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

A scene from director Xi Huang’s Daughter’s Daughter

Taiwan Film Festival of Boston
Through 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

Manhattan Shorts 2025
September 28 at 3 p.m. & 7 p.m.
October 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Regent Theater, Arlington
Also at the Spire Center for Performing Arts Plymouth, at 6 p.m. on September 30.

10 short films explore a wide range of topics such as migration, reconciliation, housing prices, parenthood and the price of silence, and the trials and tribulations of growing into adulthood when fantastical and dangerous griffins fly overhead and you have an OMG murderous mother! Audiences will vote for Best Film and Best Actor with picks announced at ManhattanShort.com on October 6.

Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror
Though October 1
Somerville Theatre, Somerville

The mega-cult movie turns 50 this year, and here is a celebratory documentary that features the original cast, creatives, and other pop culture figures reminiscing about bringing the strange journey of Brad, Janet, and Dr. Frank-N-Furter to life… not to mention examining the ways in which the film and its enormous popularity has shaped not only their own personal journeys, but the culture at large.

Cinephile Heaven: Cinema Ritrovato on Tour
Through October 2
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge

This storied film festival highlights some of the latest film restorations and rediscoveries, and brings in guests and cinephiles from all over the world to talk about them. The Brattle teams with the Cinema Studies program at UMass Boston and Cineteca di Bologna to bring a touring version to Cambridge. Schedule of Films

A scene from the silent film masterpiece Greed.

Greed
October 3 at 8:30 p.m.
Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge

I saw this silent masterpiece many years ago, and I can attest to its brilliance. Based on the wonderful Frank Norris novel McTeague, the film concerns a housewife (ZaSu Pitts) who wins the lottery, a prize that destroys her comfortable life with her dentist husband. Their downfall feeds her own increasing paranoia as well as the machinations of a villainous friend, Marcus. This Erich von Stroheim adaptation remains “a sensitive study of gestures and symbols about the slow and tragic decline of a spirit lost in destiny, as well as an exploration of the human condition.” It was cut by producers from the original nine-hour version down to this two and a half hour version. Live musical accompaniment by Martin Marks

Revolutions Per Minute Festival
October 4–19
Multiple Venues

This annual festival celebrates cutting-edge experimental media art that expands our understanding of what the moving image can be. It includes short-form poetic, personal, and experimental films along with video essays, documentaries, animation, sound art, media installations, and audiovisual performances. This year’s venues (linked here) include the MFA Boston, CAM Lab, The Foundry, Boston City Hall.

The Independent Film Festival Boston Fall Focus
October 9-12
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge

IFFBoston announces the initial slate for its 11th Annual Fall Focus Film Festival with a selection of the most anticipated movies of the coming season. The 2025 edition has been expanded to two weekends: It will run from October 9 to 12 and then from October 30 to November 2 at the Brattle Theatre. Film are listed here. Date and times to be announced.

A scene from Nosferatu.

Nosferatu (1922) with the Invincible Czars
October 10 at 7 p.m.
Capital Theatre in Arlington

This is the first of two silent horror classics that are going to be given live accompaniment by the eclectic Austin band The Invincible Czars. Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror follows a young real estate agent, Thomas Hutter, who travels to Transylvania to meet with the mysterious (and vampiric) Count Orlok, who then travels to Hutter’s town, causing death and destruction.

The Phantom of the Opera with The Invincible Czars
October 13 at 7 p.m.
Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline

The Invincible Czars will bring their signature blend of eclectic instrumentation, adventurous arrangements, and sense of emotional depth to this silent film classic with their new modern soundtrack performed live on the Coolidge stage. The cherry on top: this is also the film’s 100th anniversary.

— 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

Girl from the North Country
PBS

This week’s film recommendation is a unique offering, a beautifully filmed adaptation of the stage play by Irish playwright Conor McPherson (The Weir), which features 20 songs from Bob Dylan’s extensive body of work. It takes place in 1934 at a boarding house in Duluth, Minnesota, where a diverse cast of characters struggles to survive the Depression. The film is a multicamera production of the New York show.

Loneliness and survival, along with spirits and ghostly presences, infuse McPherson’s text. Dylan’s songs serve as less a narrative element than an emotional accompaniment to the story. After seeing the show in London this summer, I felt as though I was hearing many of the songs, now reimagined for the stage, with fresh ears and deeper appreciation. Todd Almond, who wrote the book Slow Train Coming: Bob Dylan’s Girl From the North Country and Broadway’s Rebirth, recalled his experience of performing in the production. He recalled that Dylan, when he came backstage after seeing the show, had tears in his eyes. The fine cast features Mare Winningham and Robert Joy. Caveat: there may be a fee required, but these days PBS can certainly use public support.

— Tim Jackson

Television

Spooky season is officially beginning (though some corners of social media have been spotlighting witches and ghouls since August). Everyday existence these days, if you’re watching the news, is full of horrors, so there is an abundance of competition. But some studies conclude that engaging with fictional horror can soothe the psyche (for some folks, anyway). So here’s some picks for the first half of October (wool sweaters and pumpkin spice lattes optional).

Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein in Monster: The Ed Gein Story. Photo: Netflix

Monster: The Ed Gein Story (October 3, Netflix) Horror in the form of true crime documentaries has become a very popular genre in recent years. Despite my tendency to think Ryan Murphy’s prolific television output is uneven at best, the Monster series has been very good so far. In particular, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story starring the excellent Evan Peters (a Murphy regular in American Horror Story) is outstanding, and the second season, focused on brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, also recieved great reviews. The third installment, also co-created with Ian Brennan, centers on Ed Gein and stars Charlie Hunnam (celebrated for Sons of Anarchy) as the convicted serial killer. Gein, known as the Plainfield Ghoul and the Butcher of Plainfield, was implicated in a number of unsolved murders and disappearances in Wisconsin in the 1950s. He was committed to a mental institution for ten years before standing trial for murder. He died in prison in 1984. Gein’s predilection for skinning the corpses of his victims was his gruesome calling card. Other cast members include Laurie Metcalf as Gein’s mother, as well as Olivia Williams and Tom Hollander (whose performance as Truman Capote in Murphy’s Feud: Truman Capote and the Swans is not to be missed).

