Monday

Massmouth Summer Story Showcase from 7 to 9 p.m. at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square. General admission is $12. Five-minute, true short stories from 10 names drawn at random from a box, with five volunteer judges looking at how well each story is told, how well it is constructed, how well the story explores the theme and how well it honors the time limit. Information is here.

---

Tuesday

Emma Donoghue discusses “Akin” from 6 to 7:30 at The Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $29.75 (with fees, $32.23) including a copy of the book or $6 (with fees, $7.29) without. The Harvard Book Store brings in the author of “Room” with another Hollywood-ready tale, this time of a retiree’s trip to Europe with a surprise companion to unearth family secrets of the Nazi occupation. Information is here.

“Comedically Underseasoned” standup show from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Vox Pop, 431 Artisan Way, Assembly Square, Somerville. Free, but register here. A dozen new comics (Brian Agosta, Marie Connor, David Dobbins, Guerby Laguerre, Jen Livengood, Becca MacKillop, Arianna Magee, Yogi Mudaliar, Jeremy Pearson, Colleen Daisy Riley and Tyler Tuttle) try out material at a show hosted by Pete Mohan. Information is here.

Fall poetry reading series with Subhashini Kaligotla and Philip Nikolayev from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Grolier Poetry Book Shop on 6 Plympton St., Harvard Square. General admission is $20. Kaligotla, a poet and Yale architectural historian of medieval India, and Nikolayev, the Moscow-born co-editor of Fulcrum, read from recent works (and maybe some newly translated Pushkin). Information is here.

“One Cut of the Dead” at 8:30 p.m. at The Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Harvard Square. General admission is $12. The 2017 Japanese cult hit shambles in for gory fun. The genre-deconstructing sendup directed by Shin’ichirô Ueda begins with a 40-minute single take as a film crew making a low-budget zombie flick stumble upon real zombies. Playing with sense of time and narrative, there’s several rewinds to deepen the flesh-rot plot. It’s hopefully more “Shaun of the Dead” than the stale “The Dead Don’t Die” (which got a sneak peek at the Brattle this year). (Submitted by Tom Meek.) Information is here.

---

Wednesday

Sexy “slumber party” from 7 to 8 p.m. at Good Vibrations, 52 JFK St., Harvard Square. Free, but register here. Obviously no sleeping will be done during this early evening hour, but expect traditional slumber party activities such as nail painting, bracelet making, snacking and talking about sex, with advice and myth-busting from the more experienced. Pajamas are optional but encouraged. Information is here.

John Pinkham at the Boston Poetry Slam, from 7:15 p.m. to midnight at The Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. There’s a $3 cover for this 18-plus show. Pinkham, a  social worker and bartender, is featured after two hours of open mic starting at 8 p.m. Information is here.

“Putney Swope” at 8:30 p.m. at The Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Harvard Square. General admission is $12. Written and directed by Iron Man’s pa, Robert Downey Sr., the envelope-pushing cult hit gets a newly restored, 50th anniversary print to tell the tale of a token black hire at an ad house (Arnold Johnson, better known as Hutton on “Sanford and Son”) who through folly get put in charge and replaces the staff with militants (think Black Panthers) and launches a series of boundary-pushing TV commercials. Running a bit in the vein of “Sorry to Bother You,” counterculture satire doesn’t get more biting than this. (Submitted by Tom Meek.) Information is here.

---

Thursday

“The America Plays” from 5 to 7 p.m. (and repeating Saturday and Sunday) at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St., West Cambridge. General admission is $35. The cemetery’s first playwright artist-in-residence, Patrick Gabridge, has written two sets of five plays; here’s the second set, inspired by the setting and taking place at various spots across the grounds. Performances are followed by discussion. Information is here.

“The Revenger’s Tragedy” from 8 to 10 p.m. (and repeating Friday, Saturday and Sunday) at Unity Somerville, 6 William St., just off College Avenue near Davis Square, Somerville. Tickets are $15 (with fees, $16.74). Written probably by Thomas Middleton, this cynical satire of Jacobean revenge tragedies features ridiculous violence and heroes who are little better than the villains – set by director Mary Parker of Theatre@First to take place within a failing circus in the 1940s. Information is here.

The Late Shift: Longy at The Lilypad from 10 p.m. to midnight at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square. Free. The jazz and contemporary music department at the Longy School of Music plays a monthly residency, which means a little more cool late-night stuff for the city. Information is here.

---

Friday

PARK(ing) Day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. around Cambridge. Free. Some 80 parking spaces have been transformed into places for people instead of cars by artists and activists — often a minipark, although minitheaters and minicookouts have been known to spring up as well. Travel the city to see tiny art spaces, do yoga, grab some water or get time with city councillors. Descriptions of the spaces are here; general information is here.

Concert for One from noon to 6 p.m. (and continuing Saturday, Sunday and through Sept. 29) at Harvard’s Science Center Plaza between Harvard Yard at Kirkland and Oxford streets, near Harvard Square. Free. The Celebrity Series of Boston provides powerful music experiences to 5,000 people – one listener and one musician at a time, for one minute. Information is here.

Breakwater Reading Series from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at The Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 42 Brattle St., Harvard Square. Free. Hear work by MFA poets and prose writers coming from Lesley University, Boston University, Emerson College and the University of Massachusetts at Boston. Information is here.

