A s a major local-global festival approaches the finish line, new beginnings emerge both on and off the course.
Monday, June 19
The final many-splendored week of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas begins today, as does one of its big highlights: The End of TV, a festival-commissioned world premiere that “peers through the neon reflections of late 20th-century advertising and television culture and into the American imagination as it existed at the onset of the internet age.” Written and performed by Manual Cinema, a theater company that “transforms the experience of attending the cinema” by combining live silhouettes—from life-sized people to gigantic cola bottles—and filmed material, showtimes are 8 p.m. today through Thursday at the University Theatre (222 York St, New Haven). Regular tickets cost $35, with premium options for high-rollers and discounts for youth and seniors.
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Tuesday, June 20
From 12:30 to 1 p.m., the Yale Center for British Art hosts a German who works in Scotland discussing a Dutchman. The German is Tico Seifert, a senior curator for the Scottish National Gallery; the Dutchman is Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, better known simply as Rembrandt; and the title of the free talk is “Rembrandt and Britain.” 1080 Chapel Street, New Haven. (203) 432-2800.
Wednesday, June 21
It’s the longest day of the year. Filling the prolonged last bit of it is the kick-off to the New Haven Museum’s 2017 Twilight Concert Series at the centuries-old Pardee-Morris House (325 Lighthouse Rd, New Haven). Tonight’s performer, taking the stage at 7 p.m., is Java Groove, “a swing band full of energy, fun and classic tunes.” Along with blankets and lawn chairs, bringing food is encouraged, or you can buy wood-fired pizza from the Frank Andrews Mobile Kitchen. Free.
Thursday, June 22
Vocalist and guitarist Mark Mulcahy, of local Miracle Legion and national Polaris note, performs his new gem of a solo album, The Possum in the Driveway, tonight at Lyric Hall (827 Whalley Ave, New Haven; 203-389-8885). Even when his angular voice is questioning past decisions—missing an ex-lover, for instance, or contemplating its owner as an agent of misfortune—Mulcahy’s songwriting feels self-assured, making a series of quirky instrumentations, which range from the carnivalesque to the retro churchy, feel completely natural. Tickets to the show cost $20, while differing showtimes listed online—7 p.m. at the ticket link versus 8:30 at Lyric Hall’s website—suggest it’s a good idea to double-check with the venue on that score.
Friday, June 23
This weekend, Artspace (50 Orange St, New Haven; 203-772-2709) celebrates 30 years of existence—or, as its new exhibit describes them, Three Decades of Change—with a reunion. The free and public but registration-required itinerary, which begins tonight with a 5 p.m. check-in and cocktail, includes “panel discussions with Artspace alumni, workshops for artists, a book talk and an exciting live drawing event,” plus an opening reception for Change, which “[revisits] some of the most important exhibitions in our 30-year history.”
Playing from the top of Harkness Tower for an audience down in Branford College’s main courtyard (74 High St, New Haven), the Yale Guild of Carillonneurs begins its free weekly summer concert series this evening. With doors opening at 6:30 and tunes going at 7, the season’s first performer is alumna and longtime advisor Ellen Dickinson.
Saturday, June 24
Arts & Ideas goes out with a bang tonight: a free concert on the green featuring the legendary The Wailers—the very same that backed the reggae icon Bob Marley—and Rusted Root, which fuses “roots music and world rock” with jam band vibes. 7 p.m.
Sunday, June 25
“The men of Troy have been slaughtered. Their wives and daughters—prime plunder of a 10-year war they never asked for—await their fate as slaves of the victorious Greeks.” That’s how Yale Summer Cabaret (217 Park St, New Haven; 203-432-1567) sets up The Trojan Women, its second production of the season, which opened on Friday with an all-female cast. Originally written by Euripides and produced in ancient Greece, Summer Cab’s Women is a Syrian civil war-focused update on a 1995 translation by Ellen McLaughlin, who had in turn geared it towards that era’s Bosnian conflict. Today’s show happens at 8 p.m. and regular tickets cost $30, with discounts available for students and Yale faculty/staff.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims. Image depicts a scene from IFAI’s concert on the green last night. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
