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.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Boston area theaters have decided to pretty much ignore what is happening in America and beyond — mounting threats to democracy, the country’s slide toward authoritarianism, the climate crisis, growing economic inequality, ICE’s violent round-up of immigrants, the expansion of internment camps, ongoing genocide in Gaza, transphobia, the grueling war in Ukraine, etc. I have decided to point out a production in Coming Attractions — staged in America or elsewhere — that grapples with today’s alarming realities. Sometimes the stagings will be available via Zoom, sometimes not. It is important to present evidence that theater artists, maybe not here but elsewhere, are reflecting, and reflecting on, the world around us.

A scene from an 18th century production of Moliere’s 1666 farce The Misanthrope.

A free reading of I Hate Everyone, Gary Duehr’s verse adaptation of Moliere’s 1666 comedy The Misanthrope. At the Connexion, 149 Broadway, Somerville, on March 21 at 3 p.m.

This version of the classic farce “is set in the swampy politics of contemporary Washington, DC. The title character’s loathing of hypocrisy and lies (and fake news) echoes the original’s scathing satire.” Is there any doubt that this presentation will lampoon the horrors (including wars) that Trump’s fascist-friendly government is piling up at record speed? How refreshing! How daring! How unusual!

Conflict of interest alert — Tim Jackson, Arts Fuse film critic, and loyal friend of the Arts Fuse, Mary Curtin, are among the readers.

A sample of Duehr’s adaptation:

There’s nothing I detest so much as lobbyists/Who regulate themselves, K-Street contortionists/Whose ethics twist in knots; who always fly first class/To stay above the fray—then kick you in the ass/If you subpoena them. When someone piles on praise/So lavishly, without reserve, it’s all cliches.

— Bill Marx

Film

A scene from Arvo Pärt: Even If I Lose Everything. A selection in this year’s Baltic Film Festival. Photo: courtesy of the NYBFF

Baltic Film Festival
Emerson Paramount Center at 559 Washington St., Boston
Virtually through March 23
Arts Fuse review

A scene from The Serpent’s Skin, screening at the Boston Underground Film Festival.

Boston Underground Film Festival 
March 18 – 22
The Brattle Theater in Cambridge

Below are links to the selections in the 24th edition of Boston’s premiere cinematic festival of the strange and unusual — along with revivals of some underground classics.

March 18

Normal (sold out)

Buffet Infinity

March 19

The Serpent’s Skin 

The Hedonist 

Sugar Rot 

March 20

The Dunwich Horrors – Local Horror Shorts 

Obsession

Cramps – A Period Piece

March 21

Animation Disorientation – Animation Shorts

Die Laughing – Comedy Crypt Shorts

Boorman and the Devil

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

The Devil’s Rejects

March 22

Death, Love, and Road Trips – Atypical Shorts

New England Esoterica — Local Shorts

CAMP

Saccharine

The Furious

Chris Benchetler in Mountains Of The Moon

Mountains of the Moon
March 19 at 7:30 p.m.
Regent Theater in Arlington

World renowned artist and skier, Chris Benchetler explores the unseen connections between sport, life, music, and the living earth—set to the timeless tunes of the Grateful Dead. Scott Damgaard will perform a short set of Grateful Dead tunes before the film.

Irish Film Festival Boston
March 20 & 21
Somerville Theatre

Báite, March 20 at 7.30 p.m.

A woman’s body is found under the waters of a lake in the countryside, and the arrival of a Detective from Dublin is the last thing Peggy, the owner of Casey’s Pub, needs as she tries to save her business and her family. Screens with an 2026 Oscar Nominee for Best Animated Short Film, Retirement Plan.

Beat The Lotto, March 21 at 5:30 p.m.

When downtrodden 1980s Ireland inaugurated a National Lottery, it became an obsession for Stefan. Seeing a flaw in the system, he attempted to fix the draw but the heist became public and the lottery tried to stop him, dividing the nation. Followed by an in person Q&A with director Ross Whitaker.

Christy at 7 p.m.

Two estranged brothers with checkered childhoods in the care system suddenly find themselves living under the same roof. They must now reconcile with their pasts and make decisions about the future.

A scene from Lois Weber’s The Blot.

Lois Weber Film Festival
March 20 – 22
West Newton Cinema

March 20: Opening Night Party at 5 p.m. with a Women in Film Board of Directors Showcase. At 7 p.m., Lois Weber’s 1921 silent masterpiece The Blot, live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis.

March 21: Short Films (USA) — at 5 p.m.
Feature Presentation: Riot in Bloom at 7 p.m.

