Five Recommended Arts Events This Weekend

Ah, yeah, “fun” is such a subjective term, isn’t it? But what we’ve listed below is, at the very least: Interesting, probably highly enjoyable, and maybe downright glorious to the point of “Blistering blue barnacles, this is one hell of a great time we’re having!”

Srsly tho. And right here in your own bustling metrop, too, citizen. Look:

Annie Baker's 'The Antipodes' at Hyde Park Theatre

1) This weekend begins what’s only the second production anywhere in the world of the new play by that Pulitzer-winning Annie Baker. We understand that’s because Ken Webster, the director of this show for Hyde Park Theatre, has, like, fuckin’ moles in the industry, constantly scoping availability and making under-the-table deals. But, regardless of possible thespian skulduggery, what’s important is that Webster has assembled a fantastic cast to bring The Antipodes to life, this insider’s look at what goes on in a scriptwriters’ meeting, and we can only imagine it matching the brilliance of the previous Baker shows at HPT (especially The Aliens, still burning bright in our memory all these years later), and so we’re suggesting that you avail yourself of its deep hilarity and power.

2) Allison Orr and her Forklift Danceworks: One of this city’s premiere creative treasures. You remember Trash Dance, of course, and that whole choreographed baseball thing they did in Japan, and the firefighters’ gig, and so on, all to much awe and acclaim? And the current series they’ve been working on, featuring a variety of community swimming pools as the settings? Right – and this weekend's your chance to buy tickets for next weekend's aquakinetic wonderment, as Forklift’s Dove Springs Swims prepares to newly enchant the people of Austin.

3) The creative folks at Cherry Cola Dog seem to sincerely believe that Art Will Save Us, and that’s one of the reasons they provide a community space for maker-citizens to display and sell their work, and to hold a reception/celebration/hallelujah-it’s-a-party of a monthly exhibition – like the one going on this Saturday night, with DJ Hallpass spiking the tunes, with so many of your friends and neighbors (and their newest creations) in attendance, and all the monies going – gasp! – back to the artists.

4) And here’s the first weekend of this year’s Austin Chamber Music Festival, with all manner of delights for you to improve your life with. There are revered groups from all over the country, performing from their repertoires of classics and fresh commissions, and many offering free workshops, and – OK, there’s so much more that, after mentioning that Austin’s own robot-enhanced Ponytrap is part of the sweet stringy action, we’ll just point you toward the website here.

5) Maybe you don’t want to spend your Sunday night in a stadium full of young J-Pop fans in excited adoration of the holographic incarnation of what’s essentially a software program, a Vocaloid named Hatsune Miku – kind of like a projected version of Sailor-Moon-goes-Disco, to put it in dummyspeak, and maybe you saw her perform on Letterman’s show a few years ago? – but, hey, the band is live and the beats are infectious and Cedar Park’s H-E-B Center is just north a little ways … so maybe you do?