True Haunting (October 7, Netflix) No doubt this series will be widely watched, because creator James Wan’s Conjuring franchise is wildly popular. This new documentary makes use of a “haunting of the week” format, a trope pioneered by its producers in their earlier series, Paranormal Witness. The latter was one of a number of similar shows that employed a stylistic blend of talking head testimonials with cinematic clips (some drawing on crude verite-style, some full of special effects) purporting to be “re-enacted” scenes of spooky occurrences. The vibe is similar to MTV’s 2000 Fear, which was clearly inspired by the found footage juggernaut, The Blair Witch Project. I find these kinds of shows somewhat entertaining, partly because of their unintentional amusement, the result of melodramatic narration compounded by heavily scripted, manipulative testimonials. This is the guilty pleasure of scary season fare. This is often laughably bad but compellingly watchable television — an ersatz treat, not finely wrought but satisfying nonetheless.

— Peg Aloi

Theater

Meghan Carey, Kate Fitzgerald, Alison Jean White, Chloé Kolbenhyer, Nicole Mulready (on floor) in the Huntington Theatre Company production of The Hills of California. Photo: Liza Voll

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.” Arts Fuse review

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.” Arts Fuse review

Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster written and performed by Manual Cinema, inspired by the books Leonardo, The Terrible Monster & Sam, The Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World by Mo Willems. Directed by Sarah Fornace.  Presented by Wheelock Family Theatre at Boston University at 180 Riverway, Boston, October 9 through 19.

No doubt another highly imaginative offering from the Emmy Award-winning collective Manual Cinema, which adroitly combines puppetry, live performance, cinema, and music in its productions.  The company uses “hundreds of illustrated paper puppets, oversized book pages, two-dimensional props, furry monsters, and live music to transform the stage into a living storybook. Audiences can choose to watch the action on the big screen, as in a movie, or follow the artists on stage as they bring the story to life in real time.” The plot revolves around “a monster who just can’t seem to be scary. When Leonardo meets Sam, the most scaredy-cat kid in the world, it seems like he’s finally found his match, but what follows is an unexpected journey toward friendship, complete with new challenges when Kerry and her monster friend Frankenthaler join the story.”

Kamal Bolden, Julian Rozzell, and Bryce Foley in Hang Time. Photo: Maria Baranova

Hang Time written and directed by Zora Howard. A production by The Flea presented by ArtsEmerson at the Emerson Paramount Center, Jackie Liebergott Black Box, 559 Washington Street, Boston, October 9 through 12.

The plot of this theater piece by Pulitzer Prize finalist Howard: “Three brothers shoot the breeze under an old, wide tree. In this exploration of intergenerational bonds, we peek into the interior worlds—the great loves and bitter blues—of Black men in America.”

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.

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

Mother Mary by KJ Moran Velz. Directed by Elaine Vaan Hogue. Staged by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, the  Snodgrass Stage, 949 Commonwealth Avenue, October 9 through 26.

“The play, set in 1968 Boston, is a new romantic comedy centered on the unexpected connection between Jo Cruz, a Puerto Rican taxi driver, and Mary O’Sullivan, an Irish American Catholic school teacher. Despite rising tensions between their communities, Mary and Jo find themselves in a close friendship…or is it something more? But their growing connection takes a turn when Mary asks Jo to take her on a risky road trip where there’s no going back.”  Content transparency: Mother Mary contains scenes of sexual intimacy and references to abortion.

Madame Mozart, the Lacrimosa, a play with music by Anne Undeland. Directed by Miriam Cyr. Staged by Punctuate4 Productions at the Natti-Willsky Performance Center, 267 East Main St. Gloucester, October 9 through 19.

This is billed as a dark historical comedy, and the description of the set-up of the plot fits the bill: “Take me with you, Wolfie. Please. I can’t do it alone,” pleads Constanze Mozart as she drags the still warm but very dead body of her husband, Wolfgang Amadeus, into the basement in December of 1791. Wolfie had just died in the messiest way possible: covered in vomit, his Requiem in D Minor unfinished, his family watching in horror, creditors at the door.”

HONK! Festival, 2024. A video still courtesy of Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band.

20TH ANNUAL HONK! FESTIVAL OF ACTIVIST STREET BANDS, a wide variety of musical /activist events planned at Tufts University, in Medford (HONK! U Conference on Thursday); Davis Square, in Somerville (street music, workshops, lantern parades on Friday & Saturday); and Harvard Square, in Cambridge (with a vast Parade
out of Davis Sq. to then participate in Oktoberfest, on Sunday), October 9 though 12. (Rain or Shine) Free and open to all

The beloved festival of activist street bands is taking over Davis Square, Somerville for the 2oth time in what looks to be a splendid expansion of its festivities, including  events on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Then comes the final, unmissable march to Harvard Square on Sunday. Well over 30 barking and blaring troupes will perform. Guaranteed: plenty of joyful noises. And, given the state of the world, we all could use some robust honking about.

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, 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.”

Ban the Bans, A Play in Resistance to the Banning of Books by James Carroll and Rachel DeWoskin. Presented by Writers for Democratic Action at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT) on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. Click here for a livestream of the performance.

A staged reading with Dennis Cunningham, Carryl Lynn, Nina Schuessler, Nathaniel Taylor, and Jeff Zinn. Talkback moderated by James Carroll. “A festive celebration of the power of reading during National Banned Books Week! This new one-act play dramatizes the American refusal to accept state-forbidden expression and thought.”

Will McGarrahan in the Lyric Stage production of Our Town. Photo: Nile Hawver

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.” Arts Fuse review

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, 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.”

Todd Scofield as Paul Cézanne and Abe Goldfarb as Émile Zola in Paul and Émile. Photo: Michael Karchmer & Michael Kerouac

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

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.”

David Payne in Churchill. Photo: Courtesy of Emery Entertainment

Churchill, written and performed by David Payne.  Presented by the Huntington Theater Company at the the Calderwood Pavillion,  October 7 through 12. 

