August Arts & Entertainment Picks

Stage Kiss (through 8/30)

Playwright Sarah Ruhl’s work most recently saw a powerful 2012 Jungle Theater production of In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play). This Guthrie staging of Ruhl’s Stage Kiss—the story of a pair of actors with a romantic history who find themselves in the same show, kissing one another night after night onstage—looks to be a romantic comedy with bite. guthrietheater.org

“Mark Mothersbaugh: Myopia” (through 8/30)

The weird, restless sensibility behind the band Devo and soundtracks as diverse as Pee-Wee’s Playhouse and Wes Anderson films belongs to an artist whose work spans drawings, sculptures, and videos equal parts surreal, jarring, wry, and hilarious. Mothersbaugh’s MIA debut picks through art and culture like a bargain hunter at Goodwill who somehow puts together a wholly original ensemble of ideas and hilarious insights. artsmia.org

My Little Pony, 2013, ceramics, courtesy of Mark Mothersbaugh

Diana Krall (8/7)

Someone who can pull off both Billy Joel and Joni Mitchell covers on the same album can claim considerable versatility, and while Krall is generally classified as a jazz singer, she’s the kind of great who routinely transcends genre. She appears at the Orpheum touring on her new collection, Wallflower, a truly eclectic set of tunes by everyone from the Eagles to Elton—united by her phenomenally soul-stirring, deep, and resonant vocals. hennepintheatretrust.org 

photo courtesy the orpheum

Internet Cat Video Festival 2015 (8/12)

Sometimes it’s the most ridiculous things that bring us joy. Take my cat, McNulty, who accompanies me to the bathroom first thing every morning—I open the tap in the sink and he drinks from it while I shower. Why does this bring me so much pleasure? Who knows: Many of us are simply hard-wired to enjoy devious little felines who don’t return the affection. Join thousands who feel the same way in this fourth annual festival, taking place at the Saints’ new CHS Field. walkerart.org

photo by stacy a. schwartz

Extremities (8/27–9/19)

Dark & Stormy’s itinerant path has led it to stage plays across the Cities, most notably last year’s strange pressure cooker The Hothouse. Extremities first appeared off-Broadway in 1982, but its premise is by no means dated—it’s a harrowing story of attempted rape, secrets, and the balance of sexual power with an ever-present backdrop of violence. The show takes place in Minneapolis’ Grain Belt Warehouse, emphasizing D&S’s site-specific immediacy. darkstormy.org

photo by heidi bohnenkamp