Our music critics have already chosen the 28 best concerts this week, but now it’s our arts critics’ turn. Here are their picks for the best events in every genre—from more chances to see the Out of Sight exhibit to the Northwest Psych Fest, and from Pyramid Alehouse’s Beer-Infused Cupcake Competition to the Compline Choir’s 60th Anniversary performance. See them all below, and find even more events on our complete Things To Do calendar.
Jump to: Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday
MONDAY
READINGS & TALKS
Drew Magary
GQ correspondent, Deadspin columnist, and Someone Could Get Hurt author Drew Magary will talk about his new novel, The Hike, a book that was chosen as one of the 14 must-read summer books in Wired, which described it as “a more cynical version of The Phantom Tollbooth mixed with a game of Dungeons & Dragons.”
Ask the Oracle
Presented by Hugo House, this mystic event about precognition features guests Nicole Hardy, Arlene Kim, and Michelle Peñaloza, and is hosted by Johnny Horton. Before the show, audience members will write down questions about their futures, and Horton (in a velvet tuxedo) will pose them to the “writer-oracles,” who will answer by reading a random passage from a book.
FILM
Rurouni Kenshin Trilogy Part I
Rurouni Kenshin, the 2012 live-action adaptation of the eponymous manga classic, has utterly beautiful sword-fighting scenes. Now, I’m a lover not a fighter, but I do very much love human-to-human combat sequences that are balletic. It is the dance of death. And in this film, the death dancers have a beauty that is ethereal. Indeed, the main sword sequence is between two young swords-persons who look like they lead J-pop bands. The swirling, the clanging, the leaping, the cut, the blood. CHARLES MUDEDE
FOOD & DRINK
Bendy Brewski Yoga
In a gallery lined with gold frames, the Frye Art Museum hosts a series of “Noise Yoga” classes, which caters to lovers of yoga, art, and experimental music. But what about all the craft beer–loving yogis and yoginis of Seattle? Where can they go? Today, they can go to a “Bendy Brewski” class at Naked City: 45 minutes of yoga (open to all levels, with mats available to borrow) followed by a pint of beer. It seems inevitable that someone would finally find a way to combine two of the city’s favorite activities. Namaste and cheers. ANGELA GARBES
MONDAY-FRIDAY
FOOD & DRINK
National S’mores Day at Slab Sandwiches + Pie
Slab Sandwiches + Pie is celebrating National S’mores Day (August 10) all week long, with special menu items offering variations on the gooey treat. On Monday and Tuesday, you can get a S’mores Krispies pie (featuring puffed rice and smoked marshmallow on a chocolate cookie crumb crust); on Wednesday and Thursday, try the Elvis (a bacon, banana, marshmallow, and peanut butter mousse pie); on Friday, the S’mores Ice Cream Sandwich will be available (featuring chocolate chip cookies with toasted marshmallow ice cream). Plus, Slab’s usual chocolate slab pie with marshmallow will be available all week.
TUESDAY
COMEDY
Comedy Nest
The rules of this pro-lady stand-up night are refreshing in their simplicity: no misogyny, racism, homophobia, hatred, or heckling. Tonight’s show will feature Rachel Mac, an LA-based writer and comedian who runs the monthly Bitchface Comedy show in Pasadena.
TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY
Girl
Girl is a choose-your-own-adventure immersive theater experience about the thousand-million choices that women have to make in a given day, as well as the choices that people of all genders make when interacting with women. Director Mary Hubert has transformed Annex Theatre into an apartment full of roomies, all of whom appear to be pre-gaming for a mysterious costume party. The “girls” direct audience members through the apartment with a light hand, act out brief scenes, and operate activities. The setup flips the script on ye ole performer/audience agency dynamic. Though the actors embody characters who are exploring ideas about consent and choice, the audience is literally exploring ideas about consent and choice. RICH SMITH
WEDNESDAY
READINGS & TALKS
Enough: A Panel and Story Slam Tackling Sexism and Online Harassment
Remember that time a bunch of misogynists harassed our woman-majority Seattle City Council because they voted against a street vacation for an NBA arena? First of all, that was dumb. Second of all, if you’re a woman on the internet, then online harassment is something you deal with every day. Every. Day. Or so I’ve been told. Nobody harasses my white male ass on the internet. Anyway, the Seattle Women’s Commission is putting on this panel to raise awareness of the issue and to start talking about things we can do to help. There will be a more serious panel conversation/cocktail hour featuring various current and former city council folk, dramatic readings of hateful tweets by The Stranger‘s very own Heidi Groover and Sydney Brownstone, and a story slam curated by those “GIF-pimping” politicos over at Seattlish. RICH SMITH
Jaina Sanga
Indian fiction writer Jaina Sanga, who lives in Dallas and has family in Seattle but whose work is not yet published in the US, will read from her first book of stories, Train to Bombay. According to Elliott Bay, “this should be good.”