The setup for this one-man show: “British statesman and former United Kingdom Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill was awarded an honorary U.S. citizenship by President John F. Kennedy in April 1963. In recognition of that unprecedented occasion, The American-Oxford Society has invited Mr. Churchill to address them and discuss what the honor means to him.” We no doubt get an earful from David Payne as Churchill on the subject — it will interesting if Churchill’s thoughts on the “honor” of British colonialism and racism are brought up.

Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman. Directed by Isadora Wolfe. Staged by the Berkshire Theater Group on The Larry Vaber Stage at The Unicorn Theatre,  6 East Street, through October 26.

This highly imaginative script reimagines “Ovid’s timeless tales … set around a shimmering pool of water” and tells “ancient stories of love, transformation and the power of the gods. From the tragic longing of Orpheus and Eurydice to King Midas’ fateful wish, Metamorphoses weaves together myths that remain as poignant and relevant today as they did thousands of years ago.”

Actor/comedian Chris Grace. Photo: courtesy of HTC

Sardines written and performed by Chris Grace. Directed by Eric Michaud. Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Maso Studio in The Huntington Theatre, September 30 through November 16.

According to the HTC website, this one-man show explores the tragic, hilarious, and important questions of our time: Can we enjoy life if we know how it ends? Does making art actually help? And if Rihanna’s song is called ‘Don’t Stop the Music,’ why does the music… stop?” Find out the answers in this anything but depressing show created and performed by actor-comedian Chris Grace (TV’s Superstore, Dropout’s Chris Grace: as Scarlett Johansson).”

Misery by William Goldman, based on the novel by Stephen King. Directed by Courtney Sale. Staged by Merrimack Repertory Theatre at the Nancy L. Donahue Theatre at Liberty Hall, 50 E. Merrimack Street, Lowell, October 15 through November 2.

Karen MacDonald stars as Annie Wilkes and Tom Coiner as novelist Paul Sheldon in this stage adaptation of King’s nightmare fantasia — via a successful novel and film — of an artist who is haunted by his “number one fan.”

Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Directed by Christopher V. Edwards. Staged by Actors’ Shakespeare Project at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, October 2 through 26.

ASP Resident Artists Omar Robinson and Brooke Hardman are Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. W.H. Auden on the tragedy: “Lady Macduff’s line, “All is the fear, and nothing is the love” might be the motto of Macbeth and at the end of the play it is shown to no longer be true.”

Cast members in the Gamm Theatre production of Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika: L to R: Haas Regen (Prior Walter), Gabrielle McCauley (Harper Pitt); Background front row, L to R: Jeff Church (Mormon Father), Rachael Warren (Mormon Mother); Background back row, L to R: Tony Estrella (Mormon Son), Rodney Witherspoon II (Caleb) Photo: Cat Laine

Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika by Tony Kushner. Directed by Brian McEleney. Staged by the Gamm Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick, R.I., through October 19

On the Gamm Theatre website: “The conclusion to Tony Kushner’s epic play, Perestroika picks up where Millennium Approaches left off, diving even deeper into the lives of its characters as they confront illness, identity, and the shifting tides of history. As the AIDS crisis intensifies and personal worlds begin to unravel, heaven and earth collide in a powerful reckoning with hope, justice, and the possibility of change.”

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 “Wonder Awaits.”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.

A scene from the Royal Shakespeare Company and Good Chance production of Kyoto. Photo: Manuel Harlan

Opening at the Newhouse Theater at NYC’s Lincoln Center on October 8 comes the Royal Shakespeare Company and Good Chance production of Kyoto, written by playwrights Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson. Directed by Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, this production of a drama about the 1997 International climate conference at Kyoto has been very successful — it transferred earlier this year to the West End. Proof to Boston theater makers that the climate crisis can be plenty theatrical.

The Guardian review called Kyoto “tense and gripping.” The playwrights wisely took George Bernard Shaw’s advice when it came to writing a play about saving the earth — give the best lines to your villain: “Even ticket-buyers fully signed up to the science and politics may have slightly dreaded the theatrical equivalent of a three-hour Ted Talk by Greta Thunberg. But Kyoto makes the crucial bold decision to employ as narrator an extreme sceptic about the climate crisis, a darkly charming ringmaster named Don Pearlman, a Republican lawyer who attended the talks as surreptitious disruptor on behalf of the oil industry.”

— Bill Marx

Visual Art

The word “indigenous,” from the Latin for “original inhabitant,” did not exist when Europeans began to arrive in the Americas. It wasn’t in use even when Shakespeare wrote “The Tempest,” whose magical islanders were probably loosely inspired by an accidental European encounter with the original inhabitants of Bermuda. Yet indigenous has become the latest term to class together the incredibly diverse language and cultural groups that formerly inhabited the whole of the Western Hemisphere.

That these indigenous inhabitants did not think, and still do not think, of themselves as belonging to a single social group or “people” has always made such collective terms a bit awkward, despite the often good intentions of those using them. Thus the indigenous themselves sometimes default to the old school term of “Indian,” which at least has the advantage that everyone knows it is based on a misapprehension.

Teresa Baker, Knife River, 2024. Yarn, buckskin, artifical sinew, and willow on AstrTurf. Photo: ICA

Given all this, the premise of An Indigenous Present, opening on October 9 at the ICA is problematic on several levels. Since, in the words of the organizers, the selection spans “100 years of contemporary art,” it is not exactly “present;” perhaps “presence” would have been a better term. Moreover, at least some of the 15 artists on view have spent virtually their entire adult lives within the mainstream gallery and museum career circuit: this is not “folk” or traditional “Native American” art but work by art professionals, with a background in one or more tribal groups.

The show offers “an expansive consideration of indigenous art practices that highlights a continuum of elders and emerging makers.” But does that celebrate the survival of true tribal art traditions or their ultimate absorption into a undifferentiated whole or, worse, invisibly into the established (and white) visual art culture? Is it about continuity or discontinuity? The premise remains cloudy. Yet the show is still worth seeing for just these intriguing ambiguities, as well as the several specially commissioned works on view.

A companion exhibition, Here We Stay, also opens on October 9. The focus is on the “more than 11,000 indigenous people [who] call Greater Boston home” and includes “photographs and stories of some of these individuals who continue to exist, contribute, innovate, and thrive.”