March 22: World Premiere: Punkie — 1 p.m.
Local Massachusetts Short Films — 2:30 p.m.
Women in Film Panel Discussion — 3:30 p.m.
Genie Lamp Award Ceremony — 4:30 p.m.

Amrum, one of the entires in this year’s Turkish Film Festival.

25th Boston Turkish Film Festival
March 20 – April 3
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston

25th anniversary of the festival, presented in collaboration with the MFA Film Program, continues the tradition of highlighting emerging and established Turkish filmmakers, including several appearances by guest directors.

Amrum (March 20 at 7:30 p.m.)

Fatih Akin’s latest film will be preceded by a special recital by acclaimed pianist Hyun Sook Tekin, at 6 p.m. at the Edward H. Linde Gallery.

Idea (March 28 at 2 p.m.)

Director Tayfun Pirselimoğlu will be present.

Screens with award-winning short films Minus Ono (15 min) and Garan (19 min)

After The Game (March 29 at 12:30 p.m.)

Co-presented with the Goethe-Institut Boston, The director, Aysun Bademsoy, will be present

Panel Discussion with Guest Filmmakers and the Competition Jury Members (March 29, at 2:30 p.m.) at the Goethe-Institut Boston. Moderated by Arts Fuse film critic Peter Keough

Like a Novel (62 min.) (March 29 at 3:30 p.m.)

Best Documentary Audience Award, 2026

Tomato, Pepper, Depression (documentary, 68 min) (March 29 at 4:30 p.m.)

Director Aybüke Avcı will be present,

Apollon By Day/Athena By Night (April 3 at 7 p.m.)

The East Coast premiere of this feature.

A scene from Christian Petzold’s Mirrors No. 3. Photo: Christian Schulz/Schramm-Film

Mirrors No. 3
March 22 at 11 a.m.
Coolidge Corner Theater, Brookline

During a weekend trip to the countryside, Laura, a young piano student from Berlin, miraculously survives a shocking car crash. Director Christian Petzold (Phoenix, Transit)’s narrative spins a modern gothic fairytale about the lies we tell ourselves and the strange ways that grief, connection, and humanity bind and sustain us.

A scene from the documentary A Man Called Hurt.

A Man Called Hurt 
March 23 at 7 p.m.
Regent Theater in Arlington

In anticipation of his March 24th induction into the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame, the Regent Theatre will host a fundraising event for the Mississippi John Hurt Foundation. The film addresses his legacy and influence on the music world. An esteemed list of folk musicians will perform live music during the screening; the lineup includes John Sebastian, Rory Block, Guy Davis, and more.

Special Preview Screening: Henry David Thoreau
March 24 at 7:45 p.m.
Coolidge Corner Theater, Brookline

An exclusive preview of the new three-part PBS documentary film before the national premiere on PBS on March 30. The event offers a first look at select clips from the documentary, followed by a panel discussion on Thoreau’s enduring relevance, from his pioneering environmentalism to civic responsibility.

Double Feature

A scene with Lou Costello, Bela Lugosi, and Glenn Strange in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
March 28 at 12 p.m.
Boy with the Green Hair
March 28 at 2:30 p.m.

Chick Young (Abbott) and Wilbur Grey (Costello) have been hired to deliver crates to a Florida wax museum. One contains the body of Frankenstein’s Monster (Glenn Strange), the other holds Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), who plans to revive Frankenstein’s Monster by implanting a more docile brain – Wilbur’s! Along with a beautiful but suspicious doctor and a mysterious insurance investigator Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.), aka the Wolf Man, the comic pair are caught in a wild web of chases, transformations, and monster mayhem.

The second film is Joseph Losey’s (The Servant) allegory (disguised as a children’s film) about anxiety, conformity, and the generational trauma of WWII Peter Fry (young Dean Stockwell) is a war orphan whose hair mysteriously turns green one day.

Arts Fuse film critic, documentarian, and educator Gerald Peary will be on hand to introduce both films — childhood favorites — and sign copies of his memoir, A Reluctant Film Critic.

Dry Lake (aka Youth in Fury) (1960)
March 27 at 9 p.m.
March 29 at 3 p.m.
Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge

A reckless student contemplates an act of terrorism in this prescient film. At the height of student protests in Japan, Shimojo takes his aggressions to another level, bedeviled by seemingly insoluble feelings of alienation. The film’s director, Shinoda Masahiro, was a fearless member of the iconoclastic Japanese New Wave, whose style reflected societal shifts as well as a hunger for artistic innovation. Japanese cinema of the ’50s had simmered below the surface with political dissatisfaction and cultural upheaval — this exploded into a new cinematic language.

This is a film from the Sixties Shinoda Retrospective at the HFA.

Pick of the Week

A scene from Mid-August Lunch.

