agenda
the
LISTINGS@CITYPAPER.NET | DEC. 19 - DEC. 25
[ hilariously undercutting the manic goofiness ]
HAIL HAIL: John the Conqueror plays the Boot & Saddle on Friday. JONIFIN MARVIN
The Agenda is our selective guide to what’s going on in the city this week. For comprehensive event listings, visit citypaper.net/events. IF YOU WANT TO BE LISTED: Submit information by email (listings@ citypaper.net) or enter it yourself at citypaper.net/submit-event with the following details: date, time, address of venue, telephone number and admission price. Incomplete submissions will not be considered, and listings information will not be accepted over the phone.
THURSDAY
12.19 [ theater ]
✚ GENDER COMEDY: A LESS STUPID TWELFTH NIGHT GAY FANTASIA Admit it: Shakespeare’s comedies are stupid. At least,
that’s what Harry Slack’s silly and sublime new play posits, gleefully pointing out the Bard’s many logic lapses in Twelfth Night. Any time one of Shakespeare’s women disguises herself as a man is ridiculous, but when she’s played by Lavinia Loveless, actor Josh Hitchens’ pinkhaired drag alter ego, we’re really in weird territory. Shakespeare’s Toby Belch becomes Toby Fart (played by Slack), men wear dresses or no trousers, and, at first, the play feels like a scatological skit, like shooting comedic fish in a barrel. Then a barrel of fish actually appears — for a wild, wonderful “fish fight” — along with robots, cardboard cutouts named “Jeremy” and surprisingly deep musings about the nature and purpose of language. Slack seems inspired not only by the Shakespeare he playfully skewers (no advance
knowledge necessary — it’s all explained), but by absurdists Tom Stoppard, Paul Magritte and Monty Python’s Flying Circus. While most characters resemble their Twelfth Night counterparts, Lesley Berkowitz’s brooding philosopher Andy merges As You Like It’s dour Jaques and a Samuel Beckett refugee, repeatedly and hilariously undercutting the manic goofiness with misanthropic observations. Director Paul Kuhn keeps the action popping on his festively colorful set, orchestrating the build of Slack’s blazing 90-minute script (with a 10-second intermission!) to a crescendo of gender confusion as boys-playing-girls-playing boys sort out who loves whom and why — though, really, why not? —Mark Cofta Through Jan. 4, $20-$25, Calvary Center, 4740 Baltimore Ave., 215-5251350, curiotheatre.org.
FRIDAY
12.20 [ blues/rock ]
✚ JOHN THE CONQUEROR Like their namesake, Philly band John the Conqueror’s story is stuff of folklore. As a teenager, frontman Pierre Moore learned how to play guitar from a homeless man who slept in the back room of an auto-repair shop. When Moore and his cousin, Michael Gardner, decided to start a band, they both slipped into roles they had never played before: the former as singer, the latter selling his bass to buy a drum set. Eleven months after the Jackson, Miss., kin met Philadelphia bassist Ryan Lynn, they signed with
Alive Naturalsound Records, former home to the Black Keys. Now the blues-infused rock trio is ending the year with one more show here in Philly before heading overseas for a monthlong European tour. —Sara Patterson Fri., Dec. 20, 9 p.m., $10, with Thee Idea Men and La Capitaña, Boot & Saddle, 1131 S. Broad St., 267-639-4528, bootandsaddlephilly.com.
[ rock/party ]
✚ MAUSOLEUM XMAS PARTY A couple months ago, PhilaMOCA threw a party. And, as you might expect from the Eraserhood/Callowhill/Loft District/ Whatever-You-Want-To-Call-It art/film venue, it was weird and it was awesome. This time, Christmas is their excuse to get down. PhilaMOCA neighbor and preteen Shaun will be back to open the night with some holiday jokes while interpre-
tive dancer Suzanne “Underdog Lady” Muldowney will be twirling in a hopefully very festive gown. Musical acts include the Happy Birthday Jesus Band, food aficionado Keyboard Cathy and Thunderlips and the Ultimate Males (a.k.a. rock comedians Andrew Dyer and Jim Brooks). They’ll be performing a rock opera titled Tim Allen and Adam Sandler in the Santa Clause 4: I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Santa. Yeah. —Marc Snitzer Fri., Dec. 20, 9 p.m., $5 donation, PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St., 267-519-9651, philamoca.org.
[ emo/rock ]
✚ THEIR/THEY’RE/ THERE Roll call for newly formed Chicago supergroup Their / They’re / There: Evan Weiss, possibly better known by his Into It. Over It moniker for quite a few
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