The Library of Congress screens E.T. Tonight on the Lawn. Still by Universal Pictures, via screenshot.
We might be dry for the next few days. Here’s hoping your roofs and basements weathered this last week intact! Here’s to enjoying the last weekend of July!
Tonight, head to the Library of Congress for an outdoor concert and film! LOC Summer Movies on the Lawn outdoor film festival will highlight a classic film from the National Film Registry. This week’s offering is ET which will begin at 8:30 p.m. This movie has been postponed to August 23, fans of ET!! Make sure you note the new location: Neptune plaza, right in front of the Jefferson building.
But get there and find your seat early and enjoy the 7 p.m. concert by violinist Chelsey Green sponsored by both LOC and Washington Performing Arts. The screening takes place on the north lawn of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, across the street from the U.S. Capitol. Tickets are free but you need to register here.
Friday, catch local writer and performer Holly Bass’s new piece at the Anacostia Playhouse. Theatre Alliance presents this work about three time-traveling freedwomen with a potion to cure future generations of a terrible disease. Conceived as a work of dance theatre, The Trans-Atlantic Time Traveling Company examines what it means to be free and and equal. One weekend only so get those tickets soon.
City at Peace, a youth theatre program housed at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, presents an original piece entitled The Color Privilege, which imagines a dystopian future where social status is determined by the color of your shirt. Think Hunger Games meets the Sneeches. The City at Peace program brings together youth from diverse backgrounds who work together to create art relevant to their lives and the results are frequently moving and compelling. This piece was inspired by Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s conceptual virtual reality installation CARNE y ARENA currently housed on Benning Road and for which it is nearly impossible to get tickets. The 7:30pm performance is free but book your tickets here.
Saturday, celebrate the national phenomenon that is Shark Week at the Wharf with Shark Bites and Brews. From 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., there will shark-themed treats, drinks and games as well as a mechanical shark to snap a selfie with. No word on whether he is called Bruce or not.
Sunday, join the Lit on H Book Club at Solid State books at 5 p.m. for a discussion of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere. The story of a perfect family who find their lives upended by a mysterious mother and daughter should make for a fun chat.