Pundamonium: The Seattle Pun Slam!
Puns are the highest and lowest form of humor: They somehow refresh the materiality of language, reminding you that a word is a figure, a thing that can be looked at from several different angles. So whoever wins the pun competition Pundamonium, hosted by Erika Ellefson, will likely be one of Seattle’s great crafters of language, both in a Renaissance fair kind of way but also in a literary genius kind of way. The contestants will be chosen from the audience on a first-come, first-served basis, so the title could go to anyone. RICH SMITH
FOOD & DRINK
National S’mores Day at Hot Cakes
Celebrate National S’mores Day on the sidewalk outside of Hot Cakes with some tasty artisan s’mores that will have you asking for some more. Handmade graham crackers, smoked chocolate, and organic marshmallows will be made to order, so bring your family and your sweet tooth.
WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY
FOOD & DRINK
Theo Chocolate’s National S’mores Day
Spice up your s’more for National S’mores Day this year with fun Theo Chocolate flavors. Imagine pairing a homemade graham cracker and marshmallow with a piece of salted toffee, orange, cherry almond, or chili chocolate.
WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY
OPERA
The Wicked Adventures of Count Ory
You like Gioachino Rossini. He’s the one whose music runs and rushes and spins, and that’s why it’s been theme-song-ed for Bugs Bunny and The Lone Ranger and who knows how much else. But the poor gentleman wrote 39 operas and most of us have heard only a minute of one of them. So check this out: The Wicked Adventures of Count Ory is an obscure comedy Seattle Opera’s doing in a Monty Python-esque style. Farce! Silliness! Mistaken identities in bed! This opera also kicks off the first season planned entirely by General Director Aidan Lang, so here’s some future to trip on. JEN GRAVES
THURSDAY
ART
Capitol Hill Art Walk
Once again, it’s time to fill the streets of Capitol Hill with tipsy art lovers. In August, don’t miss Paul Komada’s Summer Ice, as well as We [occupy] space and Imminent Mode: Sirens.
FOOD & DRINK
FareStart Guest Chef Night with Lynne Vea
FareStart is a fantastic organization that empowers disadvantaged and homeless men and women by training them for work in the restaurant industry. Every Thursday, they host a Guest Chef Night, featuring a three-course dinner from a notable Seattle chef for just $29.95. This week FareStart welcomes Chef Lynne Vea of PCC Natural Markets.
THURSDAY-SATURDAY
MUSIC
Northwest Psych Fest
This must be Seattle’s third or fourth psych-oriented festival of 2016. Not that I’m complaining… I like a solid psych fest as much as the next head. But it does make one wonder if we’re reaching saturation point. Anyway, on to this three-day event. The bills are strong and local-centric, and they feature some of my favorite acts: Afrocop’s jazzadelic soul serenades, Newaxeyes’ post-everything mindfucks, Diminished Men’s surf-rock/gamelan fusions, Pink Void’s ionized, meditative drones, Ben von Wildenhaus’s downcast, otherworldly guitar soliloquies, and Corespondents, who recently did a wickedly surreal live score for the Japanese horror movie Hausu. DAVE SEGAL
THEATER
14/48: Nordo Food Theater Thunderdome
Playwrights and chefs work together to create five plays on a theme, and five courses from “randomly selected secret ingredients” for an unusual and immersive dinner theater experience.
FRIDAY
FOOD & DRINK
Sunset Supper
Enjoy a sunset supper at Pike Place with local restaurants, breweries, wineries, and distilleries, and help raise money for the Pike Place Market Foundation.
ART
Melanie Noel
As part of Matthew Offenbacher’s exhibit The Lion Side of Under the Porch, Melanie Noel (The Monarchs) will read a new poem in the belly of a whale sculpture.
READINGS & TALKS
Kaui Hart Hemmings
Novelist Kaui Hart Hemmings (author of The Descendants, The Possibilities, and Juniors) will read from How to Party With an Infant: a story about “the adventures of a woman who is newly a mother, and newly single.”
