PAMM explores the politics behind dominoes, Mad Cat Theatre opens a climate-change comedy, and a “Stranger Things” star brings psych-pop to West Palm Beach. Plus, the Vans Warped Tour, French photography, “Slack Bay” and more in your week ahead.
WEDNESDAY
What: Post Animal
Where: Respectable Street, 518 Clematis St., West Palm Beach
When: 9 p.m.
Cost: $8
Contact: sub-culture.org/respectable-street
The hit Netflix series “Stranger Things” may trade in nightmares, but Post Animal barters in dreams. There’s a reason for this comparison. The horror procedural and the Chicago psych-rock band share a cast member in common: Joe Keery, a distinctively pompadoured millennial whose acting career has helped bolster his musical one. He plays guitar and sings in Post Animal, whose members have grown from four to six in just a couple of years, a testament to the group’s ever-expanding sound—a trippy, ‘60s-inflected psychedelic stew with echoes of acts like Tame Impala and the Shins. It belongs on alternative radio as much as both of those bands, and its cachet is growing. See this exciting new act now before it outgrows intimate venues like Respectable Street.
THURSDAY
What: Opening day of “French Connections: Photography”
Where: Norton Museum of Art, 1451 S. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach
When: Noon to 9 p.m.
Cost: Free
Contact: 561/832-5196, norton.org
If your knowledge of French photography begins and ends with the street photos of Henri Cartier-Bresson, you’re forgiven. Bresson, considered by many to be the godfather of photojournalism, tends to tower over his contemporaries and followers like the Eiffel Tower. But for more than a century, French photographers of many moods, styles and disciplines have been illuminating their country for international and local viewers alike. This exhibition, culled from the Norton’s photography collection, features prominent French photographs from early black-and-white documents of Paris to contemporary portraits reflecting the nation’s diverse cultural makeup. Stay late for Thursday’s Art After Dark, featuring live music, a DIY art activity, a Curator’s Conversation, Happy Hour drinks and more.
What: Opening reception of “Spots, Dots, Pips, Tiles”
Where: Perez Art Museum, 1103 Biscayne Blvd., Miami
When: 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Cost: $12-$16 museum admission
Contact: 305/375-3000, pamm.org
Though its roots date to ancient China, the game of dominoes thrives most prominently today in Latin America, the Caribbean and the American South. Miami tends to straddle all three of these worlds, and a stroll down Calle Ocho in Little Havana any night of the week offers a testament to the gane’s competitive, community-building popularity. “Spots, Dots, Pips, Tiles” speaks the language of dominoes, featuring works by 21 artists that reference the game directly or indirectly. These include paintings, sculptures, installations, videos and mixed-media works touching on political struggle, racial stereotyping, religion and more. At Thursday’s opening reception, three of the artists will discuss the show with two PAMM curators. It runs through Oct. 29.
What: Opening night of “Firemen Are Rarely Necessary”
Where: Miami Theater Center, 9816 N.E. Second Ave., Miami Shores
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $15-$25
Contact: madcattheatre.org
Like George Orwell, South Florida playwright Theo Reyna believes language matters—and that when governments attempt to remove linguistic weapons from our arsenal of truth, we mustn’t acquiesce. At least that’s my takeaway from the story and inspiration behind Reyna’s latest comedy, “Firemen Are Rarely Necessary,” opening this weekend from Mad Cat Theatre Company. Described as “a dark comedy about some light censorship,” the play was borne out of Gov. Rick Scott’s provocative banning of the terms “climate change” and “global warming” by the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection and other government agencies. It’s set in the near future, and its protagonist, a climate scientist, must fight an obstinate bureaucracy to raise necessary alarm bells about the erosion of the state’s limestone bedrock. Is it science fiction or a prophetic docu-play? Decide for yourself in this world-premiere production, which runs through July 16.
FRIDAY
What: Opening day of “Slack Bay”
Where: Living Room Theaters at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
When: Show times pending
Cost: $6.50-$9.50
Contact: 561/549-2600, fau.livingroomtheaters.com
Three of French cinema’s biggest stars—Juliette Binoche, Fabrice Luchini and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi—pratfall majestically through “Slack Bay,” the latest absurdist farce from master director Bruno Dumont. It’s set on the titular bay in France, a picturesque summer getaway for the Van Peteghams, an eccentric bourgeois family. They’d like nothing better than to while away a season sunbathing and feasting, but a pair of bumbling inspectors disrupts their reverie: They’re investigating a strings of missing tourists, and the Van Peteghams might be suspects. Marrying the class critiques of directors like Bunuel and Godard with the slapstick of Laurel and Hardy and Monty Python, “Slack Bay” has been called “madcap,” “deranged” and “completely off the wall”—which are compliments, of course.
What: Nights at the Museum: “SeaFari”
Where: South Florida Science Center, 4801 Dreher Trail N., West Palm Beach
When: 6 to 9 p.m.
Cost: $6-$12
Contact: 561/832-1988, sfsciencecenter.org
Swimming with tropical fish is made easy—with no wetsuits or snorkel equipment required—thanks to South Florida Science Center’s Virtual Oceans. The virtual reality technology simulator is one of the highlights of this aquatic-centered edition of the museum’s monthly evening program for families. Attendees can also enjoy a fishy craft activity, the Shark Trek Interactive Lab, and activities and conversations with local marine vendors. For an extra $3-$5, you can catch the museum’s appropriately themed planetarium show, “Kaluoka’hina: The Enchanted Reef,” about a pair of animated fish on a mission to save an endangered reef.
SUNDAY
What: Vans Warped Tour
Where: Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre, 601-7 Sansburys Way, West Palm Beach
When: 11 a.m.
Cost: $42
Contact: livenation.com
While other touring rock festivals have peaked and fallen, bankrupted and reformed, the Vans Warped Tour has consistently survived recessions and changing musical trends, continuing to offer its durable brand of punk, emo, hardcore and metal since 1995. This year’s lineup, on a whopping seven stages, skillfully commingles classic and newer acts, retaining the Warped Tour’s dedicated core demo while expanding its sonic footprint. This year, catch the recently reformed ska titans Save Ferris (pictured), metalcore pioneers Hatebreed, theatrical horror-rockers GWAR, protest punks Anti-Flag, Southern rock/heavy metal fusers Valient Thorr and many, many (many!) more.