Mid-August Lunch, directed by Pranzo di Ferragosto, 2008. Screening free on Kanopy

The average production budget for the 2026 Best Picture nominees was about $73 million. At the high end, F1, starring Brad Pitt, reportedly cost $200 million. The Secret Agent was made for a comparatively modest $5 million. These films may provide terrific entertainment, but a lot can be done with less money.

Gianni Di Gregorio, a co-writer of the gritty crime film, Gomorrah, directed the semi-autobiographical Mid-August Lunch for just $500,000. In the film, Gianni (played by Di Gregorio) is persuaded by his building manager and neighbors to care for their four aging mothers during Ferragosto, the August 15 holiday when much of Italy empties out for vacation. The movie is shot in an unvarnished style, with mostly non-professional actors. The plot was inspired by a situation from the director’s own life. Observational, warm, and quietly comic, the film unfolds with a humane sense of everyday life. Women in their later years, with all their quirks and complaints, are given the respect and dignity of being seen for who are. It has an unhurried 75-minute running time.

A side note: I thought of this film after seeing the same theme explored in the wonderful Oscar-nominated short film, A Friend of Dorothy, featuring 84 year-old Miriam Margoles.

— Tim Jackson

Television

The Oscars look to be a lively event tonight, though there were some snubs that seem unforgivable (like The Testament of Ann Lee, and Die My Love). Some films might return to theatres, so you should go see them on the big screen if you can, because who knows how much longer that will be a thing? Yes, I’m feeling cynical.

Criterion Channel must-sees before they leave at the end of the month: Jane Campion’s Bright Star (2009) starring Ben Whishaw as the Romantic poet John Keats (enough said). Among the films being let go this month are wonderful classics and contemporary masterpieces, including William Wyler’s Ben-Hur (1959), Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights (1997), And Lee’s The Ice Storm (1997), James Ivory’s Maurice (1987), and David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers (1987), in which Jeremy Irons plays twin gynecologists who are, well, problematic. But wait, there’s more can’t-miss cinema on the chopping block: Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho (1991), Bill Gunn’s rarely-seen and excellent Ganga and Hess (1973), Paul Mazursky’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides (1999), and Todd Haynes’ Velvet Goldmine (1998). I suggest you get in a pile of snacks and don’t leave the house.

Elizabeth Moss, Kerry Washington and Kate Mara in Imperfect Women. Photo: Apple TV

Imperfect Women (March 18, Apple TV) This thriller begins with three close friends meeting for dinner. Eleanor, Mary, and Nancy, played by Kerry Washington, Elizabeth Moss, and Kate Mara, have been a tight-knit trio since college (a plot conceit that rarely works because it’s just not all that believable). Eleanor runs a high-profile human rights charity, Mary is a homemaker with three kids, and Nancy is an artist married to wealthy financier Robert (Joel Kinnaman, who I loved in The Killing and In Treatment).

After one of the friends is murdered, the other two try to unravel what may have happened, given that the killer is unidentified. I watched two episodes. They were glossy, sexy, suspenseful, and very well-acted, but marred by uneven writing. The story is based on a novel by Araminta Hall and created by Annie Weisman, who also helmed the series Physical for Apple TV. It seems to be an unwelcome trend in TV writing now: the characters are made to say obviously expository things so that the viewers get the lowdown on their backgrounds and connections to each another. I find this kind of hand-holding tiresome, but kudos to the actors for transcending the ham-fisted dialogue.

— Peg Aloi

Theater

Kai Clifton in Company One’s You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! Photo: Annielly Camargo. Photo: Annielly Camargo

You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! by Keiko Green. Directed by Shawn LaCount. Dramaturgy by Jessie Baxter. Staged by Company One at the Boston Public Library, Central Library in Copley Square, 700 Boylston St., Boston, through March 28.

The storyline of this Boston premiere: “Come one, come all to a sparkling celebration of life, death, and cosmic connection! When Greg receives a terminal cancer diagnosis (and weird dream visitations from Greta Thunberg), he finally understands his true purpose and races to save Mother Earth as climate catastrophe looms. Meanwhile, Viv tries to hold it all together, but really just wants to stop time and hide under the covers with her husband. And through it all, our emcee, M, charts their own path while Dad is dying, life is a drag, and the world keeps spinning.” Arts Fuse review

Stories From the Irish Diaspora, performed by Aidan Parkinson. at the Square Root Cafe, Roslindale, March 17 at 1 p.m.

