8 DAYS OUT WEDNESDAY DEC. 5 Festivals & Events BOISE WEEKLY LOOKSMART SMARTCARD PARTY—Use your BW SmartCard smartphone app to score entry into the hottest party of the season. Raid your closet or the local boutique for cocktail partywear, purchase your tickets—they’re limited, so hurry—and head to Idaho Botanical Garden to partake of appetizers, a full bar and Winter Garden aGlow. 6 p.m. $25. Idaho Botanical Garden, 2355 N. Penitentiary Road, Boise, 208-343-8649, bwsmartcard. boiseweekly.com.
On Stage
TINY WONDERFUL PREVIEW— Inspired by the holiday season, Enso artists have created works that embrace the qualities of tiny and wonderful. Featuring treasures by Chris Binion, Cate Brigden, Michael Cordell, Andrea Merrell, Kelly Packer, Lisa Pisano, Pamela Swenson, Christine Raymond, Anna Ura and Amy Westover. 3-8 p.m. FREE. Enso Artspace, 120 E. 38th St., Ste. 105, Garden City, 208-991-0117, ensoartspace.com.
On Stage ALLEY REPERTORY THEATER: BREADCRUMBS—Breadcrumbs by Jennifer Haley examines the life of a reclusive writer who is grappling with Alzheimer’s in the midst of writing her autobiography. Show is 21 and older, with beer and wine available. 8 p.m. $10-$15. Visual Arts Collective, 3638 Osage St., Garden City, 208-424-8297, alleyrep.org.
DAMASCUS—See Wednesday. 2 p.m. $14. Boise Contemporary Theater, 854 Fulton St., Boise, 208-331-9224, bctheater.org. DOC’S HOLIDAY—Join Boise Bible College for a night of comedy. A buffet dinner is served before the show. 6 p.m. $5-$12. Boise Bible College, 8695 W. Marigold St., Garden City. EARS ON A BEATLE—Check out Mark St. Germain’s play about two FBI agents assigned to watch John Lennon. 7:30 p.m. $15. Stage Coach Theatre, 4802 W. Emerald Ave., Boise, 208-3422000, stagecoachtheatre.com. EVERY CHRISTMAS STORY EVER TOLD—Instead of performing Charles Dickens’ classic, three actors decide to perform every Christmas story in this madcap romp through the holiday season. 7:30 p.m. $12.50, $9 seniors/students. Boise Little Theater, 100 E. Fort St., Boise, 208-342-5104, boiselittletheater. org.
DAMASCUS—A dubious hero seeks truth on a trip to Dunkin’ Donuts. 8 p.m. $14. Boise Contemporary Theater, 854 Fulton St., Boise, 208-331-9224, bctheater.org.
Shop BOISE COtOP
Enzymedica Line Drive 20% OFF! All Enzymedica Products
On SALE through Dec. 15th #1 SELLINAGND! ENZYME BR facebook.com/boisecoop
facebook.com/Enzymedica
Available in the Boise Co-op Wellness Department! 888 W. Fort St t 208.472.4500 t Open 7 to 10 Daily 18 | DECEMBER 5–11, 2012 | BOISEweekly
THE LANGUAGE ARCHIVE BY JULIA CHO—George is a man consumed with preserving and documenting the dying languages of far-flung cultures. Closer to home, though, language is failing him. He doesn’t know what to say to his wife to keep her from leaving him, and he doesn’t recognize the deep feelings that his lab assistant has for him. See Picks, Page 16. 7:30 p.m. FREE for Boise State students with ID, $5 general admission.. Danny Peterson Theatre, Morrison Center, 2201 Cesar Chavez Lane, Boise, 208-4263980, theatre.boisestate.edu.
Literature WRITERS IN THE ATTIC—Celebrate the release of The Cabin’s anthology of stories by local artists. Join author Alan Heathcock and musician James Orr for the event. Copies of the book are available for $12.99 with authors present for signing. 7 p.m. $5. The Linen Building, 1402 W. Grove St., Boise, 208-385-0111, thelinenbuilding. com.
THURSDAY DEC. 6 Festivals & Events ADULT COMMUNITY HEALTH SCREENING—Health screenings for uninsured adults. Services are provided by Idaho State University-Meridian faculty and student clinicians. No appointment necessary. Full screening takes about an hour. 4-7 p.m. FREE. ISU-Meridian, 1311 E. Central Drive, Meridian, 208373-1700, isu.edu/meridian.
ARTS/REVIEW BCT’S DAMASCUS DRAWS POLITE APPLAUSE Damascus, the latest one-man play by Boise Contemporary Theater vet Andrew Weems, is teeming with vivid descriptions of eccentric characters. As with his 2010 BCT production, Namaste Man, Weems weaves a tale that tugs the audience across the globe, from the unforgiving streets of New York City to a crowded bus ambling through the back roads of rural India. Neil Patel, who designed the set for Damascus’ premiere at the Fourth Street Theatre in New York earlier this year, crafted a simple set at BCT. The stage is a cold warehouse space with a table shivering in the center; a framed photo of James Dean hovers on the back wall and a small Indian shrine skulks stage right. It’s more or less a blank canvas on which Weems can paint his colorful imagery peppered with a flurry of indulgent accents. The play’s central character—a schlubby unnamed alcoholic in mom jeans who works a dead-end job at a NYC bookstore and still listens to a Walkman (“To hell with the shiny new machines”)—is an unlikely protagonist. He throws back six packs on the roof of his New York City apartment and on the long train ride to JFK airport. There’s a side story about his infatuation with a fellow bookstore employee, Annie, who punctuates her worried entreaties with, “You’re my dude.” Alcohol is as much a character in Damascus as the eccentric Russian landlord Jeff, with his “greased-back Fonzie hair,” or the lead’s brother Ted, who was once a James Dean-ish rebel but is now a disillusioned minister on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Hungover in a Dunkin’ Donuts after spending the night passed out on a park bench, Weems’ character dives into an old magazine story, “Damascus,” about a researcher who receives an academic grant to India. He runs across a similar collection of oddballs, like the sweet Scottish schoolteacher Fiona and the disapproving Mr. Babbington, and soon realizes that the real India is a far cry from his romanticized ideal. In the end, Damascus—both the magazine article and the play—is the story of a lost man wandering down the metaphorical Road to Damascus, the not always pretty or direct path to self-discovery. But for all the color and character building—an impressive feat for Weems, who is seated at a table for most of the production—Damascus was ultimately unfulfilling; a haphazard mosaic of stories without a compelling central arc. Boise audience members, usually liberal with their standing ovations, remained in their seats opening night, clapping politely. —Tara Morgan WWW. B O I S E WE E KLY. C O M