Grace Hartigan, East Side Sunday, 1956, oil on canvas, 80 × 82 inches. Brooklyn Museum. Photo: Portland Museum of Art

Grace Hartigan: The Gift of Attention, opening October 10 at the Portland Museum of Art, encompasses over 40 works from what is often considered the peak of Hartigan’s career: 1952 – 1968, when she was at the center of New York’s rising Abstract Expressionist school. Working in a highly personal, mixed abstract and figurative style, sometimes considered a “second generation” expressionist, Hartigan’s friends included a wide circle of important painters: Jackson Pollock, Larry Rivers, Helen Frankenthaler, and Willem and Elaine de Kooning, among them. But this show focuses, in particular, on the influence and support of New York School poets like Barbara Guest, James Merrill, Frank O’Hara, and Jimmy Schuyler, rebellious spirits who, she recalled, “fueled her independent artistic vision.”

Born in 1959 in Edinburgh, sculptor Hew Locke moved with his family to Georgetown, Guyana, in 1966, just as the British colonial period was coming to an end. He returned to Britain in 1980 during the social and economic upheavals of the Thatcher period and earned a BA and MA from British art schools. He settled in London, where he now lives and works.

Locke’s work, which also includes photography, drawing, and found objects, has been called “postcolonial baroque,” a richly woven, highly material style that draws on the “iconographies” of British power as well as the “vernacular and formal traditions” of his mixed British and Guyanese heritage. Hew Locke: Passages, which opens at the Yale Center for British Art on October 2, spans Locke’s career from the late 1990s to the present. Themes include public statuary, portraiture, and ships in an examination of “the historical processes of colonialism through the present-day legacies of global market capitalism, migration, and diaspora.”

On October 11, the MFA opens Faces in the Crowd: Street Photography. Now that virtually everyone carries a digital camera with them virtually all the time, street photography, says the MFA, has changed. Many are “less concerned with surreptitiously capturing an image” and “many employ the camera as a tool of transformation, taking everyday pictures from the ordinary to the strangely beautiful or even ominous. “

The MFA show reaches back well before the smart phone to the 1970s, to crowded urban spaces from Harlem and Los Angeles to Tokyo and Istanbul. Near classic images by Garry Winogrand, Helen Levitt, Dawoud Bey, Stephen Shore, and Yolanda Andrade, the museum says, pair up with more recent work by Luc Delahaye, Katy Grannan, Amani Willet, Zoe Strauss, and Martin Parr. Not only the changes in photography are on display but also the transformation of cities and the societies they contain.

Photographer Cynthia Smith’s entry in A Gathering Place | A Family Album. Photo: Griffin Museum of Photography

Out in Winchester, the Griffin Museum of Photography opens A Yellow Rose Project (October 2), billed as “over 100 women responding to the 19th Amendment” that gave American women the right to vote and A Gathering Place | A Family Album (October 1), another large group show “exploring the rituals of warmth, and complexities of coming together” with images that “reflect on how we gather, remember, and connect.”

October 3, from 5 to 7 p.m., the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland hosts an opening reception for its 2025 Biennial. The event features live music by Treasure Galleries, tacos by Taqueria Max in the courtyard, and an afterparty with dancing at Luce Spirits until midnight. The 29 Maine-related artists take up all of the Center’s 5,500 square feet of gallery space and were chosen from an applicant pool of 450.

 — Peter Walsh

“How to Explain Who I Was,” part of William Kentridge’s ongoing One Wall, One Work, a 52-part editioned work created in 2023–2024. Photo: Krakow Witkin Gallery

At Boston’s Krakow Witkin Gallery through October 18, William Kentridge’s How to Explain Who I Was. This is “latest of the artist’s large-scale works to challenge notions of veracity, completeness, and comprehension. By employing numerous different methods of reproduction (photography, photogravure, photopolymer, and drypoint etching) onto 52 sheets of seven different types of paper collaged and pinned together, Kentridge has created a scenario where various types of distinct marks, imagery, size, image source, and paper are considered equally. Photos of pins holding a piece of paper in the studio have the same relevance as actual pins holding the exhibited piece together. A photogravure of a photograph of a charcoal and India ink drawing is overlayed with direct drypoint marks. Like in much of Kentridge’s work, “reality” is subjective, incomplete, reformulated, and expanded in poetic ways where parts, parts left out, and the sum of the parts are equally significant.”

— Bill Marx

Classical Music

Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony with Bejun Mehta and the Lorelei Ensemble in 2017. Photo: Robert Torres.

Debussy & Mahler
Presented by Boston Symphony Orchestra
October 2 at 7:30 p.m., 3 at 1:30 p.m., and 4 at 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

“Boston, the BSO, and Symphony Hall in 1900,” a short festival marking the 125^th birthday of Symphony Hall, opens with a program that, if nothing else, underlines two divergent schools of musical thought around the turn of the last century. Nevertheless, it ought to be a treat to hear

singing Debussy’s Nocturnes. BSO music director Andris Nelsons also leads Mahler’s Symphony No. 4.

Handel’s Saul
Presented by Handel & Haydn Society
October 3 at 7:30 p.m. and 5 at 3 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

H&H opens their season with a performance of namesake George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Saul. Neal Davies sings the title role and Jonathan Cohen conducts.

Beethoven’s Missa solemnis
Presented by Boston Symphony Orchestra
October 9 at 7:30 p.m., 10 at 1:30 p.m., and 11 at 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

One week after it started, the Symphony Hall’s birthday festival ends with Beethoven’s magnum opus, the piece that inaugurated the venue on October 15, 1900. Nelsons and the BSO are joined by soprano Eleanor Lyons, mezzo-soprano Wiebeke Lehmkuhl, tenor Klaus Florian Vogt, bass Franz-Josef Selig, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.

Celebrated mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges. Photo: courtesy of the artist

J’Nai Bridges in recital
Presented by Celebrity Series
October 9 at 8 p.m.
Groton Hill Music Center, Groton

The program’s yet to be announced, but mezzo-soprano Bridges’ recital, which opens the Celebrity Series’ classical season, promises artistry of the highest order.