The first in a series of performances by an acclaimed Boston performer. According to Parkinson, “the first show consists of three intimate, dramatic autofictions set in Dublin in the 1970s. Later in the year, we’ll take you to France, Algeria, Uzbekistan and elsewhere, but for now, given it’s a Patrick’s Day celebration, we’re focusing on home and why one stays or leaves. These three stories dramatize struggles with faith and conviction, politics and love, home and the often errant need for novelty and exploration. This is storytelling of a different kind, where the stakes are high and the teller is implicated.”

A scene from US Karagoz Theatre Company’s production of The Forest of the Witch. Photo: courtesy of the artist

The Forest of the Witch: Traditional Turkish Shadow Puppetry performed by the US Karagoz Theatre Company, presented by the Puppet Showcase Theater, 32 Station Street, Brookline, March 26 through 28.

The plot: “When rough-and-tumble Karagoz cuts down the tree in front of his house, the joke’s on him — the tree is magical, there’s a witch, and from now on, nothing will be the same…

In this modern twist on a classic tale from Turkish shadow theater, humorous hijinks ensue as the characters learn the importance of preserving nature and respecting differences. This one-man show is performed with puppets crafted in the traditional style of embroidered camel and buffalo hide with painted embellishments — just like it was done 700 years ago!”

US Karagoz Theatre Company was founded as the first traditional Turkish theater company in the United States.

Honk!, Music by George Stiles, Book and Lyrics by Anthony Drewe. Directed by Teri Shea. Music Director: Jeongweon ‘John’ Lee. Choreographer: Symphony Shea. Staged by Open Door Theater at the Dragonfly Theater, R.J. Grey Jr. HS, 16 Charter Road, Acton, March 20 through 29.

A musical telling of “The Ugly Duckling” story. According to the Open Door Theater lowdown, “Ugly looks quite a bit different from his siblings, and others are quick to notice and point this out. Ugly is kind-hearted, awkward and innocent, and his journey of self-discovery is the heart of the show.”

Eddie Izzard performing Hamlet. Photo: courtesy of Riverside Studios

Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Directed by Selina Cadell. At the Shubert Theatre, Boston, March 21 and 22.

Actor, multi-lingual comedian, multi-marathon runner and trailblazing political candidate Eddie Izzard performs Shakespeare’s tragedy — solo.

“The King of Denmark is dead and Prince Hamlet is determined to take revenge, initiating a cascade of events that will destroy both family and state. Eddie will be portraying men, women, ghosts, scholars, tyrants, courtiers, lovers, fools and poets.

She says: ‘I have always gravitated towards playing complex and challenging characters and Hamlet is the ultimate. This is a production for everyone, a timeless drama with an accidental hero.'”

Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous by Pearl Cleage. Directed by Jacqui Parker. Staged by the Lyric Stage Company at 140 Clarendon St, 2nd floor, Boston, March 20 through April 12.

The plot has faint echoes of All About Eve: “As a young artist in the 1990s, actress Anna Campbell sparked a theatrical firestorm with a staging of August Wilson monologues spoken from a female perspective performed entirely in the nude. Decades later, her provocative performance that changed the trajectory of her career, rises like a ghost, when it is to be included at a woman’s theater festival. But there’s a catch. A much younger and inexperienced actress whose credits are less than desirable has been asked to perform, causing Anna to spiral in a whirlwind of insecurity and hesitancy. With support from her manager and long-time friend Betty, Anna grapples with the choice to step aside on a road she helped to pave so that a new generation can continue the journey.” Cast includes Patrice Jean-Baptiste, Deannah “Dripp” Blemur, Inés De La Cruz, and Yasmeen Duncan.

Carina Higgins, Jordan Hurley, Kelly Chick, Luz Lopez & Catherine Buxton in the Portland Stage Company production of Like Flies. Photo: courtesy of Portland Stage

Like Flies: a rage play by Maggie Kearnan. Directed by Sally Wood. Staged by Portland Stage, 25A Forest Ave., Portland, ME, through March 22.

The world premiere of an intriguing sounding script: “When a mysterious new midwife comes to town, a group of women think she might have solutions for more than just childbirth. She might also have something to remedy an epidemic of cruel men. New alliances are formed and each woman wonders who she can trust … [they] decide to take matters into their own hands regarding violent, despicable men.” The script “asks big questions about what it means to use violence for our own gains, and who and what we become when we do.” In Lysistrata, the women withheld sex from their inept men — it sounds like Kearnan is raising the ante. Winner of the Clauder Competition for New England Playwrights. Arts Fuse review

The Comeuppance by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Directed by Don Mays. Staged by the Wilbury Theatre Group, 475 Valley Street, Providence, RI, March 26 through April 12.

