Deep Cuts.

The Tubs with Foyer Red
September 28 (doors at 7/show at 8)
Deep Cuts, Medford

I cannot locate the quote online, but I am certain that I remember reading Stevie Ray Vaughan saying that he considered it a compliment that people thought that he sounded too much like Jimi Hendrix. My bet is that Tubs lead singer Owen Williams feels the same when people put out that he sounds like Richard Thompson. This Welsh quartet’s indie bona fides are unmistakable thanks to its inclusion of current and/or former members of Joanna Gruesome and Ex-Void. The Tubs’ follow-up to their uniformly superb 2023 debut Dead Meat is this year’s equally splendid Cotton Crown.

While I don’t always explicit mention opening acts in my write-up because I am not usual familiar with them, I always encourage people to support them with their presence. In this case, I have listened to Foyer Red’s 2023 first LP, Yarn the Hours Away. Given that the Brooklyn quintet’s set is sure to comprise much of this album’s material, I hereby explicitly encourage your timely arrival at Deep Cuts.

— Blake Maddux

Roots and World Music

Jamaican reggae veteran Clinton Fearon will be performing at the Ocean Mist this week. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Clinton Fearon backed by the Naya Rockers with Organically Good Trio
Sept. 19
Ocean Mist, Wakefield, RI

Jamaican reggae veteran Clinton Fearon is one of the genre’s greatest songwriters. In recent years he’s had a fruitful collaboration with Boston’s Naya Rockers, including a track on their just-released all-star LP Higher Education, a benefit recording for Jamaica’s invaluable Alpha School of Music. Opening the night is the Organically Good Trio, a powerhouse reggae and soul-jazz organ combo that combines the formidable talents of keyboardist Paul Wolstencroft, drummer Tommy Benedetti, and guitarist Van Gordon Martin.

Chris Ruggiero with Clint Holmes and Back in Time
Sept. 19
Regent Theater, Arlington

The young charismatic singer Chris Ruggiero has been on a mission to revive the great AM radio pop sounds of the ’60s and 70s. For his Boston debut he’s getting some mighty assistance from the revered song stylist Clint Holmes as well as Back in Time, a group that includes ’60s Flamingos member Sid Hall.

Dennis Polisky and Maestro’s Men — one of New England’s finest polka bands. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Dennis Polisky and Maestro’s Men
Sept. 20 and 21, 2:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Aeronaut Brewing, Somerville

One of New England’s finest polka bands, the Maestro’s Men combine infectious rhythms with dazzling arrangements. They stay busy this time of year playing Oktoberfest events, including both dates of Aeronaut Brewing’s shindig, which will also feature German grub.

The cover art for Joelton Mayfield’s album Crowd Pleaser.

Joelton Mayfield
Sept. 21
Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge

A decade ago, Joelton Mayfield was the director of his Texas church gospel choir, living what he’s described as a sheltered existence. In truth, he was filled with doubt about his faith and his way of life, and the result is a compelling string of biting, brutally honest songs played with an unvarnished roots rock approach. This very promising talent is coming to town to open for singer/songwriter Jack Van Cleaf, a few weeks before the release of Mayfield’s debut LP Crowd Pleaser on the storied Bloodshot label.

Do the Reggae Tour
September 25 at the Leader Bank Pavilion, Boston

Ziggy Marley and Burning Spear have teamed for the appropriately named Do the Reggae Tour. Bob Marley’s eldest son is now in his 50s and has navigated a remarkable career, which began in the mid-’80s when he was with the Melody Makers. Ziggy has remained adept at honoring traditional reggae while also keeping the genre vibrant and relevant. Burning Spear, at 80, is still performing songs that dig deeply into the traditions and history of Rastafarianism yet, like Ziggy, he has found a way to let the music breathe and flow — his concerts have a ceremonial air.