Chronicles
Presented by Radius Ensemble
October 9, 8 p.m.
Pickman Hall, Cambridge

Radius kicks off its 27^th season with a night of an eclectic mix of composers: Augusta Read Thomas, Bohuslav Martinů, Aaron Copland, and Fang Man. If that’s not enough, the group is joined by celebrity chef Jason Wang for Man’s Folktale of Four Dragons.

Macbeth
Presented by Boston Lyric Opera
October 10 at 7:30 p.m. and 12 at 3 p.m.
Emerson Colonial Theatre, Boston

BLO returns to action with Verdi’s magnificent Shakespeare adaptation. Norman Garrett sings the title role and Alexandra LoBianco is Lady Macbeth. David Angus conducts.

— Jonathan Blumhofer

Popular Music

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.

Bluesman Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram with Mathias Lattin
October 1 (doors at 7/show at 8)
Paradise Rock Club, Boston

Christone Ingram was reared in the bountifully bluesy surroundings of Clarksdale, Mississippi. In the past six years, the 26-year-old’s three albums have garnered him 15 Blues Music Awards and a Grammy. Hard Road hit shelves on September 26, and is unlikely to stem the tide of honors heaped upon him. Moreover, recognition form his musical peers is evident from his having recorded and toured with the likes of Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, and Vampire Weekend. Mathias Lattin, winter of the Best Band and Best Guitarist awards at the 2023 International Blues Challenge, will kick of Kingfish’s show at the Paradise on October 1.

Pink Slip with Girth Control, Cheer Camp, Blame it on Whitman
October 3 (doors at 7/show at 8)
Deep Cuts, Medford

The best description of Pink Slip comes from the band itself: “Punchy ska punk with big hooks and a bigger heart.” Being a ska band, the Boston octet includes not only the traditional rock group instruments, but trombone, sax, and trumpet as well.

Their latest EP, last June’s Suck City, is the follow-up to 2023’s Soft Opening. Their October 3 show in Medford will be in honor their latest single, the characteristically rambunctious “Play Nice.” Girth Control, fellow ska punks from Albany, which join Boston’s Cheer Camp and Blame It On Whitman in comprising a killer quadruple bill.

Sons of Sevilla opening for Skinshape
October 4 (doors at 7/show at 8)
Paradise Rock Club, Boston

Brothers Henry and Reuben Smith were born in Featherstone, Yorkshire, and summered with their family in Sevilla, Spain, where they formed their band and remain based. The offspring of pub-owning parents, the brothers grew up on the sounds of J.J. Cale, John Prine, Bob Dylan, Terry Reid, Neil Young, and Gene Clark. September 5 saw the release of their second LP, Street Light Moon. Recorded with drummer and flautist Geoff Mann, son of jazz legend Herbie, Marcos Garcia (aka Chico Mann), whose band Here Lies Man was inspired by asking, “What if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat?”, and Black Pumas guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada, the album is as trippy as an unlit obstacle course and arrived at the perfect time for those saddened by the onset of summer’s end.

Invisible Rays with Cruise Control and Fortuna 500
October 7 (doors at 7/show at 8)
Deep Cuts, Medford

After releasing their debut LP, Sequin Dream, in 2023, Boston’s Invisible Rays returned this past summer with two new singles, “Interstellar Sweetheart” and “I Don’t Dream of You.” Both of these are fine examples of no-frills rock ‘n’ roll that are sure to induce repeated listens. (You may purchase these, their other singles, and Sequin Dream for any amount on their bandcamp page.) On October 7, the quintet will headline a bill that includes Portland, Oregon’s Cruise Control – whose brand new album is Time Is An Angel – and Somerville’s Fortuna 500.

Equipment — their latest EP is highly satisfying and a fine introduction to the band. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Equipment with see through person and Hey, ily!
October 10 (doors at 8/show at 9)
The 4th Wall, Arlington

The first thing that piqued my interested in Equipment was their hilarious and magnificently nondescript and uninspiring name. The second was that they are from my home state of Ohio (Toledo). Finally, there was the possibility that their lead singer Nick Zander was related to the one from Cheap Trick. (He isn’t, as far as I can tell. But of course, it was preview of their music that sealed the deal. The quartet’s September 24 release, First time using slang, adds a fifth EP to a discography that also includes two LPs. Though only three songs long, one of which runs more than seven minutes, the EP is highly satisfying and a fine introduction to the band. (As is the June single “espresso lemonade.”) It and much of the band’s other material is available at “name your price” on Bandcamp, so stock up now or on Bandcamp Friday, which is October 3. Supporting them at their October 10 show at Arlington’s Capitol Theatre will be see through person and Hey, ily!, both of whom released new albums on October 25, 2024.

Destroyer with Jennifer Castle
October 10 (doors at 7/show at 8)
Paradise Rock Club, Boston

The ever-critically revered project of Dan Bejar reemerged in March with Dan’s Boogie, his first since 2022’s LABYRINTHITIS. In a Stereogum interview, Bejar described Dan’s Boogie as “the most Destroyer-y sounding Destroyer record in a long time.” Still, he remains up to his ever-expected cinematic and operatic tricks, arguably culminating in the eight-minute long “Cataract Time.” Jennifer Castle, a fellow Canadian whom Bejar named among his favorite contemporary artists in my 2019 Arts Fuse interview with him, will warm up Destroyer’s Paradise audience on October 10.

— Blake Maddux

Roots and World Music

Andy Irvine will be performing at The Burren this week. Photo: Wikimedia

Andy Irvine
Oct. 1 at 7 (sold out) and 9 p.m.
The Burren, Somerville
Oct 2 at 6:30 p.m.
Boston College, Brighton

One of the great singers of traditional Irish song, Irvine’s lengthy resume includes being a key member of such seminal bands as Planxty and Patrick Street. But it’s been, if our records are right, nearly a decade since he’s been here for a solo gig, which is why a late show was added after the early show sold out. The following day he’ll be featured at a free event at Boston College as part of the Gaelic Roots Series.