A dark social satire from one of America’s leading playwrights: “When a group of former high school friends gathers on a suburban porch to pregame their twentieth reunion, the night begins with nervous jokes, familiar rituals, and the brittle comfort of shared memory. As alcohol and weed loosen tongues, the self-described ‘Multi-Ethnic Reject Group’ slides quickly from nostalgia into confrontation, reckoning with who they were, who they’ve become, and what the last two decades of American life have done to them. Old hierarchies resurface, buried resentments break open, and the promise of the future they once imagined feels suddenly, and painfully, out of reach.”

L to R: Jeanine Kane (Mrs. Helen Alving) and Liam Roberts (Oswald Alving) in the Gamm Theatre production of Ghosts. Photo by Cat Laine

Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen. Adapted and directed by Tony Estrella. Staged by the Gamm Theatre at 1245 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick, RI, through March 22.

Be still my heart! Could we be having a local Ibsen boomlet? First a couple of productions of Hedda Gabler and now a version of his masterpiece from 1881, the dramatist’s splendidly acidic response to the critical rejection of A Doll’s House. In 1934, James Joyce wrote a poem, “Epilogue to Ibsen’s Ghosts,” in homage to the play. In it, Captain Alving, the play’s deceased patriarch, supplies some excuses for his amoral behavior. The first stanza: “Dear quick, whose conscience buried deep / The grim old grouser has been salving, / Permit one spectre more to peep. / I am the ghost of Captain Alving.” Arts Fuse review

The End Is Nigh, created and performed by Liars and Believers. Directed by Jason Salvick. Staged by LAB at The Foundry, 101 Rogers St., Cambridge, through March 22.

The world premiere of what sounds like a wild spoof of Reality TV via interactive theater — or perhaps the show savages real world madness? “Join our host and live studio audience as three unsuspecting contestants compete for the grand prize — survival! With physical comedy, live music, and satire, The End Is Nigh is serious comedy for serious times.” Liars and Believers describe the show as “Animaniacs meets The Hunger Games.”

The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare. Directed by Ben Steinfeld. Staged by Trinity Repertory Company at the Dowling Theatre, 201 Washington St., Providence, through March 22.

Poet W.H. Auden claimed that Act III, Scene iii of this play was the most beautiful scene in Shakespeare. “Set on the desert coast of Bohemia, it is beautiful not in actual words, but in its situation. You could tell the story and describe the scene in other words and one would know at once that it is beautiful in a way that a dream can be beautiful. We have had Leontes’ storm of jealousy versus the physical beauty and peace in the description of the oracle at Delphi, and Polixenes’ storm in Arcady versus the music of the shepherds. We now have the final music of reconciliation. In the middle of the desert near the scene, there is a storm and there are beasts of prey, hunters hunting bears and bears hunting hunters. We have an innocent baby, a weak and too obedient servant who has become Leontes’ accomplice, the careless youth of hunters, the good poor — the shepherd and his son.” (W.H. Auden, Lectures on Shakespeare, edited by Arthur Kirsch, page 293)

Jorge Rubio as Eddie, Sehnaz Dirik as Beatrice, Naomi Kim as Catherine, Andres Molano Sotomayor as Rodolfo in the production of A View from the Bridge. Photo: Danielle Fauteux Jacques

A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller. Directed by David R. Gammons. Staged by the Apollinaire Theatre Company at the Chelsea Theatre Works, 189 Winnisimmet St., Chelsea, MA, through March 22.

Arthur Miller’s celebrated 1955 drama “explores the complex reality of the immigrant experience and the pursuit of the American dream. In an Italian enclave where loyalty is everything, forbidden desire wracks a family and their tight-knit community.”

The Antiquities by Jordan Harrison. Directed by Alex Lonati. Staged by SpeakEasy Stage at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., Boston, through March 28.

The New England premiere of a script “set in the not-so-distant future, and concerns the efforts of the AI curators at The Museum of Late Human Antiquities as they attempt to reconstruct the past through vinyl records, yoga mats, and other relics. But as their exhibit grows, so do the cracks in their understanding.” The cast includes Kelsey Fonise, Jesse Hinson, and John Kuntz.

Reg Rogers and Phillip Taratula in the Yale Rep production of Rhinoceros. Photo: Carol Rosegg

Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco. Translated by Derek Prouse. Adapted by Frank Galati. Directed by Liz Diamond. Staged by Yale Rep at 1120 Chapel Street, at the corner of Chapel and York Streets, through March 28.