— Scott McLennan

Wasn’t That A Time: The Boston Folk Revival 1958-1965
Sept. 27, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Arrow Street Arts Center, Cambridge

Boston’s Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame recently announced a partnership with the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music. Their first offering is a day-long symposium that takes a deep dive into the early days of Boston’s still-flourishing folk music scene when the likes of Dylan and Baez could be heard at Club 47 and the Newport Folk Festival. Among the speakers and panelists are such performing, writing, and organizing luminaries as Tom Paxton, Noel Paul Stookey, Peter Wolf, Douglas Brinkley, Jim Rooney, and Betsy Siggins. Appropriately enough, the event takes place in Harvard Square, where much of the local folk history unfolded.

— Noah Schaffer

Jazz

Jared Sims Quartet
September 18, 7 p.m.
Mad Monkfish, Cambridge

Reed and flute player Jared Sims is working a number of projects these days. This excellent quartet, with whom he’s been working steadily over the past couple of years, focuses on “funky grooves, Latin mambos & odd-meter jams.” Sims deploys baritone sax and alto flute for this one, with the phenomenal Cuban-adept pianist Rebecca Cline, electric bass master Fernando Huergo, and the exciting young drummer Gen Yoshimura.

Guitar deity Mary Halvorson will be playing at Regattarbar this week. Photo: Elena Olivio

Mary Halvorson
September 18 at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge, Mass.

Avant-jazz guitar goddess Mary Halvorson returns to the R-bar with her stellar sextet: trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, trombonist Jacob Garchik, vibraphonist Patricia Brennan, bassist Nick Dunston, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara. As of this writing, the first show is sold out, but a second show has been added, with guests Walter Smith III (tenor saxophone) and Logan Richardson (alto).

Mehmet Ali Sanlíkol
September 19 at 7:30 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge, Mass.

On the recent, splendid 7 Shades of Melancholia (Arts Fuse review), the pianist/composer/scholar Mehmet Ali Sanlíkol continues to explore a provocative melding of jazz with traditional Turkish music. The band from that album joins him at the Regattabar: bassist James Heazlewood-Dale, percussionist Georege Lernis, saxophonist Lihi Haruvi-Means, and trumpeter Ingrid Jensen. Sanlíkol meanwhile, will play piano, electric oud, duduk, and an instrument of his own invention, the Renaissance 17, a specially designed keyboard that gives him access to traditional Turkish microtonal scales. He’ll also sing.

Brooklyn-based trombonist and composer Kalia Vandever. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Kalia Vandever and Charles Overton
September 20 at 3 p.m.
Bethel A.M.E. Church Sanctuary, Jamaica Plain, Boston
FREE

The exciting young Brooklyn-based trombonist and composer Kalia Vandever gets together with the genre-crossing Boston harpist Charles Overton for what they’re calling “an afternoon of ambient, chilled-out, ethereal jazz that offers a welcome escape from the everyday hustle.” The show is free, as part of the Celebrity Series of Boston’s Neighborhood Arts program.

The Branford Marsalis Quartet. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Branford Marsalis Quartet
September 21 at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport, MA

This mighty quartet (Marsalis, pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Justin Faulkner) is touring in the wake of their most recent disc, a bold remake of the Keith Jarrett Quartet’s Belonging (1974). Word is that they’ll probably play music from that album as well as other things.

Steven Kirby
September 24 at 7 p.m.
Mad Monkfish, Cambridge

Steven Kirby infuses beautiful touch, tone, and attack to his guitar playing — which is served well by his inventive writing — sleek, twisty post-bop via Wayne and Metheny, with cross-references to Brazil. He brings his Illuminations Project (named for his sparkling 2016 album) to the Monkfish: singer Jireh Calo, sax and flute man Carl Clements, pianist Ben Cook, bassist Mark Poniatowski, and drummer Mike Connors.

