Monday

Plaza WinterFest at Harvard from noon to 7 p.m. (and from noon to 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays) through March 15 on Science Center Plaza, 1 Oxford St., next to Memorial Hall near Harvard Square. Free. Harvard shows its warm and fuzzy side in the cold, offering ice games including curling, shuffleboard and bowling as well as year-round games such as pingpong, foosball and cornhole. Food trucks will be open, s’mores kits and hot chocolate will be available and fire pits will be lit Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

“Saints of Star Wars” exhibit and opening reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Center for the Study of World Religions, 42 Francis Ave., in the Agassiz neighborhood. Free. Artist Alex Ramos will talk about religion, science fiction and popular culture, including about his own work painting “Star Wars” characters posed in the guise of Christian saints. Information is here.

Cambridge Comedy Underground Television Taping from 7 to 8:45 p.m. at Cambridge Community Television, 438 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Free, but seating is limited, so make a reservation. The channel’s television comedy showcase includes sets from Emily Ruskowski, Zachary Brazão, Angela Sawyer, Justin P. Drew, Tyrone Jones, Matt Bedel and James Hussey, college performer Neill Lynskey, mystery performers and hosts Demetrius “Big D” Hullum and Casey McNeal. Information is here.

Tuesday

Valentine’s Day Silent Film Movie Night & Fundraiser from 6 to 8 p.m. at Winter Hill Brewing, 328 Broadway, in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville. Free, but register to increase your chances of getting in. The 1926 silent action romance film classic “The General” starring Buster Keaton screens, while for every beer sold, $1 is donated to the Somerville Media Center. Information is here.

Glass’ “Metamorphosis”: The Greimann Piano Debut from 7:30 to 10 p.m. at the Longy School of Music, 27 Garden St., Harvard Square. Free, with donations of up to $50 requested. This bloody giant Steinway Model D grand piano – the Maybach stretch limo of pianos – given to Longy by Lindsay and Garth Greimann gets a welcoming reception with a concert in the round of “Metamorphosis I-V” by Philip Glass. There are pre- and post-concert receptions, black and white attire optional. Information is here.

Wednesday

“The Beast and Me” art exhibition from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Maud Morgan Arts and the Chandler Gallery, at 20 Sacramento St., in the Agassiz neighborhood. Free. It’s a good day to check out this show, closing Friday, in which the connection between humans and animals is explored in drawings and sculptures by Leslie Schomp (her work, pictured), Andrea Scofield Olmstead and Mary Kenny. Information is here.

Singer-Songwriter Night IX from 8:30 to 11:35 p.m. at ZuZu, 474 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Admission is $7, contributing to the artist payout at this 21-plus show. Four local acts perform 35-minute sets: Jordan Reynolds Music, Dav Blues, leisure and Matt Minigell. Information is here.

Thursday

DateMyFriend.ppt from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square, Somerville. Free. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, comedians and locals pitch their favorite single friends to the crowd in the form of brief PowerPoint presentations, followed by audience Q&A. Information is here. 

Marlon James reads from “Black Leopard, Red Wolf” at 7 p.m. at First Parish Cambridge Unitarian Universalist, 3 Church St./1446 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square. General admission is $8 (with fees, $9.39), or $32 with a copy of the book (with fees, $34.59). Incredible buzz for this first novel in a trilogy by Man Booker Prize winner James, here telling the story of a mercenary hired to find a missing child who begins to wonder why – and who among his companions he can trust. Neil Gaiman praises the writing and the book’s unique setting and approach: “A dangerous, hallucinatory, ancient Africa, which becomes a fantasy world as well-realized as anything Tolkien made, with language as powerful as Angela Carter’s. It’s as deep and crafty as Gene Wolfe, bloodier than Robert E. Howard and all Marlon James. It’s something very new that feels old, in the best way. I cannot wait for the next installment.” Information is here.