The plot of this relevant-to-the-max social parable about a population’s collective embrace of totalitarianism: an alcoholic, unkempt antihero named Berenger watches in shocked horror as inhabitants of a small provincial town gradually turn into rhinos. Those committed to society’s bourgeois satisfactions and admirers of moral strength are the first to metamorphose. The rampaging rhino pack — made up of raging, thundering, and blaring beasts — goes on to claim the bodies and minds of citizens across the political spectrum, from left to right, as well as lawyers, romantics, and government officials. The submission to belligerent thoughtlessness symbolizes “community spirit triumphing over anarchic impulses,” the spread of a collective insanity inspired by Nazism.

Berenger is immune to the transformation — too eccentric? too marginal? too bohemian? At the end, he is completely alone, left to muse on the fate of standing apart: “People who hang onto their individuality always come to a bad end.” Torn between despair and defiance, Berenger resolves to do what he can to confront a society gone mad — “to put up a fight against the lot of them.”

— Bill Marx

Visual Art

George Cruikshank, Very Unpleasant Weather, or the Old saying verified “Raining cats, Dogs & Pitchforks”!!!, April 27, 1820, hand colored etching with aquatint. Photo: Worcester Art Museum

Once the most remote and sedate of ivory towers, art museums have of late engaged with almost every social issue of the 21st century, from race and class to identity and social justice, even as they have been snuffed out at some other public institutions. Two exhibitions opening on March 28 at the Worcester Art Museum, for example, connect with one of the biggest existential threats of them all: climate change. A Weather Eye: Art and Early Modern Meteorology “charts more than three hundred years of humanity’s evolving relationship with the natural world” as classical mythology and medieval witchcraft about the weather give way to modern understanding of connecting systems of climate, clouds, barometric pressure, isobars, and human-induced atmospheric change. The exhibition includes more than forty works on paper, including satirical prints and portraits of prominent figures from the scientific revolution, along with early weather forecasting devices and more, all drawn from the long relationship between humans and the uncertain weather around them.

Worcester’s Fever Dreams of a Cool-Breathed Earth features the work of two contemporary artists: Christa Donner and Andrew S. Wang, who present their first museum-based collaboration in this show. The multimedia presentation encompasses drawing, sculpture, sound, and video along with the perspectives of Massachusetts-based climatologists, community gardeners, and local residents. Living in a rapidly warming environment, the artists say, “we find ourselves seeking new ways to adapt our bodies to the planetary one— both have a fever in need of cooling.”

Also opening on the 28th, at Brockton’s Fuller Craft Museum, MORE CLAY! The Power of Repetition includes eight clay artists who seek to transcend their own chosen medium. The eight, Zimra Beiner, Bean Finneran, David Hicks, Kahlil Robert Irving, Walter McConnell, J.J. McCracken, Kate Roberts, and Vanessa Ryerse, transform their ancient, humble material into something monumental, using accumulation, repetition, and unorthodox construction methods.

It’s a long way until Labor Day but the Griffin Museum of Photography is celebrating anyway. Labor Daily | American Working Class is a group show of seven photographers who look at working in America at a time of particular stress and uncertainty. “At the core of the American middle class, labor equaled pride, purpose, and a sense of belonging,” writes exhibition organizer and participant, photographer Carl Corey. “But today that pride in work has diminished. Work has shifted, and with it, the values and goals that once gave labor its meaning.”

The artists in the show document mine workers and river workers in Illinois, laborers from the fossil fuel industry in the New Orleans area, agricultural workers in the South, steel workers in the Midwest, restaurant service workers, and others who work for a living throughout the United States. “These images remind us of the central truth,” Corey says, “that labor is not only about what we produce, but about who we are.” The show is one of four exhibitions in the Griffin’s State of Our Union, a series examining the state of the United States in the year of its 250th anniversary.

A companion show, Edward Boches: Labors of Love | Illuminating the Archive, features Edward Boches’ images of amateur boxers, social activists, oyster farmers, artists, actors, dancers, circus performers, and chefs, photographed as part of personal projects and work assignments. What he finds unites many of these diverse subjects is “a deep love of what they do and a commitment to do it well.” Boches’ photographs are exhibited in “conversation” with archival images by noted photographer and museum founder, Arthur Griffin.

Both shows open March 21.

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art opens Creating the Modern: Works on Paper from a Recent Gift by Howard M. Haines ‘76 on March 26. The show features a selection of prints and watercolors from a 50th reunion gift, works created in Europe and North America between 1893 and 1947, in the heady early days of modernism.

The Peabody Essex Museum exhibition Beyond the Broom: Salem Short Films opens on March 28 with a selection of documentary films from past iterations of the Salem Film Festival Fest (SFF). Founded in 2007, the SFF itself takes place this year March 26-29 in three venues: Cinema Salem, the Peabody Essex Museum, and the National Park Service Visitor Center in downtown Salem. There will be Q and A’s with filmmakers, parties, and other special events all over town.

