Arts & Events
Watkins’ ‘Dark River’ at Oakland Opera
Behind a scrim decorated with concentric circles, framed by cotton bolls, Emmett Till is dancing (performed by Hannefah Hassan-Evans), high-stepping in his Chicago finery, until he acknowledges a white woman passing—after which, two white men in black beat him in a brutal, stylized assault that turns his dance into writhing. -more-
Admirable Woodcuts on Display at Kala Institute
The visitor to the still new and stately exhibition space at the Kala Art Institute will encounter a large picture of an octopus on the right wall. The artist, Harry Clewans had read about the mollusks with their eight arms, their unusual intelligence, memory and ability to hide from their predators, and he made this picture of a large scary animal, which looks almost alive in its leafy habitat. -more-
‘Jesters and Gestures’: PFA Presents Performed Yiddish Culture
The way many people see Yiddish culture is often one-sided, flat. Knowing just a little, they project fantasies: ‘the poor little shtetl!’” -more-
Dr. Abdulaziz Sachedina Lectures on Islam and Human Rights
Dr. Abdulaziz Sachedina, who will appear Saturday night at the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California in downtown Oakland to discuss his new book, Islam and the Challenge of Human Rights (Oxford, $25), says that religion can help persuade its own adherents to respect other humans. -more-
'The Walworth Farce' — Druid Ireland at Zellerbach
Opening and closing with Bing crooning “An Irish Lullaby,” and proceeding with snatches and strains of other airs and songs, including “Ireland United At Last,” accompanying abrupt—yet endlessly repeated—gestures, speeches and quick changes from one ratty costume and wig to another, the performance by Druid Ireland of Enda Walsh’s The Walworth Farce at Zellerbach Playhouse is by turns silly, disconcerting, uproarious, dismaying, hysterical and strangely tragic—an unexpected triumph of gestural theater and histrionic storytelling in the service of what cannot be easily articulated or shown. -more-
Author Discusses Book on Assassination of Fred Hampton
I’m going to talk a good deal about Fred Hampton,” said Jeffrey Haas, “how he became a revolutionary leader—but, even more, who he was. How impressed I was hearing him speak, seeing him. He had a real desire for justice. He had wanted to be a lawyer but said he didn’t have enough time to get a law degree. And he died when he was only 21.” -more-
In the Theaters
Impact Theatre continues with Large Animal Games, by Steve Yockey, directed by Melissa Hillman at 8 p.m. Thursday–Saturday through Dec. 12 (La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid; $12–$20; impacttheatre.com); while Contra Costa Civic Theatre has opened Lucky Stiff, a musical comedy–murder mystery based on “The Man Who Broke the Bank At Monte Carlo,” Friday–Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through Dec. 6 (951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito; $15–$24; 524-9132; ccct.org). Berkeley Playhouse is putting on The Wizard of Oz at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 6 (Julia Morgan Center, 2540 College Ave; $19-$28; 845-8542; berkeleyplayhouse.org). Druid, Ireland’s extraordinary theater company, is presenting Enda Walsh’s uproarious “gothic comedy,” The Walworth Farce, at 8 p.m. Thursday–Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, with an interview of the performers onstage (free admission) 4 p.m. Thursday (Zellerbach Playhouse; $72; 642-9988; calperfs.berkeley.edu). -more-