“Who Is Eartha Mae?” one-woman play from 7:30 to 9 p.m. (and through Feb. 23) at the Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge. Tickets range from $14 to $120. Creator and performer Jade Wheeler becomes Eartha Kitt, star of screen and stage, in and world premiere show backed by Bridge Repertory Theater and director Cailin Doran. Go on Kitt’s journey from the Jim Crow South to London, around the world and back again. Information is here.

Adrienne Truscott’s “This” from 8 to 10 p.m. (repeating Friday and Saturday) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s W97 Theater, 345 Vassar St., Area II. General admission is $20 (with fees, $22.85). Choreographer, circus acrobat, dancer, writer, storyteller and comedian Truscott presents her latest solo performance art piece, an ever-evolving work that writes itself in real time, bouncing from 2017 feminism to the presidency to unconventional urban living. Information is here.

“Reefer Madness!” from 8 to 10:30 p.m. (and repeating Friday and Saturday) in La Sala De Puerto Rico at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Stratton Student Center, 84 Massachusetts Ave. General admission is $20. This musical comedy inspired by the 1936 film and performed by the MIT Musical Theatre Guild shows the results of clean-cut kids falling prey to marijuana: a downward spiral filled with jazz music, sex and violence. A timely warning about the chaos and doom that awaits us all when recreational marijuana sales begin here. Information is here.

Silent Disco from 8 to 11 p.m. at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. Tickets are $20 (with fees, $22.85) to this 21-plus event. Three DJs transmit music to wireless headphones, lit up in one of three colors so you can see what everyone’s dancing to: EDM/dance; top hits; or throwbacks. Outside the headphones: a spectacle, and the weird shuffling noises of people otherwise silently dancing. Information is here.

“The Beast and Me” art exhibition from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Maud Morgan Arts and the Chandler Gallery, at 20 Sacramento St., in the Agassiz neighborhood. Free. Information is here.

Friday

CODA Conference Orchestra Series at 1 and 8 p.m. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Ave. General admission is $5. Take advantage as college and university orchestra directors hold their annual meeting – today by hearing performances by, respectively, the Whitman College Orchestra and MIT Symphony Orchestra directed by Adam K. Boyles. Information is here.

Boston Science Fiction Film Festival begins with “Life After Flash” at 6:30 p.m at Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square. Tickets are $14.25 (a pass for the whole festival is $175; the marathon alone is $90). At 44 years old, this claims the title of longest-running genre film festival in the United States – 11 days of films, panels (most screenings are followed by Q&As with filmmakers and experts), parties and an infamous 24-hour film marathon. It kick off this year with a red carpet walk for Sam Jones, star of the 1980 “Flash Gordon” and Lisa Downs, director of the documentary “Life After Flash.” Information is here.

“The Beast and Me” art exhibition from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Maud Morgan Arts and the Chandler Gallery, at 20 Sacramento St., in the Agassiz neighborhood. Free. Final day. Information is here.

“Who Is Eartha Mae?” one-woman play from 8 to 9:30 p.m. (and through Feb. 23) at the Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge. Tickets range from $14 to $120. Information is here.

Adrienne Truscott’s “This” from 8 to 10 p.m. (repeating Friday and Saturday) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s W97 Theater, 345 Vassar St., Area II. General admission is $20 (with fees, $22.85). Information is here.

“Reefer Madness!” from 8 to 10:30 p.m. (and repeating Friday and Saturday) in La Sala De Puerto Rico at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Stratton Student Center, 84 Massachusetts Ave. General admission is $20. Information is here.

Saturday

CODA Conference Orchestra Series at 1 and 8 p.m. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Ave. General admission is $5. Take advantage as college and university orchestra directors hold their annual meeting – today by hearing performances by the Ball State University and Boston Conservatory Orchestra. Information is here.

“How to Train Your Dragon” from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Harvard Film Archive at The Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $5, or free with a current Cambridge Public Library card, and are available starting at 2:15 p.m. outside the screening room. This 2010 animated film for ages 8 and up is getting a sequel this month, making this screening a good way to catch up with the story. Information is here.