— Peter Walsh

Classical Music

Soprano Sonja DuToit Tengblad will perform with Coro Allegro. Photo: courtesy of the artist

And Still They Vanish
Presented by Coro Allegro
March 15, 3 p.m.
Sanders Theatre

Coro Allegro presents James Whitbourne’s Annelies, an oratorio based on The Diary of Anne Frank. Soprano Sonja DuToit Tengblad is the soloist. David Hodgkins conducts.

Yunchan Lim plays Schumann
Presented by Boston Symphony Orchestra
March 19 at 7:30 p.m., 20 at 1:30 p.m., 21 at 8 p.m., and 22 at 2 p.m.
Symphony Hall

Superstar pianist Lim joins the BSO for Robert Schumann’s iconic Piano Concerto. Also on tap is a rare performance of Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony. Andris Nelsons conducts.

Yuja Wang and Vikingur Ólafsson performing at Symphony Hall in 2025. Photo: Robert Torres

Víkingur Ólafsson in recital
Presented by Vivo Performing Arts
March 20, 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall

The Icelandic pianist returns to Boston for his Symphony Hall debut with a program of music all in the key of E—major and minor—by Bach, Beethoven, and Schubert.

Nixon in China
Presented by Boston Symphony Orchestra
March 26 at 7:30 p.m., 27 at 7:30 p.m., and 28 at 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall

Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson joint the BSO in excerpts from John Adams’ seminal opera Nixon in China. The same composer’s The Chairman Dances and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 fill out the program.

The Seasons
Presented by Chorus pro Musica
March 27, 7:30 p.m.
Jordan Hall

Jamie Kirsch and CpM present Haydn’s “other” late masterpiece, The Seasons, for a single performance at Jordan Hall.

— Jonathan Blumhofer

Jazz

Dave Bryant’s Third Thursdays
March 19 at 8 p.m.
Harvard-Epworth Church, Cambridge, Mass.

Former Ornette Coleman Prime Time keyboardist Dave Bryant continues his “monthly harmolodic jazz series” with frequent collaborator Tom Hall on tenor sax, bassist Rick McLaughlin (Either/Orchestra), and drummer Jerome Deupree (Morphine).

Drummer Yoron Israel Photo: Becky Yee

Yoron Israel
March 20 at 7 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston
SOLD OUT

Boston go-to drummer Yoron Israel fronts a sold-out Coltrane 100^th birthday tribute with saxophonist Bill Pierce, Will Gorman on Hammond B3 organ, and vibraphonist Jay Hoggard. Like I say, the show is sold out, but you can always hang around holding one finger up.

Donna Byrne
March 21 at 7 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston

The exceptional jazz singer Donna Byrne matches her expert vocalism with emotional directness and lyrical clarity. (Hey, don’t take my word for it — she was endorsed by Tony Bennett!) Byrne comes to Scullers with her usual crew: pianist Tim Ray, bassist Marshall Wood, and drummer Marty Richards.

The John Scofield Trio. Photo: courtesy of the artist

John Scofield Trio
March 20-21 at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge, Mass.

The early shows for guitar god John Scofield’s two nights at the Regattabar are sold out, but the late shows are open (as of this writing). Scofield’s spectacular trio includes bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Bill Stewart.

The electro-vocal quartet GEORGE. Photo: courtesy of the artist

GEORGE
March 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Lilypad, Cambridge, Mass.

Master drummer/composer John Hollenbeck’s extraordinary electro-vocal quartet GEORGE returns to the Lilypad. Anna Webber is the front-line flutist and tenor saxophonist, with the amazing Sarah Rossy and Chiquita Magic handling keyboards and vocals. Hollenbeck doubles on drums and piano. The band’s new disc, Looking for Consonance, comes out May 8. Clarinetist James Falzone plays the opening set.

Brooke Sofferman’s Adventure Time
March 21 at 8 p.m.
Theodore Parker UU Church, West Roxbury, Mass.

Veteran drummer, composer, and educator Brooke Sofferman is joined in his Adventure Time project by estimable fellow grownups (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) Rick Stone (alto sax), Nate Radley (guitar), and Sean Farias (bass) in this Mandorla Music show.

Guitarist Charlie Hunter. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Charlie Hunter
March 24 at 7:30 p.m.
City Winery, Boston

Charlie Hunter came to the fore in the ’90s with a self-designed 8-string guitar that allowed him to create organ-like effects with his mix of bass lines, chords, and melodies. He’s since done a whole lot more (including a project with singer Kurt Elling). At City Winery he’ll be playing 6- and 7-strings, joined by saxophonist Nate Clark and drummer Marcus Finnie.

Gerald Clayton
March 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge, Mass.

