A week of events in Cambridge, Somerville: Bread & Puppet is back, Art Outlet and more
Monday
Raise Your Verse Finale & Reading from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Porter Square. Free. Mass Poetry’s fall fundraiser ends with, of course, a night of poetry readings (and food). Information is here.
Me2 Orchestra Performance from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. (preceded by a 6 p.m. reception) at the Marran Theater, 34 Mellen St., on Lesley University’s Doble Campus in the Agassiz neighborhood near Harvard Square. Free, first-come, first-served. A performance by the touring orchestra made up of people diagnosed with mental health issues and caregivers and others who support them, including some Lesley music therapy students. Information is here.
Tufts Composers: Nova November from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Granoff Music Center at Tufts University, 20 Talbot Ave., Somerville. Free. Some musical audacity from undergraduate and graduate Tufts composers Yasaman Ghodsi, Samuel Graber-Hahn, Jacquelyn Hazle, Mark Bolan Konigsmark, Max Luo, Caleb Martin-Rosenthal, Julia Moss and Charlotte Nanteza. with guest performers Emmanuel Feldman playing cello; Jessica Fulkerson playing flute; Anna Griffis playing viola; Lilit Hartunian playing violin; and members of the Into the Light Ensemble. Information is here.
Wednesday
Wiretap Wednesday Open Stage from 7 to 9:30 p.m. (with sign-ups at 6:30 p.m.; repeating monthly) at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. Free. An open mic that founders Ben Quick and Nate Taylor say supports virtually any type of performance, taking advantage of the space’s stage, free parking, piano, many microphones and liquor license. Information is here.
Lawrence Weschler reads from “And How Are You, Dr. Sacks? A Biographical Memoir of Oliver Sacks” from 7 to 8:15 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square. Free. Weschler began spending time with Sacks, the avuncular author of “Awakenings” and other explorations of weird but kind science, in the early 1980s for a New Yorker profile. He brings all those years to bear to provide what a New York Times review called “striking glimpses into a remarkable life.” Information is here.
It’s Alive! Play Reading Series with “Wag the Dog” from 8 to 10 p.m. at Killian Hall in the Hayden Library Building at 160 Memorial Drive at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Free. The script by Hilary Henkin and David Mamet – about a war whipped up to distract from a presidential scandal – gets a performance from MIT Theater Art students directed by Anna Kohler. Information is here.
Thursday
An Evening of Indonesian Shadow Theater from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Connexion, 149 Broadway, Somerville. Free. The Brothers Čampur, made up of puppeteer Putu Rekayasa, theater artist Sam Jay Gold, ethnomusicologist Ian Coss and arts scholar Panji Wilimantara show off their skills at Wayang Kulit, a form of traditional shadow-puppetry from Indonesia that brings mythology, music, visual arts ritual and comedy. Information is here.
“M. Butterfly” from 7 to 9:15 p.m. (and repeating Friday and Saturday) at the Loeb Experimental Theater, 64 Brattle St., Harvard Square. Free. David Henry Hwang’s Tony-winning drama is a deconstruction and critique of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” and its themes of exploitation and betrayal – as well as being based loosely on the real-life relationship between a French diplomat and the Peking opera singer he didn’t realize was male. Information is here.
Bread & Puppet presents “Diagonal Life: Theory and Praxis” from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at First Church in Cambridge, 11 Garden St., Harvard Square. Suggested donations range from $10 to $25, with no one turned away for lack of funds. Vermont’s rabble-rousing troupe returns to wield cardboard and paper maché puppets painted in Peter Schumann’s exuberant, slapdash expressionist style in whimsical exploration of the concept of “verticality” from the architecture of our cities to the ladders of success we’re expected to scale. Afterward comes the famous sourdough rye bread with aioli. Information is here.
Kendall Square Orchestra’s “Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice” from 8 to 10 p.m. at Pfizer, 610 Main St., Kendall Square. Free, but registration is required here. The orchestra performs its second annual fall concert with works by Beethoven, Brahms and Fanny Mendelssohn. Information is here.
“Twelfth Night” from 8 to 10 p.m. (and repeating Friday and Saturday) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kresge Little Theater in Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Ave. General admission is $12. Shakespeare’s rom-com – the one with twins separated in a shipwreck – is taken on by the MIT Shakespeare Ensemble. Information is here.
Friday
The Art Outlet: Affordable Art for Everyone from 6 to 9 p.m. (and repeating Saturday and next week) at Washington Street Art, 321 Washington St., Somerville. Free to enter. A salon-style group exhibition showcasing handmade objects and art pieces by local painters, photographers and sculptors selling at affordable prices – for holiday gifts, to begin an art collection or for a peek into an artist’s earlier or more experimental work. Information is here.
Lindy West reads from “The Witches Are Coming” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at First Parish Cambridge Unitarian Universalist, 3 Church St./1446 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square. Tickets are $28.75 (with fees, $31.18). The author of “Shrill” is back with an incisive and amusing cultural critique – urging readers to reckon with the dark lies in the heart of the American mythos and unpacking the complicated, and sometimes tragic politics of not being a white dude in the 21st century. Information is here.
“Prima Donne” from 7 to 10 p.m. at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. Free, with a suggested donation at the door. Some of opera’s most popular soprano and mezzo arias, including favorites from classics such as “La Boheme” and “Le Nozze di Figaro,” along with selections from more contemporary works by Britten and Menotti. Information is here.
“The Last Five Years” from 8 to 9:30 p.m. at the Aidekman Arts Center at Tufts University, 40 Talbot Ave., Somerville. Free. An intimate musical about two New Yorkers in their twenties who fall in and out of love over the course of five years – in which the woman tells her story backward while the man tells his chronologically, so the characters meet only once: at their wedding in the middle of the show. Information is here.
Good Luck Comedy from 9 to 11 p.m. (doors at 9 p.m.) at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. Tickets are $20 (with fees, $22.85). Hosts J Smitty and Sam Ike bring in comics and musicians – this time Rob Haze and Sacklunch – for a monthly party. Information is here.
“M. Butterfly” from 7 to 9:15 p.m. (and repeating Saturday) at the Loeb Experimental Theater, 64 Brattle St., Harvard Square. Free. Information is here.
“Twelfth Night” from 8 to 10 p.m. (and repeating Saturday) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kresge Little Theater in Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Ave. General admission is $12. Information is here.
Saturday
The Flow Show Boston from 6 to 10:30 p.m. at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. General admission is $30 (with fees, $33.46). A stage show of talent, imagination … and hand-eye coordination, with movement disciplines such as juggling and hula-hooping blended with dance and theater. Information is here.
Kaiju Big Battel from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. at Once Somerville, 156 Highland Ave. General admission is $25 (with fees, $29.78). Godzilla-style giant monsters meet pro wrestling in this live phenomenon, this time with the band Kato Kaelin as soundtrack. Information is here.
The Art Outlet: Affordable Art for Everyone from noon to 4 p.m. (and repeating Saturday and next week) at Washington Street Art, 321 Washington St., Somerville. Free to enter. Information is here.
“M. Butterfly” from 7 to 9:15 p.m. (and repeating Saturday) at the Loeb Experimental Theater, 64 Brattle St., Harvard Square. Free. Information is here.
“Twelfth Night” from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kresge Little Theater in Kresge Auditorium, 48 Massachusetts Ave. General admission is $12. Information is here.
