BULLETIN
Talleres de Defensa y Resistencia | Defense and Resistance Workshop
2329 S. Troy St. Saturday, March 11, 11am–1pm. Free. Interpretation available / Interpretación disponible. bit.ly/OCADtalleres
Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD) has been holding a series of workshops to support people in the detention and deportation processes; this Saturday OCAD presents its seventh workshop in this series. Against institutional bullies, OCAD says, prepared and organized communities are your best defense. (Yunhan Wen)
Chicago Seed Swap and Share
OTIS Fresh Farm, 2616 S. Calumet Ave. Saturday, March 11, 1pm–3pm. Free. RSVP online. (773) 747-1761. bit.ly/chiseedswap
As spring grows nearer, it’s time for Chicago’s backyard farmers and horticulture hobbyists to get ready for gardening season! Come learn about everything from compost to worms and BYOSeeds to swap, share, or give. Seedless? Bring a new or used gardening tool to donate to city gardeners. (Emily Lipstein)
Campaign for a Community Center in Pilsen
La Parada en Pilsen, 2059 W. 21st St. Saturday, March 11, 2pm–4pm. Free. chisocialistparty.org
Join the Chicago Socialist Party for the next organizing meeting in their push to build neighborhood institutions and bring a community center to Pilsen. A community center in the neighborhood, the party says, is vital to preventing the spread of gentrification and preserving Pilsen’s character. (Adia Robinson)
Mental Health, Mental Illness, and the Criminal Justice System Teach-In
Access Living, 115 W. Chicago Ave. Wednesday, March 15, 5:30pm–8pm. Free. (312) 640-2100. bit.ly/teach_in_2n8
At this teach-in and discussion, learn about the ways mental illness and the criminal justice system interact, including how lack of access to mental healthcare helps drive the prison system. The event is organized by Next Steps, a nonprofit that seeks to amplify the voices of people with lived experiences of mental illness, homelessness, and the criminal justice system to change policy. It is being held in coordination with Uptown People’s Law Center and Mothers United Against Violence and Incarceration. (Olivia Stovicek)
VISUAL ARTS
Bearing: object, body, and space
LeRoy Neiman Center Gallery, 37 S. Wabash Ave. Through March 23. Monday–Friday, 11am–6pm; Saturday, 11am–3pm. (312) 899-5131. saic.edu/sugs
Spanning creative practices from performative video to painting, this exhibition showcases the practices of artists Santina Amato, Lindsay Hutchens, and Michelle Marie Murphy. They reflect on the issues impacting women and bring the body into the forefront of the conversation. (Corinne Butta)
Meaning and Material
Kent Hall, 1020 E. 58th St., room 120. Thursday, March 9, 6pm. Free. (773) 702-8670. renaissancesociety.org
Whether we realize it or not, the creative process is often equal to the inspirational one. Join artists Geof Oppenheimer and Virginia Overton for a panel discussion exploring the overlap between their own practices and Robert Grosvenor, whose self-titled exhibition will be on view through April 9. (Corinne Butta)
EXPANDED
Mana Contemporary, 2233 S. Throop St. March 9–10, 11am–5pm; March 11–12, noon–4pm. Free. (312) 850-0555. manacontemporarychicago.com
Gallery Weekend Chicago collaborates with Mana Contemporary in presenting “EXPANDED,” a showcase of twenty-five rising and established Chicago contemporary art galleries. Each gallery will represent a pocket of Chicago’s diverse and ever changing art scene. “EXPANDED” has a unique collection of pieces and galleries, and will be sure to wow. (Bridget Newsham)
Semblance of Order
Uri-Eichen Gallery, 2101 S. Halsted St. Opening Friday, March 10, 6pm–10pm. Through April 7, by appointment. Free. (312) 852-7717. uri-eichen.com
What does Big Brother look like? Artists Michael Rado, Frances Lightbound, and Louis Kishfy show us in their latest exhibition opening at Uri-Eichen this week—and it’s not what you think. They take a hard look at the materials and architecture of authority and ownership through a photography series on designed objects and urban spaces. (Bridget Newsham)
What Lies Beneath
Chicago Art Department, 1932 S. Halsted St., Suite 100. Opening reception, Friday, March 10, 6pm–9pm. Through Friday, March 24, by appointment only. Free. (312) 725-4223. chicagoartdepartment.org
Charles Heppner displays paintings developed around understanding the String Theory of quantum gravity alongside works by Gunjan Kumar, concerning Eastern philosophies and non-duality. The exhibition delves deep into the elemental forces that shape creation. Landscape artist Kevin Benham joins the collaboration and accompanying installation. (Joseph S. Pete)
Witness: The Artist’s Response
Elephant Room Gallery, 704 S. Wabash Ave. Opening reception, Saturday, March 11, 5pm–9pm. Through April 1. Wednesdays–Thursdays, 1pm–5pm; Saturdays, 11am–5pm; or by appointment. Free. (312) 361-0281. elephantroomgallery.com
Chicago artists including Robin Rios and Brian Dovie Golden show work that bears witness to the unprecedented present political climate in this group show in the South Loop. They tackle political, cultural, and social constructs in their art, and will each donate ten percent of the sales of their work to a nonprofit of their choosing. (Joseph S. Pete)
STAGE & SCREEN
Non-equity Auditions
Auditions by appointment: March 25, 3:30pm–6pm; March 26, 3:30pm–6pm. Callbacks March 26, 6pm–8pm, directly following the last auditions.