Way back when, I picked pianist Gerald Clayton’s Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard as one of the best albums of 2020. He’s since done about a million other fascinating things, including being part of the supergroup Out Of/Into. No word on who will be with him at the R-bar.

Etienne Charles will becoming to Regattabar with his Creole Soul project. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Etienne Charles
March 28 at 7 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge, Mass.

Years ago, after having heard Etienne Charles’s set at Newport, I said, “There’s something to be said for playing pretty.” There’s more than that to the Trinidad-born Charles’s music, of course. His deep studies of various strains of Caribbean music have brought him accolades, professorships, and commissions, including writing a score for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. This “pretty” music has grit and substance. Charles comes to the R-bar with his Creole Soul project. The band includes the exciting Boston-based tenor saxophonist Edmar Colón, guitarist Alex Wintz, pianist Axel Tosca, bassist Russell Hall, and drummer Harvel Nakundi.

— Jon Garelick

Roots and World Music

Master fiddler Martin Hayes. Photo: courtesy of the artist

A St. Patrick’s Day Irish Celebration with Martin Hayes and the Common Ground Ensemble
March 17
Symphony Hall

There’s no shortage of Irish music in Boston this week, but if you’re looking for something more thoughtful than a pub singalong with green beer, master fiddler Martin Hayes has prepared this grand celebration of the full range of Irish culture. His five-piece Common Ground Ensemble will be joined by several guests at this Vivo Performing Arts presentation, which will include poet Paul Muldoon, innovative dancers Stephanie Keane and Nic Gareiss, and Sam Amidon, the Vermont musician who has brought the joys of traditional music to a new generation.

Bettye LaVette
March 19, Jimmy’s, Portsmouth NH
March 20 Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River

Two decades ago Bettye LaVette emerged as the rare 60s soul music survivor who was turning heads with her new recordings. Today, at 80, her voice is as moving as ever, and she’s embarking on a series of piano duo shows which will allow her humor and style to shine through.

Singer Judy Collins will be inducted into the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame. Photo: courtesy of the artist.

Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
March 24
Wang Center

The Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame has been very active lately, thanks to activities like a daylong symposium and a new exhibit in the Wang, which was curated by the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music. Now it is inducting a dozen greats into the Hall, including Aretha Franklin, Muddy Waters, and living legends Judy Collins, Tom Rush, and Tom Paxton. Those three will be on hand to perform, as will bluesman Bobby Rush and jazz-soul belter Liz Wright among many others. Unsurprisingly, tickets are sold out, but a wait list is available. Hopefully, the proceedings will once again make their way to a PBS broadcast slot, as was the case with the first ceremony.

Tim Rogers and the Fellas
March 27
Faith Christian Church, 301 Harvard St, Boston

Tim Rogers has one of the most exciting and high-energy voices in modern gospel quartet music. He packs houses all over the South but rarely heads this way. Tony Bush and the Deacs and the New Prodigal Sons are among the other performers at this celebration of Bethel Baptist Church’s 114th anniversary. Representing that church — its sanctuary choir and Evangelist Debra Murray.

— Noah Schaffer

Author Events

Anne Fadiman in conversation with George Howe Colt at Porter Square Books
Frog 
March 16 at 7 p.m.
Free

“In Frog, Anne Fadiman returns to her favorite genre, the essay, of which she is one of our most celebrated practitioners. Ranging in subject matter from her deceased frog, to archaic printer technology, to the fraught relationship between Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his son Hartley, these essays unlock a whole world — one overflowing with mundanity and oddity — through sly observation and brilliant wit.

“The diverse subjects of Frog are bound together by the quality of Fadiman’s attention, and subtly, they come to form a slantwise portrait of the artist, a writer dedicated to chronicling the world as it changes around her, in ways small and large, as time passes.” Arts Fuse review

Pepper Culpepper and Taeku Lee at Harvard Book Store
Billionaire Backlash: The Age of Corporate Scandal and How it Could Save Democracy
March 18 at 7 p.m.
Free

“Today it is giant companies, not governments, who run the world. They put rockets into space, control satellite communication and develop era-defining AI technologies. But around the globe, these corporate titans are facing increasing public hostility.

Tech giants are accused of promoting misinformation, debasing democracy and violating our privacy. Big banks, reeling since the financial crisis of 2008, are racked with major scandals – from fraud to money laundering. But these terrible scandals are not just symptoms of a careless corporate elite, they are opportunities for real political change. In Billionaire Backlash, Pepper Culpepper and Taeku Lee reveal how the anger of citizens can be channeled into a backlash that has the potential to reinvigorate our failing democracies. One corporate scandal at a time.”