Damir Imamović
Oct. 1, 7 p.m.
Arts at the Armory, Somerville
Amira Medunjanin
Oct. 12, 6:30 p.m.
Shore Country Day School, Beverly

The mournful and deeply soulful sound of sevdah music has been called Bosnia’s answer to Portuguese fado or American blues. (It comes from a Turkish word that means “emotional, passionate, sensual, spicy, wild.”) Amazingly the two most exciting contemporary practitioners of sevdah are both playing in the Boston area this month. The intelligent and adventurous singer/songwriter and musician Damir Imamović made a landmark sevdah recording when he joined forces with legendary producer Joe Boyd for a 2023 Folkways release called “The World and All That It Holds,” a Bosnian and Sephardic Ladino-language companion to the novel of the same name by Aleksandar Hemon. Medunjanin has helped take sevdah from a nearly extinct tradition to a thriving and vibrant one by adding a touch of torch jazz singing and a personality that has made her a favorite of audiences at home and in the diaspora.

Fok veteran Eric Andersen. Photo: Wikimedia

Eric Andersen
Oct. 4, 7 p.m.
Club Passim, Cambridge

Last Saturday’s “Wasn’t That a Time” symposium presented by the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame and the Bruce Springsteen Archives was a powerful celebration of the lasting impact of the Greenwich Village and Cambridge folk revival of the ’60s, as well as a reminder that the opportunities to experience the artists from that era live are rapidly dwindling. Eric Andersen was right there at the center of the Village folk action in the mid-’60s. He’s gone on to have a lengthy, if at times under appreciated, career that included one of Rick Danko’s best post-Band projects Fjeld/Danko/Andersen. This year, at 82, Andersen released his first major studio record in 20 years, Dance of Love and Death, an outstanding double album full of songs that reflect his talent for writing deep and sometimes dark songs that match his famous gravelly voice.

Puuluup
Oct. 5, 2 p.m.
Club Passim, Cambridge

The rich culture of Estonia is easy for thrifty tourists to access, but is rarely heard on North American stages. The outrageously eccentric and eclectic duo Puuluup are doing a lot to change that situation with their ongoing touring here. The pair mixes the talharpa, a four-stringed bowed lyre, with loops, electronics, and charisma for a vibrantly distinctive presentation. This is their first local appearance since they played what ended up being the final edition of the Boston University Global Music Festival.

Bluesman Cedric Burnside. Photo: Jim Arbogast

Cedric Burnside
Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m.
Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport, MA

Cedric Burnside learned deep Mississippi blues from his father, the late and beloved R.L. Burnside. He’s a longtime member of the North Mississippi All-Stars, but it might be that he is at his best when he’s playing solo. He will be at this show, which could, at least temporarily, turn the pristine Shalin Liu into a Delta juke joint.

Skippy White’s Gospel Train
October 12, 4 p.m.
Charles St. AME Church, Dorchester

Although Boston record legend Skippy White has hosted some R&B revues in recent years, it’s been far too long since he’s presented an afternoon of gospel. Topping the bill is the current version of one of the all-time great quartets, the Brooklyn All-Stars. Joining them are the best of Boston’s own: the Spiritual Encouragers, Test-a-Mony, The Heavenly Voice, Bishop Harold Branch, and a special guest segment from Boston’s blues queen Toni Lynn Washington. Tickets are available from another Boston legend, promoter Alice James, at 617-828-1912 as well as through many of the local group members.

Beat scientists Pachyman and Mndsgn. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Pachyman and Mndsgn
October 13, 8 p.m.
The Sinclair, Cambridge

One of the most satisfying purveyors of modern dub reggae is a one-man band from Puerto Rico — Pachyman, aka Pachy Garcia. Now LA-based, he’s mounting a tour with a full quartet that will no doubt bring out the power, glory, and reverb of his records. Garcia will be on drums and will be joined by Javier Perez on guitar, Jordan Brooks on bass, and Diego Gaeta on keys. They’re splitting the bill with fellow beat scientist Mndsgn.

— Noah Schaffer

Jazz

Edmar Colón Quintet
October 2 at 6 p.m.
Long Live Roxbury Brewery & Taproom, Boston
FREE

The exciting young saxophonist and composer Edmar Colón fronts a quintet with keyboardist Harold Charón Cisneros, bassist Ian Ashby, drummer Hector Falú, and percussionist David Rosado. Colón is a talented and prolific writer, with several past commissions from the Boston Pops (including a four-movement saxophone concerto for the Boston Pops and Branford Marsalis), so expect to hear plenty of new original material. And, like all these Thursday evening shows at the Long Live Roxbury Brewery & Taproom, it’s free.

The After Times. Photo: Courtesy of the artist

The After Times
October 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Peabody Hall, Parish of All Saints, Dorchester

Former middle school chums Josiah Reibstein (bass), Joe Musacchia (drums) and Malcolm Campbell (keyboards) started playing informal standards-focused sessions during COVID’s first wave and decided to continue as a band. Their debut release, The Feather Room, finds them exploring the lyrical side of post-bop swing in a healthy handful-plus of original tunes, plus “Tenderly.”

Mike Stern Group
October 2 and 3 at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge

Guitar monster Mike Stern fronts a group with his wife, Leni Stern, herself a formidable guitarist and composer, saxophonist Bob Franceschini, bassist Edmond Gilmore, and Mike’s longtime running partner, the veteran drummer Dennis Chambers.

Pianist Yoko Miwa. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Yoko Miwa
October 3 at 7 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston

Pianist and composer Yoko Miwa’s weekly residencies at various restaurants and bistros around Boston have always been a staple of the local scene, but her jazz club events are always special. “We can go for it!,” as she likes to say. She’s joined by regular trio-mates Will Slater on bass and Scott Goulding on drums.

Cuban-born pianist Harold López-Nusa. Photo: Ryan McNurney

Harold López-Nusa
October 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport, MA

The phenomenal Cuban-born pianist Harold López-Nusa comes to town on the heels of the new Nueva Timba (Blue Note) with the players from that album — his longtime bandmates Luques Curtis on bass and Ruy Adrian López-Nussa (Harold’s brother) on drums, along with the stunning harmonica virtuoso Grégoire Maret.

