Axis: Juneteenth Celebration
Poetry, Music, Comedy
Poet and performer Gill Sotu hosts The Old Globe's free Juneteenth production, held on the famed, outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre Stage, presented by AXIS, the Globe's series of free, community-centric, family-friendly cultural programming.
Saturday's two-hour event will include a performance of Sotu's short play, "Sucker Punched," comedy sets, poetry performances, as well as hip-hop, choral and soul music.
Tickets are free, but reservations are required due to limited capacity in the theater.
Details: Noon to 2 p.m., Saturday, Jun. 18, 2022. The Old Globe Lowell Davies Festival Theatre (outdoors). 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park. Free (reservations required).
Live Arts Fest
Dance
In prior, pre-pandemic years, the San Diego Dance Theater (SDDT) Live Arts Fest was a 10 day program of dance performances. This year, it's a bit more dialed back, with six performances across four days, just this weekend — but still a great opportunity to experience new dance performances from a wide range of SDDT collaborators.
Catch Tijuana-based Teatro en el Incendio on Friday at 8 p.m., Minerva Tapia Dance Group performs Saturday at 5 p.m. and a piece from Odessa Uno's "in our red world" will be performed at 8 p.m. Sunday performances are Todd Mitchum and Ian Isles at 5 p.m., and bkSOUL at 8 p.m.
Details: Thursday, Jun. 16 through Sunday, Jun. 19, 2022. Performances are 8 p.m. each evening, plus 5 p.m. shows on Saturday and Sunday. Light Box Theater, 2590 Truxtun Rd., Ste. 205, Liberty Station. $12-$20.
'Iron'
Theater
Directed by Jacole Kitchen, Roustabouts Theatre Co. presents the 2002 play "Iron" by Scottish playwright Rona Munro. Munro, a celebrated writer for the stage and screen, also wrote several episodes of "Doctor Who" — the series finale for the show's earlier run, which aired in 1989, plus a recent episode "The Eaters of Light" in 2017. But I "nerdily" digress.
On stage in San Diego, "Iron" takes place in a women's prison, and the story mostly unfolds between two women, a mother and a daughter. Josie, the daughter, visits her mother for the first time after 15 years. Fay, the mother, is serving a life sentence for murdering her husband, Josie's father. Munro's writing is powerful, but quiet and starkly real.
For this production, real-life mother and daughter actors will portray Fay and Josie: Rosina Reynolds and Kate Rose Reynolds, respectively. Two additional characters (Richard P. Trujillo and Jada Alston Owens) are the prison guards — who also serve as occasional guides for the mother and daughter's rocky reunion.
Details: Performances are 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Through June 25, 2022. Presented by Roustabouts at Moxie Theatre, 6663 El Cajon Blvd., College Area. $30-$45.
SDMA+ San Diego Shakespeare Society Midsummer ArtStops
Visual art, Theater
San Diego Museum of Art's new exhibition of contemporary Chilean artist Fernando Casasempere's work, "TERRA," is striking in its scale, aesthetics and meaning, touching on the human impact on the planet. Several rooms hold four distinct series of Casasempere's clay works — metaphorically using the Earth as a material to make art about the Earth.
For Saturday's brief performances, the San Diego Shakespeare Society will put some iconic scenes and monologues from the Bard in conversation with these artworks. Performances will include snippets from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Hamlet," among others, and the actors include Suthe Mani, Michael Rodriguez, Mark Petrich, Keira Mogavero, Nicki Barnes and Steve Smith.
Details: 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 18, 2022. San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. Free with museum admission ($8-$20, or free for museum members).
Space 4 Art June Open Studios
Visual art
Artists with studios at Space 4 Art are opening their doors on Friday for a free event. Along with a glimpse into the creative process and recently completed works, a string of performances from Felex Diaz of Drummers Without Borders, experimental tuba player Jonathan Piper and "no know," a sound band from Sean Francis Conway and KPBS producer Andrew Bracken.
Details: 7 p.m. on Friday, June 17, 2022. Space 4 Art, 340 16th St., downtown/East Village. Free.
More visual art: Check out our feature on 'The Buses Are Coming," a presentation of photography about the Freedom Riders. The outdoor exhibition opens with a reception from 5-9 p.m. Friday, June 17, 2022 at Quartyard, presented by The San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art. On view through Sept. 7.
Last chance visual art: Two exhibitions will close at Bread and Salt this weekend: Nikko Mueller at Best Practice; and Joe Yorty and Joe Cantrell in the main Bread and Salt gallery.
Mainly Mozart All Star Orchestra Festival: Closing weekend
Music
I'm a sucker for a Saint-Saëns piece, and his "Cello Concerto No. 1" is a beauty — melodic, moody, graceful and technical all at once. German cellist Maximilian Hornung is the soloist in Friday evening's performance at the Surf Cup Sports Park.
On Friday, the orchestra will also play Ralph Vaughn Williams' 1909 "hit" suite "The Wasps," which, despite its omnipresence and recognition, it's still a delight to listen to every time. They'll round out the evening with Haydn's "Symphony No. 104," and the regal and lively "Overture to La Clemenza di Tito" by Mozart (of course there's Mozart).
Closing night on Saturday features just two pieces. Schubert's gorgeous "Unfinished Symphony" and Mozart's iconic "Requiem," with the support of the San Diego Master Chorale.
Seating at the All Star Orchestra Festival is pod-style: guests buy a pod, which admits and seats up to four people. Section B, the general admission section, still has availability, so arrive early to get a spot, and bring your own blankets and chairs.
Details: 7:30 p.m., Friday, June 17 and Saturday, June 18, 2022. Surf Cup Sports Park, 14989 Via de la Valle, Del Mar. $60 for four/$15 per person. Some VIP tickets are also available.
For more arts events, or to submit your own, visit the KPBS/Arts calendar. And sign up for my weekly KPBS/Arts newsletter here.