Guitarist and composer Eric Hofbauer. Photo: Arden Wray

Eric Hofbauer
September 25 at 7 p.m.
Lou’s, Harvard Square, Cambridge

Guitarist and composer Eric Hofbauer has been working a compelling experimental streak as part of the “Lou’s Underground” series at this hot supper club: messing with harmonies and rhythms in fresh takes on latter-day pop standards and near-standards by the likes of the Beatles, Björk, Peter Gabriel, Joni Mitchell, Radiohead, Sigur Rós, et al. For this week’s edition Hofbauer’s core quintet of tenor saxophonist Temidayo Balogun, cellist Ana Ospina, bassist Tony Leva, and drummer Miki Matsuki are joined by guests Noah Preminger on tenor, singer Hayley Thompson-King (a standout in a previous Hofbauer night), and drummer Kyle Aronson.

Karrin Allyson
September 26 at 7 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Cub, Boston

Versatile singer and pianist Karrin Allyson’s latest album is the excellent A Kiss for Brazil, highlighted by her refreshingly direct bilingual delivery of lyrics. She is joined by Vitor Gonçalves (on accordion), bassist Marty Jaffe, and drummer Rafael Barata.

Marc Ribot
September 26 at 7:30 p.m.
City Winery, Boston

In jazz circles, Marc Ribot is an avant-garde guitar hero, known for his band Ceramic Dog and work with John Zorn, among others, but his list of genre-crossing sideman gigs includes Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Wilson Pickett, Marianne Faithfull, Caetano Veloso, Solomon Burke, Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, and Neko Case. His new album, Map of a Blue City, travels the singer-songwriter route, with covers of the Carter Family’s “When the World’s on Fire” as well as his setting of Allen Ginsberg’s “Sometime Jailhouse Blues.” The singing is artless, in a good way — fragile but adept, with just the right air of vulnerability for the material, which is lyrically compelling at every turn, whether funny or somber or both at once. (The first song quotes the Hebrew kaddish.)

Hiromi Sonicwonder. Photo: Mitsuru Nishimura

Hiromi Sonicwonder
September 27 at 8 p.m.
Groton Hill Music Center, Groton, MA

Hyperkinetic keyboardist Hiromi has for the past couple of years been bringing her over-the-top virtuosity to a quartet called Sonicwonder, with the brilliant young trumpeter Adam O’Farrill (worth hearing in any context; see September 18), bassist Hadrien Feraud, and drummer Gene Coyne.

— Jon Garelick

Classical

Andris Nelsons conducts the BSO in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 8. Photo: Hilary Scott

Opening Night
Presented by Boston Symphony Orchestra
September 19, 7:30 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

Andris Nelsons and the BSO open an American-themed season with an all-American gala featuring South African soprano Golda Schultz singing Barber and a Jessie Montgomery arrangement. Also on the docket are favorites by John Adams, John Williams, and Gershwin.

Then is Now
Presented by A Far Cry
September 20, 7:30 p.m.
Jordan Hall, Boston

The Crier’s return to action with a program about transforming “recollection into revelation” that’s anchored by Britten’s Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge. Filling out the program are works by Caroline Shaw and Komitas, plus Osvaldo Golijov’s breathtaking Tenebrae.

Sweet Love, Wild Dance
Presented by Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra
September 21, 3 p.m.
Sanders Theatre, Cambridge

Pro Arte opens its season with music by Mozart and Ginastera that features pianist Seokyoung Hong and baritone Marcelo Guzzo. Gisèle Ben-Dor conducts.

Nelsons conducts Mozart & Strauss
Presented by Boston Symphony Orchestra
September 25 at 7:30 p.m., 26 at 1:30 p.m., and 27 at 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

The BSO’s festival celebrating the 125^th birthday of Symphony Hall begins with one of the canon’s symphonic peaks and ends with one of its sonic spectaculars, Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben.

White Snake Projects Music Director Tianhui Ng in action. Photo: Kathy Wittman

White Raven, Black Dove
Presented by White Snake Projects
September 26 at 8 p.m., 27 at 7:30 p.m. & 28 at 2 p.m.
Strand Theater, Dorchester

White Snake’s season continues with a new opera by Jacinth Greywoode and librettist Cerise Lim Jacobs that explores timely themes of race and climate change.

