This week around New Haven brings secret cinema, Shakespeare in the park, a two-night spotlight on Everest record-setter Lhakpa Sherpa, John Constable at Yale, cult comedy, bird viewing, Greek food, corn mazes, goat cuddles and the first signs of fall.
MONDAY, AUGUST 31
Mystery German Drama
7–9 p.m. | Best Video, Hamden | $5 members; $10 nonmembers
Best Video is keeping the title secret, offering only this clue: it’s a German drama from 1970. Not secret? Popcorn and drinks will be available.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
Gamelatron, Sonic Immersion
Tuesday–Saturday, noon–6 p.m. | Yale Schwarzman Center | Free
Artist Aaron Taylor Kuffner’s Gamelatron ViaOro fills the Schwarzman Center’s Dome with the vibrations of 36 hand-tuned bronze and steel gongs, struck by electromagnetic mallets to create a "monumental" mechanical orchestra.
Bluegrass Jam at the Trolley Museum
6–8:30 p.m. | Shore Line Trolley Museum, East Haven
Gather among the museum’s vintage streetcars for a bluegrass jam. If you're musical, you can bring an instrument and join in; everyone else can just listen.
Elm Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing
Tuesday–Sunday, 7:30 p.m. | Edgerton Park | Free
It’s the final week for Elm Shakespeare’s free production of Much Ado About Nothing, which drops Beatrice and Benedick into the aftermath of World War II.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
Two Nights With Lhakpa Sherpa
Wednesday & Thursday | Canal Dock Boathouse & Yale’s Luce Hall
Record-setting mountaineer and Connecticut resident Lhakpa Sherpa gets a two-night New Haven spotlight. Wednesday at 6 p.m. brings a conversation at Canal Dock Boathouse about her life and Everest climbs; Thursday at 6 p.m., Yale screens the Netflix documentary Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa at Luce Hall, followed by a conversation with Sherpa herself.
New Haven vs. Quinnipiac Men’s Soccer
6 p.m. | Kathy Zolad Stadium, West Haven
The University of New Haven plays its first home match of the season against Quinnipiac—the Chargers’ only nonconference home game before league play begins.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
John Constable: The Landscape Reimagined
Opens Thursday | Yale Center for British Art | Free
The major exhibition brings together Constable’s cloud studies, outdoor sketches and monumental paintings, including works never before shown publicly in the U.S. It's apparently the only major American Constable exhibition marking the 250th anniversary of his birth.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
Galaxies Missing Dark Matter
10:30 a.m. | Kline Tower
Yale astronomer Michael Keim gives a public thesis talk about DF2, DF4 and the newly discovered DF9—strange “ghostly” galaxies that appear to contain little or no dark matter.
The Screening Party
7 p.m. | Toad’s Place | Free
Toad’s becomes a movie theater for a free night of Connecticut-made film, music and art. The night is headlined by world premieres of the shorts Solace and Meathead.
Sex, Lies, and Videotape on 35mm
7 p.m. | Humanities Quadrangle | Free
Yale starts its “Sundance Revisited” series with Steven Soderbergh’s 1989 debut, the low-budget relationship drama that helped ignite an independent film boom in the 90s. The screening uses a 35mm print from Yale’s archive.
David Liebe Hart
8 p.m. | Cafe Nine | $15 adv; $18 door
The Tim and Eric cult figure David Liebe Hart brings his unusual combination of outsider music, puppetry, storytelling, aliens, trains and whatever else happens to occur to him.
Earth Tongue / Soft Spot / Bajzelle
8 p.m. | Space Ballroom, Hamden
New Zealand heavy-psych duo Earth Tongue brings fuzzed-out guitar, off-kilter drums and a taste for horror-movie imagery to the Space, joined by Stamford garage/shoegaze trio Soft Spot and Bridgeport psych-rock band Bajzelle.
John Zorn’s FLATLANDS
8:30 & 10 p.m. | Firehouse 12
Firehouse 12 hosts two sets from FLATLANDS, a power trio playing music by experimental composer John Zorn, with Matt Hollenberg on guitar, Simon Hanes on bass and Ches Smith on drums.
Odyssey ’26 Greek Festival
Friday–Sunday, noon–10 p.m.; Monday, noon–6 p.m. | St. Barbara, Orange | Free
The 44th annual Odyssey fills St. Barbara’s grounds with gyros, souvlaki, Greek dancing, cooking demonstrations, church tours, a marketplace and live Greek music.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
Two Meadow Farm Open Farm Day
9 a.m.–noon | Two Meadow Farm, North Haven
The flower farm opens its fields while the dahlias are hitting their stride. Visitors can wander the gardens and pick their own dahlias, zinnias, cosmos and sunflowers; the farm recommends getting there early before the selection is picked over.
Milford Tennis Day
From 9 a.m. | Eisenhower Park Tennis Courts, Milford
Kids ages 3–17 can get a free hour-long tennis lesson at 9, followed by junior and adult singles and doubles tournaments beginning around 10.
East River Preserve Hike
10 a.m.–noon | East River Preserve, Guilford | Free
The Shoreline Greenway Trail leads a family-friendly hike through the East River Preserve and neighboring Eastwoods property, including a stretch of the New England Trail.
Corn Mazes, Cider Donuts & Goat Cuddles
10 a.m.–4 p.m. | Lyman Orchards, Middlefield
Lyman goes all-in on the first big fall weekend: its corn maze opens alongside wagon rides, a petting farm, face painting, food trucks, square dancing, bluegrass and cider-donut contests. Bradley Mountain Farm also brings a Goat Cuddle Brigade, offering 15-minute goat sessions.
Bishop’s Fall Festival Opening Day
10 a.m.–5 p.m. | Bishop’s Orchards, Guilford
Bishop’s starts its fall season with apple and pear picking, wagon rides, food trucks, a cider garden, play areas and a four-acre Shoreline-wildlife-themed corn maze created with Meigs Point Nature Center.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
Introduction to Hawkwatching
8–11 a.m. | Lighthouse Point Park
Fall bird migrations are getting underway, and Hawk Watch Coordinator Steve Mayo teaches us how to spot, identify and count the raptors passing over Lighthouse Point.
Bird Hike + Louisa Stancioff Concert
9:30 a.m.–noon | Milford Point
A guided migratory-bird walk at Connecticut Audubon’s Coastal Center runs from 9:30–11, followed by an outdoor performance from Maine indie-folk songwriter Louisa Stancioff. Adults pay what they can; kids are free.
Last Chance: Illustrating America
10 a.m.–4 p.m. | Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center | Free
Sunday is the closing day for an exhibition of more than 200 original studies created for illustrated Columbia magazine covers, capturing humorous and sentimental snapshots of American life from the 1950s through the ’80s.
New Haven Road Race Pasta Dinner
6:30–9 p.m. | Gioia
The night before the New Haven Road Race, Gioia hosts a pasta dinner for runners and fans. The meal promises a chance to mingle with some of the elite athletes in town for Monday’s races.
Pretty Boy Floyd / Skarlett Roxx / John Fox / All Sinners
8 p.m. | Space Ballroom, Hamden
Late-’80s Hollywood glam-metal band Pretty Boy Floyd, best known for Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz, lands in Hamden for a suitably excessive Sunday-night show, joined by Skarlett Roxx, John Fox and All Sinners.
