The Tantehorse Company from Prague appears at the Atlas this weekend.
Last weekend was a bit nippy for a Memorial Day: only the heartiest of lunatic thrill-seeking kids went into the newly opened pools. But this weekend will be a return to the summer swelter we are used to here in the Nation’s Capital.
How shall we spend our few free hours?
Tonight at the Hill Center poet Katy Didden reads from her debut collection, The Glacier’s Wake. The DC native equates the tectonic shifts of nature with those huge shifts of the heart’s geography, mortality, longing, and loss. The reading is free and begins at 7. Register here.
Friday through Sunday the Tantehorse company from the Czech Republic will be at the Atlas with their pieces Dante/ A Light in the Darkness and The Death of Marquis de Sade. The company, founded by Miřenka Čechová, specializes in highly physical theatrical pieces. This is a piece that combines surreal and decadent poetry with elements of physical theater and modern dance. Tickets are $25/ $15 and they are available on the Atlas website.
Friday evening Men of Steel, Women of Wonder opens at The Fridge. The curator Asad “ULTRA” Walker has invited up-and-coming names in DC’s underground and street art scene to bring their vision to modern mythology: comic book heroes. The opening event runs from 7pm to 10pm. Read more about the exhibit and the event here.
Saturday morning, learn how to forage for food in the wilds of Capitol Hill. There are plenty of foods in Washington’s lawns, parks, and alleys that can be a family feast. You just need to know where to look for the right berries, roots, and weeds.Who needs the new Giant when you can just wander down the sidewalk and find lamb’s quarters, purslane, chickweed, poke, Japanese knotweed, and other treasures that are invisible to the untrained eye. These will be turned into a menu that will include Roasted Marrow Bones with a Wild Bitter Green Salad, Wild Spring Greens Casserole, Pesto of Wild Greens, Sourdough Bread, and Wild Ice Cream! (I really don’t want to know where they will be sourcing the wild marrow bones…) Washington College professor Dr. Bill Schindler will lead the foraging trek around Capitol Hill. Then, return to Hill Center to cook up what you gather.
That afternoon is a Learn to Row clinic sponsored by the Capitol Rowing club. Stop by anytime between 1 pm and 4 pm. It takes 40 minutes from start to finish to learn the basics of sweep rowing on the Anacostia River. No need to sign up: just come by the Anacostia Community Boathouse which is located at 1900 M St SE. This is the big white structure you can see from the Pennsylvania Ave SE bridge.
Monday at the Folger Shakespeare Library, there is a reading of the Robben Island Bible. Political prisoners at South Africa’s Robben Island in the 1970s signed their names next to Shakespeare passages that spoke to them. Matthew Hahn interviewed many of them in 2008 and these interviews are juxtaposed with Shakespeare’s words in a play that explores how life imitates art. The event is free. Advance reservations are recommended. Reading begins at 7:00pm. Reserve your space here.