— Jonathan Blumhofer

Author Events

Sarah Green, Keetje Kuipers, and Natalie Shapero at Porter Square Books
September 15 at 5:30 p.m.
Free

“Sarah Green’s The Deletions is a spiritual and psychological reckoning with ecological grief, infertility grief, and the loss of a marriage. These poems live at the intersection of ode and elegy, simultaneously observing and reflecting upon multiple kinds of love (friendship, romance, family). With a tone that ranges from poignant to stoic and from playful to irreverent, the speaker sifts through generational layers of divorce, revisiting the violence of teen girlhood and ultimately rediscovering her own resilience.

“Keetje Kuipers’ unforgettable love poems in Lonely Women Make Good Lovers–queer, complicated, and almost always compromised–engage a poetics of humility, leaning into the painful tendernesses of unbridgeable distance. As Kuipers writes, love is a question ‘defined not by what we / cannot know of the world but what we cannot know of ourselves.’ These poems write into that intricate webbing between us, holding space for an ‘I’ that is permeable, that can be touched and changed by those we make our lives with.

“The politics of labor and performance collide with comedy and tragedy in Natalie Shapero’s fourth poetry collection, Stay Dead. Shapero’s unflinching poems explore theories of acting, discourses of survival, privacy and publicity, power and punchlines, and the language of despair. This work explores how ‘your death place / is the birthplace you choose.’ With appearances by Claude Monet, Mark Rothko, Chris Burden, Studs Terkel, Anthony Bourdain, Gene Kelly, and others.”

Shahir S. Rizk and Maggie M. Fink at the Cambridge Public Library – Harvard Book Store
The Color of North: The Molecular Language of Proteins and the Future of Life
September 15 at 6 p.m.
Free or $29.70 with book

“Taking us beyond the confines of our own experiences, The Color of North traverses the kingdom of life to uncover the myriad ways that proteins shape us and all organisms on the planet. Inside every cell, a tight-knit community of millions of proteins skillfully contorts into unique shapes to give fireflies their ghostly glow, enable the octopus to see predators with its skin, and make humans fall in love.

Collectively, proteins orchestrate the intricate relationships within ecosystems and forge the trajectory of life. And yet, nature has exploited just a fraction of their immense potential. Shahir S. Rizk and Maggie M. Fink show how breathtaking advances in protein engineering are expanding on nature’s repertoire, introducing proteins that can detect environmental pollutants, capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and treat diseases from cancer to COVID-19.”

Kelly J. Ford, Margot Douaihy, and Stephanie Gayle at Harvard Book Store
Crime Ink: Iconic: An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Queer Icons
September 17 at 7 p.m.
Free

“This anthology showcases an incredible array of talent, including New York Times Best Crime Novels of 2024 honorees Margot Douaihy, Robyn Gigl, John Copenhaver, and Katrina Carrasco; Lambda Literary winners Ann Aptaker, Greg Herren, Ann McMan, and J.M. Redmann; and other celebrated writers like Cheryl Head, Penny Mickelbury, Christa Faust, Jeffrey Marks, and Kelly J. Ford. But that’s not all—this collection also includes many more decorated and emerging voices, ensuring a dynamic reading experience that is as inclusive as it is entertaining.

With a foreword by Ellen Hart and an afterword by Katherine V. Forrest, two luminaries of queer crime fiction, this anthology is more than a collection of stories—it’s a movement. Bursting with intrigue, twists, and unforgettable characters, Crime Ink: Iconic is essential reading for fans of crime fiction and anyone who craves representation in the stories they love.

Featuring works by Ann Aptaker, Ann McMan, Cheryl Head, Meredith Doench, Kelly J. Ford, Margot Douaihy, Christa Faust, Robyn Gigl, Jeffrey Marks, Greg Herren, Anne Laughlin, Kristen Lepionka, Katrina Carrasco, Mia Manansala, Renee James, Penny Mickelbury, Diana DiGangi, Baxter Clare Trautman, JM Redmann, Ellen Hart, Katherine V. Forrest, Stephanie Gayle, Marco Carocari, Jeffrey Round, and David Pederson. Edited by John Copenhaver and Salem West.”