Kevin Harris Project
October 4 at 3 p.m.
Arlington Street Church, Boston
FREE

Pianist and composer Kevin Harris is another one of those essential Boston players who shows up on everyone’s sessions, matching technique and ensemble sensitivity with unique soulfulness. His Project for this date includes the excellent guitarist Sheryl Bailey and saxophonist Jean Strauss. This is another in the free series presented as part of the Celebrity Series of Boston’s Neighborhood Arts program.

The Revolutionary Snake Ensemble. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Revolutionary Snake Ensemble
October 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge, MA

The Revolutionary Snake Ensemble celebrated their 35th anniversary with a performance at the Regattabar. Now they return to the scene of the crime, as it were, to celebrate the release of a recording that was made there that night, Serpentine, continuing their own progressive-jazz-funk take on New Orleans second-lines brass bands.

Pianist Laszlo Gardony. Photo: Richard Conde

Laszlo Gardony
October 5 at 3 p.m.
Spire Center for Performing Arts, Plymouth

Boston-area audiences most often get to hear Laszlo Gardony in a trio format, so his rare solo shows are especially valued. The esteemed pianist, composer, and educator plays this one in Plymouth’s Spire Center, a converted 19^th-century church building with prized acoustics that should be a perfect setting for solo piano.

Pianist Brad Mehldau. Photo: Elena Olivo

Christian McBride & Brad Mehldau
October 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Sanders Theatre, Cambridge

Two masters ply their wares in the august confines of Sanders Theatre.

Eric Reed Trio
October 9 at 7 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston

Some may remember Eric Reed from his role in Wynton Marsalis’s septet and with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in the ’90s, but he’s released a slew of albums as a leader since then and his latest, the quintet date Out Late (Smoke Sessions), displays his enduring virtuoso touch and compositional craft imbued with uncommon warmth. He brings a trio to Scullers with bassist Guillermo Lopez and drummer Willie Jones III.

Boston-based tenor saxophonist Gregory Groover Jr. Photo: Ogata Photography

Gregory Groover Jr.
October 10 at 8 p.m.
Groton Hill Music Center, Groton, MA

The Boston-based tenor saxophonist and composer Gregory Groover Jr. has a beautifully written new album, Old Knew, and he’s celebrating its release with a stellar band: vibraphonist Joel Ross (also on the album), pianist Kris Davis, bassist John Lockwood, and drummer Chris Haynes.

Kris Adams
October 11 at 5 p.m.
Lilypad, Cambridge

The singer Kris Adams’s name is always associated with unique projects. In this case she’s celebrating the release of Away, a collection of compositions by the late guitarist Michael O’Neil, as well as two pieces by Paul Motian, one by guitarist-composer Eric Schultz, and a free improvisation. She’s joined by pianist Doug Johnson, bassist Paul Del Nero, and drummer Steve Langone.

Guitarist Andrew Stern and bassist John Lockwood. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Andrew Stern/John Lockwood
October 12 at 5 p.m.
Eustis Estate, Milton

Esteemed Boston-area guitarist Andrew Stern, who shows up in varied ensembles all over town, follows up his most recent disc, Lonely Hunter, a solo guitar outing of original compositions and covers of Hank Williams, Neil Young, Miles Davis, and Duke Ellington, with this duo show in which he crosses swords with another essential Boston utility player, bassist John Lockwood (most notably of the Fringe).

Point01 Percent
October 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Lilypad, Cambridge

Another provocative double-bill from the Point01 Percent folks at the Lilypad. First up is a quintet with pianist Steve Lantner, alto saxophonist Jim Hobbs, multisax player Allan Chase, bassist Nathan McBride, and drummer Eric Rosenthal. They’re followed by a quartet with pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, reedman Dan O’Brien, drummer Michael Larroca, and McBride again on bass.

— Jon Garelick

Author Events

Bill Janovitz at Brookline Booksmith
The Cars; Let the Stories be Told
September 29 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $51 with copy of book

“Join us for an intimate evening celebrating The Cars.This is the definitive biography of one of the most beloved and influential bands to emerge from the New Wave era. Author Bill Janovitz—a New York Times bestselling biographer and founding member of Buffalo Tom—delves deep into the sound, vision, and legacy of The Cars in conversation with band members, with legendary Boston DJ Oedipus hosting the evening. Joining the conversation are two original members of The Cars.”

Tom Comitta in conversation with Deidre Lync at Harvard Book Store
People’s Choice Literature: The Most Wanted & Unwanted Novels and Patchwork 
September 29 at 7 p.m.
Free

“The Most Wanted Novel is a fast-paced thriller evoking page-turners by Dan Brown, David Baldacci, and Janet Evanovich. It follows a California woman pulled into a tech tycoon’s apocalyptic ambitions after her brother’s kidnapping, teaming up with a hunky FBI agent with a tragic past. The Most Unwanted Novel is a genre-bending doorstopper: an epistolary Christmas novel set on a near-future Mars, where elderly aristocratic tennis players scour the globe for lost love, venturing from the coldest of arctic wastelands to the darkest caverns of the macabre. Variously recalling Kathy Acker, César Aira, and Philip K. Dick, it features sentient robots, talking animals, and a hundred-page collection of horror stories.”

Victoria Redel in conversation with Claire Messud at Porter Square Books
I Am You
October 2 at 7 p.m.
Free

“A lush, sexy, absorbing novel that brings to life two artists who are inextricably linked in passion and competition. Redel is a master storyteller whose exquisite prose held me rapt. A profound achievement.” —Melissa Febos, author of The Dry Season and Girlhood, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award

Walter Mosley at Harvard Book Store
Gray Dawn: An Easy Rawlins Mystery
October 2 at 7 p.m.
Free

“The name Easy Rawlins stirs excitement in the hearts of readers and fear in the hearts of his foes. His success has bought him a thriving detective agency, with its first female detective; a remote home, shared with children and pets and lovers, high atop the hills overlooking gritty Los Angeles; and more trouble, more problems, and more threat to those whom he loves. In other words, he’s still beset on all sides.

