'El Huracán'
Theater
Written by Charise Castro Smith, a Florida-based playwright who is also known for co-writing and co-directing the film "Encanto," this play follows three generations of women in the midst of hurricane prep. It's directed by Daniel Jáquez, and the cast includes Amalia Alarcón Morris as Valeria, a grandmother battling Alzheimer's disease, Catalina Maynard as Ximena, Valeria's daughter, and Sandra Ruiz as Miranda, the granddaughter. The script tackles what it means to forgive and rebuild a family.
"What started it is my profound love of and my obsession with the play 'The Tempest,'" said playwright Castro Smith in an interview with director Jáquez.
"It's Shakespeare's last play, right? And it is about grace and forgiveness and transformation and magic, and it's a mystery play. It's not classified as a pure comedy or a tragedy. It's somewhere in between; it sort of dwells in these big ambiguous questions about responsibility and sins and what can and cannot be forgiven, and how we work through forgiveness, which I think is one of the most difficult and also the most critical things that we do as human beings."
Details: On stage through Feb. 19. This weekend's shows are 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2 p.m. Sunday. Cygnet Theatre, 4040 Twiggs Street, Old Town. $25-$59.
'Motions and Emotions': Filipino American Stories of Healing
Dance, Music, Storytelling, Poetry, Visual art, Theater
This interdisciplinary project at the New Americans Museum begins with three days of performances this weekend and three weeks of a gallery exhibition of visual art, all centering on art from the Filipino American community.
From rap to embroidery, dozens of artists, dancers, actors, musicians and performers are involved in this program. The work is informed by intergenerational trauma as well as healing and vulnerability.
Details: Runs Feb 2-19. Performances are 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3 and Saturday, Feb. 4; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5. The gallery exhibition's free opening night is 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2; From Feb. 2-19, the gallery is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. New Americans Museum, 2825 Dewey Road, Liberty Station. $5 donation for exhibition, $20 for performances.
Electrification, Efficiency, Equity at Art Produce
Visual art
This ongoing series of events and workshops is a project of six artists: Lori Lipsman, Yvette Dibos, Sasha Sanudo, Sarah Garcia, Fedella Lizeth, and Terri Hughes-Oelrich. It's part gallery exhibition, part community education initiative about electrification and the future of power. Every Saturday through Feb. 18, the group will hold free workshops, activities and art-making. This week is an introduction to San Diego Community Power, as well as gardening with "Grid Gal," the mascot for the project and zine-making. If you're one of the first 20 people to arrive, you'll also get a free lunch. Next week's event is "Electricity and Art Day" on Feb. 11.
Details: Noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4. Art Produce, 3139 University Ave., North Park. Free.
San Diego Symphony: Peltokoski, Thayer and Mozart
Music
Guest conducted by 22-year-old phenom Tarmo Peltokoski, the San Diego Symphony will perform with violinist Jeff Thayer on Mozart's "Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major," otherwise known as the "Strassburg Concerto."
They'll also play works by two Finnish composers — Peltokoski is Filipino-Finnish. Jean Sibelius' "Symphony No. 2," which Sibelius began writing in 1901, and a 2002 work by contemporary composer Kaija Saariaho.
Saariaho's "Ciel d'Hiver (Winter Sky)" is mysterious and beguiling — a little unsettling but also beautiful, with piercing high notes contrasted with wispy, tremulous lows.
Details: Two performances: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2 at California Center for the Arts, Escondido (340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido) and 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3 at Southwestern College Performing Arts Center (900 Otay Lakes Road, Chula Vista). $25-$70.
Two at City College: 'A Map Project' and 'Excavation: A Journey Through Loss'
Visual art, Photography, Books
Your Saturday night is set at City College with two separate art functions. First, photographer and adjunct professor Jason Reimer has installed a photography exhibit, "Excavation: A Journey Through Loss," which is an expansion of his book of the same name. The work was inspired by the death of the artist's sister, who passed away shortly after his own first child was born. The exhibition is on view at Luxe Gallery through Feb. 10.
Details: A reception is from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4. Luxe Gallery, 5th floor Career Technology Center, San Diego City College, 1081 16th Street, downtown. Free.
Also at City College: closing on Saturday is "A Map Project," a group show of some 60 (!) artists. It's just been on view since Jan. 26, but it culminates with a silent auction and raffle in support of EarthLab, from 5-7:30 p.m. Saturday. Each artist took a printed United States Geological Survey (USGS) topographic map from somewhere in the region and creatively interpreted the idea of "land use" or human activity in a place. The artist list is pretty spectacular, including Andrew Alcasid, Matt Hebert, Sofia Gonzalez, Adam Manley, May-ling Martinez, Bhavna Mehta, Sage Serrano, Richard Keely and dozens more.
Details: Reception and silent auction from 5-7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4. City Gallery, San Diego City College, 1508 C Street, downtown. Free.
Camarada: 'The Essence of Tango'
Music
Chamber music ensemble Camarada returns with their tango-themed music and dance performance this weekend, and they're debuting a new composition by bassist Andrés Martín. Martín, the group's composer-in-residence and frequent collaborator will also perform. The work is called "Tango Bajo el Agua," or "Underwater Tango." Along with Martín's piece, they'll also trot out some pieces by tango composers like Pugliese, Astor Piazzolla and more that span tango's history since the early 1900s. Carolina Jaurena and Marcelo Mesa will dance the tango, and baritone Gregorio Gonzalez will sing.
This performance is at the beautiful Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad.
Details: 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4. The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, 7600 Fay Ave., La Jolla. $35-$95.
'Lost in Translation'
Visual art, Poetry, Books
I helped curate the literary element for this special artistic game of "telephone" between visual artists and writers. Curator Chi Essary and I spent a year ushering story threads secretly between writers and artists, back to writers, then back to artists, and so on. Each participant would only see the work immediately prior to theirs, and then they'd continue it, or expand on it, or linger in it a little more. It was such a delight to watch the threads transform. The finished products are a full gallery exhibition of both text and art at the downtown library art gallery and a small book including each piece of writing and work of art.
Details: Opens with a reception from 6-8 p.m. on Feb. 4, and is on view through Apr. 15, 2023. Gallery hours are 1-7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday; and noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Central Library Art Gallery, 330 Park Blvd., downtown. Free.
More weekend arts events we're covering:
My monthly visual art roundup is live, including some work that's already on view — Perry Vásquez, Tom Driscoll and Mesa College Art Gallery's "Africa in Context." Get the list here.
It's now the San Diego Museum Council's Museum Month, which means 50% off admission at 60 participating museums and cultural spaces — including, as KPBS reporter John Carroll reports, The Brain Observatory. Yes, there are brains.
Staying in? KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando chronicles 100 years of Black cinema here and has a list of 5 Cinema Junkie podcast episodes about Black culture and history.
For more weekend arts events, to submit your own, or to sign up for my weekly KPBS/Arts newsletter, visit the KPBS/Arts Calendar here.