The Either/Orchestra Rides Again from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. (with doors at 7:30 p.m.) at Accurate Records, 343 Medford St., Winter Hill, Somerville. General admission is $30 (with fees, $32.49). After two years off, the 10-piece jazz band (with a unique focus on the music of Ethiopia) is back to play works known and unknown from a 30-year catalog. Information is here.

The Music of Glenn Branca Live from 8 to 10:30 p.m. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Ave. General admission is $20 (with fees, $22.85). Branca’s 45 years of work as a composer included music for experimental rock bands, large ensemble instrumentals for electric guitars, symphonies, chamber ensembles, opera, ballet, choral works and music for film, dance, theater and installation art. Reg Bloor conducts the soon-to-be-released “The Third Ascension,” Branca’s last composition, “The Light (For David)” and more. Information is here.

Good Luck Comedy from 9:30 to 11 p.m. (doors at 9 p.m.) at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. Tickets are $20. Hosts J Smitty and Sam Ike gather comics – this time Gordon Baker-Bone and Ray Harrington – with the music of J. Will$ for a monthly party. Information is here.

“The Revenger’s Tragedy” from 8 to 10 p.m. (and repeating Friday, Saturday and Sunday) at Unity Somerville, 6 William St., just off College Avenue near Davis Square, Somerville. Tickets are $15 (with fees, $16.74). Information is here.

---

Saturday

LadiesCon from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. Free. A one-day show presenting writers, artists, creators and artisans specializing in comics, fantasy and science fiction, with a particular emphasis on creators who identify as women, LGBTQ, non-binary and people of color, as well as local artists. Attendees can meet creators and celebrities (this year, including Ming Doyle, Tana Ford, Mad Rupert, Mildred Louis (pictured), Joe Quinones and Gigi Edgley), buy books and crafts and see panels on topics ranging from modern toy making to the history of women in science fiction. Information is here.

SerbFest from noon to 10 p.m. (continuing Sunday) at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church of Boston, 41 Alewife Brook Parkway, Cambridge. Free. There’s live music, ethnic homemade foods, U.S. and Canadian folk dancing troupes, activities for children and stands with souvenirs, books and arts and crafts for sale – and a large dancing party. Information is here.

The 14th annual “What the Fluff” Festival from 3 to 7 p.m. on Union Square Plaza, 90 Union Square, Somerville. Free. Delicious and horrible Marshmallow Fluff was invented in Somerville in 1917, when a local named Archibald Query made it in his kitchen and sold it door to door. The festival honors the concoction in most every way imaginable, drawing more than 12,000 people to its music, games and, of course, lots of Fluff-related foods. (The classic Fluffernutter is just the start.) Information is here.

“Powaqqatsi” with Godfrey Reggio in person from 7 to 9:30 p.m. (followed by “Naqoyqatsi” on Sunday) at Harvard Film Archive at The Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $12 and available 45 minutes before show time at the cinematheque on the lower level, cash or check only. Reggio screens his wordless, Philip Glass-scored 1988 movie about third-world labor as Harvard acquires his papers for posterity. Information is here.

Concert for One from noon to 6 p.m. (and continuing Saturday, Sunday and through Sept. 29) at Harvard’s Science Center Plaza between Harvard Yard at Kirkland and Oxford streets, near Harvard Square. Free. Information is here.

“The America Plays” from 5 to 7 p.m. (and repeating Saturday and Sunday) at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St., West Cambridge. General admission is $35. Information is here.

“The Revenger’s Tragedy” from 8 to 10 p.m. (and repeating Friday, Saturday and Sunday) at Unity Somerville, 6 William St., just off College Avenue near Davis Square, Somerville. Tickets are $15 (with fees, $16.74). Information is here.

---

Sunday

Dumpling Festival at the Central Flea from noon to 5 p.m. at University Park Commons, in Cambridgeport near Central Square. General admission is $5 (a $15 ticket gets you in an hour earlier). In honor of pioneering chef Joyce Chen, 15 local restaurants and food trucks will cook up various kinds of dumplings among the Flea’s usual roster of food trucks, beer and more than 90 funky vendors. Information is here.

New one-act play readings from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the community room at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free. A peek at a plays by Playwrights Platform members Greg Hovanesian (“The Sniper”) and Margaret Gooch (“Orc Invasion”). Information is here.

Singer-Songwriter Night XXI from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. at ZuZu, 474 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Admission is $7 for this 21-plus show. Four local acts perform 35-minute sets, this time including Grant Bloom, the Deadly Nightshade Family, Rachel DeeLynn (pictured) and David Rabinowicz. Information is here.

SerbFest from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (continuing Sunday) at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church of Boston, 41 Alewife Brook Parkway, Cambridge. Free. Information is here.

Concert for One from noon to 6 p.m. (and continuing Saturday, Sunday and through Sept. 29) at Harvard’s Science Center Plaza between Harvard Yard at Kirkland and Oxford streets, near Harvard Square. Free. Information is here.

“The America Plays” from 1 to 3 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. (and repeating Saturday and Sunday) at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St., West Cambridge. General admission is $35. Information is here.

“The Revenger’s Tragedy” from 4 to 6 p.m. (and repeating Friday, Saturday and Sunday) at Unity Somerville, 6 William St., just off College Avenue near Davis Square, Somerville. Tickets are $15 (with fees, $16.74). Information is here.

“Naqoyqatsi” with Godfrey Reggio in person from 7 to 9:30 p.m. (followed by “Naqoyqatsi” on Sunday) at Harvard Film Archive at The Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $12 and available 45 minutes before show time at the cinematheque on the lower level, cash or check only. Information is here.