A number of below-the-law powerbrokers plead with Easy to locate a mysterious, dangerous woman—Lutisha James, though she’s gone by another name that Easy will immediately recognize. 1970s Los Angeles is a transient city of delicate, violent balances, and Lutisha has disturbed that. She also has a secret that will upend Easy’s own life, painfully closer to home.”

Banned Books Read-In at Brookline Booksmith
October 5 from 3-4 p.m.
Free

“Join us, in partnership with libro.fm and the Silent Book Club, for a banned books read-in to mark the start of Banned Books Week 2025. We’ll bring snacks, books, and crucial information about book banning in the US today, and you’ll have the opportunity to buy select books for the Prison Book Program – and your book donation will be matched!

At 4 p.m., our community engagement coordinator will be conversing with Public Library of Brookline librarian Tori Gellman about book bans and their effect on libraries and communities. No registration is required – just browse our display, bring your own favorite banned book, and drop by for as long as you want between 3-4:30PM to celebrate the right to read and the fellowship of your fellow readers.

The American Library Association suggests that, “Surveys indicate that 82-97% of book challenges remain unreported and receive no media coverage.” For a list of books reported to be challenged and banned in schools during 2023-2024, see this list compiled by PEN America. For a list of the most banned books of 2023-2024 and contextual material on book banning in our current moment, see here.”

Jill Lepore at First Parish Church — Harvard Book Store
We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution
October 6 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $48 w/ book, $15 without

“Challenging both the Supreme Court’s monopoly on constitutional interpretation and the flawed theory of “originalism,” Lepore contends in this “gripping and unfamiliar story of our own past” that the philosophy of amendment is foundational to American constitutionalism. The framers never intended for the Constitution to be preserved, like a butterfly, under glass, Lepore argues, but expected that future generations would be forever tinkering with it, hoping to mend America by amending its Constitution through an orderly deliberative and democratic process.

Lepore’s remarkable history seeks, too, to rekindle a sense of constitutional possibility. Congressman Jamie Raskin writes that Lepore “has thrown us a lifeline, a way of seeing the Constitution neither as an authoritarian straitjacket nor a foolproof magic amulet but as the arena of fierce, logical, passionate, and often deadly struggle for a more perfect union.” At a time when the Constitution’s vulnerability is all too evident, and the risk of political violence all too real, We the People, with its shimmering prose and pioneering research, hints at the prospects for a better constitutional future, an amended America.”

Helen Fremont in conversation with Helen Epstein at Brookline Booksmith
Outside the Lines
October 8 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $22.37 with book, free without

“Outside the Lines is the poignant and intricate story of a secret love affair between two women set in the 1980s. Maddie, a photojournalist from an aristocratic New England family, is ten years older, married, and has two children, while the author, Helen, the daughter of Eastern European immigrants, is an attorney working at a public defender’s office in Boston. Their paths cross in a writing workshop, where the narratives they craft reveal shared histories of family secrets and a deep, albeit perplexing, connection to the Holocaust.”

Mark Kurlansky at Harvard Book Store 
The Boston Way: Radicals Against Slavery and the Civil War
October 9 at 7 p.m.
Free

“The American Civil War is likely considered to be so since there seemed to be no alternative. Or was there? Before the war, Bostonian abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison correctly predicted that fighting would not bring about real freedom and justice. If emancipation came about through violence, he believed, it would take at least a century for Black people to get their rights. As we now know, it has taken even longer than that.

Here is the story of Garrison and other abolitionists, Black and white, male and female, who advocated a peaceful end to slavery and the start of human rights for Black people. The Boston Clique, as they were called, were victorious in persuading their fellow Bostonians to end Jim Crow laws on Massachusetts’ railroads. Persuasion was, these pacifists believed, the only means to lasting change.

In the pages of The Boston Way, we find Frederick Douglass and lesser-known Black abolitionists, William Nell and Charles Remond. We meet leading feminists of the nineteenth century Lydia Maria Child, Margaret Fuller, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Additional key figures include Adin Balou, William Ladd, and Noah Worcester whose voices for nonviolence impacted Leo Tolstoy, Gandhi, and Dr. Martin Luther King.”

Letter Write-In with Abolitionist Mail Project – Brookline Booksmith
October 10 from 6-8 p.m.
Free

“Abolitionist Mail Project is a pen-pal group that connects people incarcerated in Massachusetts and people on the outside. We believe that all incarceration is wrong. Until everyone is free, we must form genuine friendships between incarcerated and non-incarcerated people. These relationships will help break down walls and build a new world.”

Be the Change Workshop: What is Mutual Aid and How Do We Practice It? at Porter Square Books
October 12 from 5-6 p.m.
Free

“In a time of abundant crises—from climate catastrophe to state violence and more—it can feel overwhelming to know where or how to act. Calls to “organize” or “build community” can sound vague. Mutual aid is one answer to those calls. It grounds us in the here and now, and reminds us that everyone has something to contribute to our collective survival and liberation.

This month, join the Mutual Aid Medford and Somerville (MAMAS) study group in-person as we continue our collective learning around mutual aid: what it is, why it matters, and how we can begin, build, or deepen our practice. Mutual aid is not charity—it’s a political practice of showing up for one another, redistributing resources, and building the conditions for a more just and livable world.

Come to meet neighbors and discuss: What is mutual aid? What does mutual aid look like in action? How can we plug in or find our people? Come as you are—no required materials.”

— Matt Hanson

Karl Marx’s Capital with Paul Reitter & Paul North
Book Talk | GEGENÜBER Talks – Literature Across Borders
October 1
Online in English
Free of charge

A Goethe-Institut New York presentation. Paul Reitter, translator of Karl Marx’s Capital, Volume 1 (Princeton University Press) and Paul North, editor, present an engaging discussion about the context and legacy of this fundamental work of German political economy and philosophy.

They will address a series of fundamental questions about Capital. How did Marx come to write it? How did his thought evolve as he was writing it? What did he hope to accomplish by writing it? And, of course: What does he argue in the book’s different sections? What is the relation between its mode of presentation and mode of argumentation? Why read Capital today?

Paul Reitter received the 2025 Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize, funded by the Friends of Goethe New York, for his translation of Marx’s Capital, Volume 1, and will give a presentation on Marx this month at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

— Bill Marx