The Weekender: February 22 to 25

Photo by ilbusca/iStock

February 22 to 25

With the Beanpot in the rearview mirror and midterms on the horizon, it’s nice to unplug every once in a while and see what’s going on outside. We’re here to help with that: you can catch a CFA School of Theatre Grad Collab Project production or an Oscar-nominated short film festival if you’re feeling artistic, or if you’re itching to shop, you can wander through a pop-up market. 

Whatever you do, watch out for black ice! It’s not spring yet, Terriers.

Canon, Canyon, Cannon: All Black Everything

Catch a world-class lineup of Black poets—including UGBA, Zenaida Peterson, Letta Neely, and Nikky Finney—as they perform back to back at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Curated by Porsha Olayiwola, Gardner Museum artist in residence and Boston’s poet laureate (she is also a World Poetry Slam champion and founder of the Roxbury Poetry Festival), this evening is part of a new series that “showcase[s] the power of original thought and language to create new understandings.” Pull up a chair and prepare to be inspired.

Thursday, February 22, 8:30 pm, at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 25 Evans Way, Boston. Purchase tickets, starting at $13, here.

The Hot L Baltimore

Spend a day among the residents of the seedy Hotel Baltimore (so much so that the “e” is missing in its marquee)—some young, some old, some idealistic, and some as rundown as their surroundings. A work of mid-20th-century playwright Lanford Wilson, this production was directed by Grant Sorenson (CFA’26) and is part of the School of Theatre’s Grad Collab Projects, which are developed in the fall and performed each quarter during the spring semester.

Friday, February 23, 7:30 to 9:30 pm, and Saturday and Sunday, February 24 and 25, 5 to 7 pm, in CFA Studio 105, 855 Comm Ave. Performances are free and open to the public.

Oscar-Nominated Short Film Festival at the ICA 

Now in its 17th year, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston’s Oscar-Nominated Short Films is a four-weekend-long affair beginning with a roster of animated and live-action offerings. Catch up on all the nominated shorts you may have missed while you were digging into the year’s best feature-length films, and be sure to come back next Sunday when the ICA will screen five nominated short documentaries.

Thursday, February 22, Friday, February 23, 7 pm, and Sunday, February 25, 12:30 pm, at the Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston, 25 Harbor Shore Drive, Boston. Purchase tickets, starting at $5, here. View a full schedule here. 

Retromania: A Retrospective Expo

Fans of Brighton Bazaar, which curates an eclectic pop-up flea market, will go nuts for its satellite project, Retromania. Vintage sellers are taking over the music venue Roadrunner this weekend—all 50,000 square feet of it—for an all-you-can-shop vintage extravaganza that includes clothing, housewares, and all manner of “whimsically anachronistic media”—all guaranteed to be at least 20 years old. Sign up for one of the event’s four shopping time slots and prepare to discover something weird, wacky, and wonderful.

Saturday, February 24, and Sunday, February 25, 11 am to 3 pm and 4 pm to 8 pm, at Roadrunner, 89 Guest St., Boston. Purchase ticketed time slots ($10) here.

Brighton Winter Farmers Market

If vintage goods aren’t your jam, opt for the fresher-than-fresh at another Brighton market—a farmers market, that is. Browse the vendors (from baked goods to coffee to bath products and more) and show your support for local growers and artisans. Are you feeling extra upstanding? Why not sign up for a volunteer slot at the market? Email cdrummey@psf-inc.org if you’re interested.

Saturday, February 24, 11 am to 2 pm, at the Presentation School Foundation Community Center, 640 Washington St., Brighton. The market is free and open to the public.