Cass R. Sunstein at Brookline Booksmith
On Liberalism
September 19 at 7 p.m.
Free or $35.97 with book

“In On Liberalism, former advisor to Presidents Obama and Biden and New York Times–bestselling author Cass Sunstein offers a timely and clear understanding of liberalism—of its core commitments, of its breadth, of its internal debates, of its evolving character, of its promise—and why we need it more than ever. He also shows how and why liberalism has been, and should be, appealing to both the left and the right.”

PSB Boston Edition Comedy Night: Laughing Through the Pain! at Porter Square Books
September 19 at 7 p.m.
GrubStreet Center for Creative Writing, 50 Liberty Drive: Suite 500, Boston, MA
Tickets are $15 at the door or $10 in advance

“PSB: Boston Edition is thrilled to present Laughing Through the Pain for a night filled with twisted humor and side-splitting laughter! Our lineup of comedians will have you in stitches as they tackle the darker side of life. Get ready to laugh until it hurts!”

Lauren O’Neill-Butler at Brookline Booksmith
The War of Art
September 23 at 7 p.m.
Free or $35.97 with book

“Artists in America have long battled against injustices, believing that art can in fact “do more.” The War of Art tells this history of artist-led activism and the global political and aesthetic debates of the 1960s to the present. In contrast to the financialized art market and celebrity artists, the book explores the power of collective effort — from protesting to philanthropy, and from wheat pasting to planting a field of wheat.

Lauren O’Neill-Butler charts the post-war development of artists’ protest and connects these struggles to a long tradition of feminism and civil rights activism. The book offers portraits of the key individuals and groups of artists who have campaigned for solidarity, housing, LGBTQ+, HIV/AIDS awareness, and against Indigenous injustice and the exclusion of women in the art world.” Arts Fuse review

Miranda Mellis in conversation with Kythe Heller at Porter Square Books
Crocosmia
September 24 at 7 p.m.
Cambridge Edition, 1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA
Free

“A philosophical fable, Crocosmia centers on Maya as she recollects the “great turning”–a moment of radical social and ecological change effected in part by the art of her mother, Jane. As Maya recalls her upbringing–from a commune run by anarchist nuns to a time of rural isolation before her mother’s disappearance–Mellis’s prose gorgeously conjures a life defined by revolutionary thought and action and the interplay and tension between family life and political commitment. At once a fantasy, a handbook to political thought, and a work of eco-fiction, this lush novel meditates on how, in a world on the precipice, dreams of communal care can bloom.”

Stephen Greenblatt at the Cambridge Public Library – Harvard Book Store
Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival
September 25 at 6 p.m.
Tickets are Free or $33.99 with book

“Dark Renaissance illuminates both Marlowe’s times and the origins and significance of his work—from his erotic translations of Ovid to his portrayal of unfettered ambition in a triumphant Tamburlaine to Doctor Faustus, his unforgettable masterpiece about making a pact with the devil in exchange for knowledge.

Introducing us to Marlowe’s transgressive genius in the form of a thrilling page-turner, Stephen Greenblatt brings a penetrating understanding of the literary work to reveal the inner world of the author, bringing to life a homosexual atheist who was tormented by his own compromises, who refused to toe the party line, and who was murdered just when he had found love. Meanwhile, he explores how the people Marlowe knew, and the transformations they wrought, gave birth to the economic, scientific, and cultural power of the modern world including Faustian bargains with which we reckon still.”

Steven Pinker at First Parish Church – Harvard Book Store
When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows . . . : Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life 
September 26 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $15 or $40 with book

“Pinker shows how the hidden logic of common knowledge can make sense of many of life’s enigmas: financial bubbles and crashes, revolutions that come out of nowhere, the posturing and pretense of diplomacy, the eruption of social media shaming mobs and academic cancel culture, the awkwardness of a first date. Artists and humorists have long mined the intrigues of common knowledge, and Pinker liberally uses their novels, jokes, cartoons, films, and sitcom dialogues to illuminate social life’s tragedies and comedies.”

— Matt Hanson