That Was A Show Theater Co. is seeking African-American male and female actors for their May 7 production of Once on This Island. Rehearsals start Tuesday, March 28, and run through May 7. Actors will be paid. Please submit your headshot and resume to thatwasashow@gmail.com for an audition appointment. (Nicole Bond)
THE PASSION OF REMEMBRANCE
Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N State St. Thursday, March 9, 6pm. $11; members $6. (312) 846-2800. siskelfilmcenter.org
This 1984 first feature film from the politically-minded Sankofa Film and Video Collective, which included Maureen Blackwood and Isaac Julien, examines issues of gender, race, sexuality, and generational conflict against the backdrop of England’s inner-city riots during the eighties. (Nicole Bond)
One Earth Film Festival
Various South Side and other locations. Check website for details, now through March 15. oneearthfilmfest.org
This Chicago-area film festival creates opportunities for understanding climate change, sustainability, and the power of human involvement through sustainability-themed films and facilitated discussion. Honorable mentions: Food Frontiers, encouraging the healthy food access dialogue; Power to the Pedals, consdiering how cargo bikes might replace trucks; and Chicago’s True Nature, exploring the vast flora and fauna of the Cook County Forest Preserves. (Nicole Bond)
The Hard Problem
Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. March 9 through April 9; showtimes vary. $38–$48. (773) 753-4472. courttheatre.org
Acclaimed playwright Tom Stoppard, whose long list of credits includes Arcadia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Shakespeare in Love, has a new play. The Hard Problem, directed by Charles Newell, concerns a young psychologist who’s grappling with some of the biggest philosophical questions about human consciousness. (Joseph S. Pete)
The Marriage of Bette & Boo
University Church, 5655 S. University Ave. Friday and Saturday, 8pm; Sunday, 3pm. Through March 12. $12 online, $15 at the door. hydeparkcommunityplayers.org
For two weekends, Hyde Park Community Players will present an “acidic, ironic” dark comedy about marriage, mental illness, alcoholism, and the many, many difficulties of family relationship. (Jake Bittle)
Intersectional Women’s Issues at Applied Words
Columbia College, Conway Center, 1104 S. Wabash Ave. Tuesday, March 14, 7pm. Free. (877) 394-5061. guildcomplex.org
March’s installation of the “Applied Words” series of critical conversations, hosted by Guild Literary Complex, will focus on the representation of women in media and the impact these representations have on young women. Dr. Nicole Spigner, a professor of African-American literature at Columbia College, will moderate the discussion. (Jake Bittle)
By the Apricot Trees
eta Creative Arts, 7558 S. South Chicago Ave. Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm through Sunday, April 2. See website for prices. (773) 752-3955. etacreativearts.org
eta’s new production, written by Ntsako Mkhabela, follows the story of TK, the only girl arrested in a famous series of protests led by black South African schoolchildren in 1976. The children took to the streets of Soweto, a town outside of Johannesburg, to protest the introduction of Afrikaans as the official language of schooling. They were met with a brutal response from the police. (Jake Bittle)
MUSIC
Daniel Villareal
Punch House, 1227 W. 18th St. Sunday, March 12, 9pm. 21+. Free. (312) 526-3851. punchhousechicago.com
Daniel Villareal is best known for his work with the Dos Santos Anti-Beat Orquestra, a grassroots Chicago cumbia ensemble that grafts groove to psychedelia and grabs listeners by the throat (or at least the hips). Villareal will be gracing Pilsen’s Punch House in a slightly different capacity on Sunday, though—there, he’ll be spinning the best Afrobeat, dub and Latinx music the city has in its crates all night. (Austin Brown)
Colin Hay
Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport St. Friday, March 10, 7pm doors, 8pm show. All ages. $29–$65. (312) 526-3851. thaliahallchicago.com
Colin Hay, the frontman and songwriter of Men at Work (of “Down Under” fame, not to be confused with Men Without Hats of “Safety Dance” fame), released a solo album in 2015 and will perform it this Friday at Thalia Hall. According to the event description, this album is “the work of an artist who is a true master of his craft,” full of “open-hearted songs with catchy melodic hooks that underscore deeply insightful lyrics”—just about everything you could ask for from pop. (Jake Bittle)
Mac Sabbath
My God, this event is actually real: Reggies, 2105 S. State St. Saturday, March 11, 8pm. 17+. (312) 949-0120. reggieslive.com
I wrote my first music calendar blurb for the South Side Weekly in October 2013, a few weeks after moving to Chicago and just days after meeting the former editor-in-chief. I don’t remember what it was about, but I do remember how seeing it in print made me feel. It was some combination of dumb joy, the feeling of being famous, and a slight regret that I had used so many commas and em-dashes in fifty words of text. Now, more than three years later, I’m still writing them, but after this week I’m going to take a break and let younger, more energetic editors take over the stewardship of this wonderful journalistic institution. And I can’t think of a better blurb with which to end my long tenure writing blurbs and doing other things than this blurb, about a parody death metal band whose members dress up as Ronald McDonald (described by one reviewer as a “coked-out clown” who engages in “off-key wailing”), the Hamburglar, and some other purple monster I can’t identify, plus some “demented props” (LA Weekly), and perform metal songs with lyrics mostly about corporate fast food, consumer culture, and dead-end food service jobs. It’s called “drive thru metal,” and it’s one of thousands of things I’m so glad I learned about by being a part of this newspaper. “They’re actually really good,” says Paste Magazine. If you don’t trust Paste Magazine as much as you trust the South Side Weekly, we’ll offer an endorsement too: Mac Sabbath are fucking amazing. And the South Side Weekly is amazing. Goodnight. (Jake Bittle)