SATURDAY
ART
Georgetown Art Attack
Once a month, the art that resides in the tiny airport hamlet of Georgetown ATTACKS all passersby. In more literal terms, it’s the day of art openings and street wonderment. In August, make sure to check out (among many other attractions) Tim Cross at Bridge Productions, recommended by Jen Graves.
Trans Hirstory in 99 Objects
This exhibit, featuring archival materials and works by contemporary artists that “narrate the history of transgender communities,” will open today at the Henry. It focuses on the experiences of people living in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, including Nell Pickerall [also known as Harry Allen and Harry Livingston] and Ingersoll Gender Center Founder Marsha Botzer. It’s the second iteration in a series of exhibitions organized by Chris E. Vargas, executive director of the “imaginary” Museum of Transgender Hirstory and Art, which exists as a series of pop-up events.
FOOD & DRINK
Pyramid’s Beer-Infused Cupcake Competition
Cupcake Royale, Brown Sugar Baking Company, and Bakerilly will compete for your affection, and one will be crowned the “Best Seattle Cupcake.” Both beer-free and beer-infused cupcakes will be on offer, along with beer pairings to go along with the confections, live music, a beer garden, “life size games,” and giveaways.
SATURDAY
THEATER
Me gritaron negra (They Screamed ‘Black’ at Me)
Choreographer and “artivist” Monica Rojas-Stewart will bring to life the iconic Peruvian poem “‘Me gritaron negra’ (They Screamed ‘Black’ at Me),” originally written by “the mother of Afro-Peruvian dance and theater” Victoria Santa Cruz. This performance will feature dance, spoken word, visual art, and music, as well as dancers including Milvia Pacheco (Venezuela), Dora Oliveira (Brazil), Carolina Martinez (Mexico), and Valentina Gonzalez (Chile).
QUEER
Rapture
Oh sure, you’ve been to more than your share of drag shows with lip-synching and wigs and princess gloves. But where are the fringed monsters, the viscous fluids, and the couture that you initially mistake for a pile of abandoned construction equipment? After you’ve kick-started your weird Saturday with Cucci’s Critter Barn, stick around for Rapture, a brand-new night hosted by unidentified frocking object Arson Nicki. Expect to see the avantest of the avant-garde creatures, peculiar performances, and a runway that may double as a portal to the Negaverse. You will be unable to forget any of what you see—or to make anyone believe that it happened. MATT BAUME
Trailer Park Drag Strip
During Art Attack, experience the true soul of Georgetown’s Trailer Park Mall with a free strip-drag show featuring the talents of hostess Sylvia O’Stayformore, Honey Bucket, Jackie Hell, Monikkie Shame, Abbey Roads, James and Kerry Darling, Jacques n’Aww, Strawberry Shartcake, and self-proclaimed “Queen of the Universe,” Donna Tella Howe. Since there’s no cover for this event, make sure to tip the ladies for their work. BYO-lawn chairs, picnic fixins, and Pink Flamingos-style attitude.
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
ART
Out of Sight
Now that the madness of the international Seattle Art Fair has subsided, take some time with the artists who actually live here. For months, a team of eight curators and exhibition designers worked to bring you Out of Sight, a survey of more than 200 works of art by more than 100 artists and artist collectives from across Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. This is a show you really, truly must not miss, because it is a massive task to bring together artists from all up and down Cascadia, and it never happens at this scale, and may never again. JEN GRAVES
SUNDAY
READINGS & TALKS
Bill Porter
Writer and Chinese translator Bill Porter will read from his new book South of the Yangtze: Travels Through the Heart of China, depicting his 1991 travels with Finn Wilcox and Steve Johnson.
MUSIC
Compline Choir 60th Anniversary
After Stranger Books & Theater Editor Rich Smith went to one of the weekly Compline Choir performances for the first time, he wrote, “In that moment I discovered the singular pleasure of imagining the sound waves of interwoven human voices soaring up the timber pillars that support the church’s vaulted ceilings and bouncing around the reredos and the rose window as all that glass blushed pink, then orange, and then dark blue as the sun sank behind the Olympics. It was the first time I’d ever accessed the spiritual by way of some religious practice. Something about the combination of the architecture, the fellowship, and the music gave me a little peek into the ineffable.” Today, the Choir is celebrating their 60th anniversary, and, in honor of the occasion, will perform two extra morning performances, as well as the weekly evening performance, which will feature alumni from the last 60 years.
