History, mystery and musical witchery get things going.
Monday, January 13
At 6 p.m. at Branford’s Blackstone Library, “pirate historian” Luca Rebussini discusses “the history of the pirates and pirate hunters of New England during the Golden Age of Piracy.” Topics include “why people became pirates, how pirate ships were run, weapons and tactics used, politics of the pirates, the government, and of the colonies, as well as how piracy ended.”
Wednesday, January 15
RJ Julia’s Wesleyan location puts a spotlight on a trio of local mystery authors and books at 5 p.m.: Penny Goetjen and Deadly Ripples, Robin Cannon and Into the Attic Darkly and Sharon Dukett and The Shutdown List.
At 6, Strategy of Lakes, a new monthly experimental music series at the Hamden Public Library’s Brundage Community Branch, begins with Max Hamel and Rex Morris and their “invented and imagined musical instruments.” The hope behind the series is to nurture a local and regional scene showcasing techniques and tactics such as “homemade instrument building, birdsong, social practice, dead media, and ritual performance.”
Thursday, January 16
At 7 p.m. at Best Video in Hamden, the next installment of the Sleeping Giant Reading Series, where “writers of every kind gather to hear professional readings, raise a glass, network, and support one another’s work,” features poet/essayist/Yale educator Danielle Chapman and writer/photographer/Best Video founder Hank Paper.
Previews of Eden, Yale Repertory Theatre’s next play, open at 8. The show is set in 1927 in a shared New York neighborhood, “where tensions run deep between its populations of Black Americans and Caribbean immigrants. Eustace, recently transplanted from the South, falls in love with the girl next door, Annetta. But her ironfisted father, Joseph, an ardent Garveyite, has arranged for her to marry another man from the West Indies to protect his bloodline. In Steve Carter’s blistering saga, Eden, clashing ideologies and youthful passions threaten dangerous consequences for two families and their community.”
Also at 8, about a block away, a four-show run of Apologiae 4 & 5 opens at Yale Cabaret. “Two ex-lovers meet again. Where? They don’t know. All they want to do is sing, but first, they must prove themselves worthy. An Examiner guides the couple through a trial, a fever dream, a karaoke party, a therapy session, a fight for survival. Who is going to win? A hilariously absurdist ritual of self-definition, this new play by Academy Award Nominee Efthimis Filippou (Dogtooth, The Lobster, Kinds of Kindness) asks an essential question: How far will you really go to be accepted?”
Meanwhile, an 8 p.m. bill at Cafe Nine features headliner Paul “HR” Hudson, former frontman of the legendary genre-pioneering and -bending punk band Bad Brains whose solo work primarily invokes reggae. Openers include indie-punk band T!LT and ska-inspired six-piece The Simulators, both from New Haven.
Friday, January 17
At 3 p.m., Yale’s Humanities Quadrangle hosts a screening of multi-Golden Globe winner The Brutalist (2024). “Escaping post-war Europe, visionary architect László Toth (Adrien Brody) arrives in America to rebuild his life, his work, and his marriage to his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) after being forced apart during wartime by shifting borders and regimes. On his own in a strange new country, László settles in Pennsylvania, where the wealthy and prominent industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) recognizes his talent for building. But power and legacy come at a heavy cost…” After the screening, stay for a “conversation with Yale professors Elihu Rubin(Urban Studies, Architecture, and American Studies) and Maurice Samuels (French).”
At 9, it’s back to Cafe Nine for the next installment of Heaven, “New Haven’s post-disco dance night” featuring “Italo, electro, hi-NRG, synth-funk, alternative pop, and disco-infused electronics of all kinds.”
Saturday, January 18
From noon to 6, Armada Brewing celebrates its eighth birthday with new high-aged imperial stout variants, flash tattoos by The Raven’s Mark and a special anniversary menu from food truck Suzy Q’s.
From 1 to 5, Dockside Brewery in Milford throws an après ski theme party. The docket includes “fire pits, heaters, fresh hot waffles, and warm cocktails” as well as “raffles, games and prizes,” with skiing attire encouraged.
Pickle & Sizzle, a singles mixer at pickleball center Pickleville CT (in Westville), runs from 7 to 10. “A pro instructor will show you how to play pickleball circuit-style—hit the ball, rotate in. Need a break? Grab a spot on the couches and watch the action unfold while you mingle with other singles.”
At 8, the Shubert hosts Platinum- and Gold-selling ’90s and ’00s R&B artists Lyfe Jennings, KeKe Wyatt, Horace Brown and Sunshine Anderson.
Sunday, January 19
From noon to 4 the day before MLK Day, Yale’s Beinecke Library presents “a special one-day display of [collection] highlights… related to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Freedom Movement… The display will also include materials about Black New Haven history and the lives and legacies of Yale’s earliest Black students, from the 1830s into the 20th century.”
At 7, Space Ballroom in Hamden hosts an EP release show for headliner Dagwood, a New Haven band whose “bubblegum melodies and… ‘raw power’ rhythm section energize their chronicles of clumsy and surreal suburban malaise.” Openers include Classic Traffic, Beauty and Splitview.
Written by Dan Mims. Image, sourced from shubert.com, features, from front to back and left to right, Lyfe Jennings, KeKe Wyatt, Sunshine Anderson and Horace Brown. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations, prices and other details before attending events.