Poetry reading with A.E. Stallings and Stephanie Burt from 5 to 7 p.m. at Outpost 186, 186.5 Hampshire St., Inman Square. Donation at the door. A.E. Stallings lives in Athens, Greece, and has published four collections of poetry. Stephanie Burt is professor of English at Harvard and her “Don’t Read Poetry: A Book About How to Read Poems” is due in May. Information is here.

“Cendrillon” opera from 7 to 10 p.m. (and through Feb. 10) at the Agassiz Theater at Agassiz House, 5 James St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $20 (with fees, $24). The undergrads of Harvard College Opera perform Jules Massenet’s colorful and enchanting twist on the classic Cinderella story, directed by Madeleine Snow with music direction by Benjamin P. Wenzelberg. Performances are in French, with projected English supertitles. Information is here.

Giving@First: 24-Hour Play Festival from 8 to 10 p.m. at Unity Somerville, 6 William St., just off College Avenue near Davis Square, Somerville. There is a suggested Donation of $20, all going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. More than 20 writers, directors and actors participate in a 24-hour challenge to create a full drama festival from scratch – judge the results at the culminating performance. Information is here.

“Reefer Madness!” from 2 to 4:30 p.m. (and repeating Friday and Saturday) in La Sala De Puerto Rico at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Stratton Student Center, 84 Massachusetts Ave. General admission is $20. Information is here.

“Who Is Eartha Mae?” one-woman play from 8 to 9:30 p.m. (and through Feb. 23) at the Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge. Tickets range from $14 to $120. Information is here.

Adrienne Truscott’s “This” from 8 to 10 p.m. (repeating Friday and Saturday) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s W97 Theater, 345 Vassar St., Area II. General admission is $20 (with fees, $22.85). Information is here.

Sunday

Odds Bodkin’s “Worlds Apart: Tales for Lovers” from 5 to 8:30 p.m. (doors at 5 p.m. – be warned, you’re expected to be seated before the performance begins) at Grendel’s Den Restaurant & Bar, 89 Winthrop St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $15 (with fees, $17.55). Professional storyteller and musician Odds Bodkin accompanies himself musically while recounting “The Crane Wife” from ancient Japan and “The Dame Ragnell,” Chretien de Troyes’ 14th century feminist tale performed with character voices and a full score on 12-string guitar. A menu themed around the performance will be available for purchase, as well as regular offerings. The show itself is around 90 minutes with intermissions. Information is here.

“Pick a Side, Stupid!” live comedy debate podcast from 8 to 10 p.m. at The Comedy Studio, 1 Bow Market Way, Union Square, Somerville. Tickets are $10 (with fees, $11.30). Host Shawn Carter’s long-running show, featuring local standup comedians engaging in lively but cerebral  debate totally worthy of NPR, gets “love” as topic of the week, with special guest star Barry Tattle – alter ego of Chris Coxen, long missing from the alt-comedy scene along with his mustache. Information is here.

Pindrop Sessions 12: “All My Heart’s Intense Longing” from 7 to 10 p.m. at Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square, Somerville. General admission is $20 (with fees, $22.85). A rare chance to hear two of the great classical musicians in America – world-famous pianist and scholar Joshua Rifkin and long-time collaborator, tenor Frank Kelley – in an intimate performance of Franz Schubert’s vocal masterwork, “Die Schöne Müllerin” – a song cycle telling of a melancholiac wanderer’s journey through the woods, revealing some of the most gorgeous, evocative love songs ever dreamed up. Information is here.

“Who Is Eartha Mae?” one-woman play from 2 to 3:30 p.m. (and through Feb. 23) at the Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge. Tickets range from $14 to $120. Information is here.

“Cendrillon” opera from 2 to 5 p.m. (and through Feb. 10) at the Agassiz Theater at Agassiz House, 5 James St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $20 (with fees, $24). Information is here.