Five Recommended Austin Arts Events This Weekend

The calm, so to speak, before the storm. The calm, but not the doldrums – because this is Austin, see, and there’s always plenty of worthwhile diversions from the quotidian blahs available to local citizens (and art-seeking tourists) regardless of any, ah, dedicated festival-based program activities.

For instance:

1) This is the last weekend to see The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at ZACH, and you don’t have to be interested in Sherlock Holmes or be at any particular point on a spectrum to be amazed at this staged evocation of Mark Haddon’s 2003 novel. We might’ve recommended the Dave Steakley-directed show on just its reputation alone, tbh; but especially when our reviewer Lynn Mikeska has this to say about it, we want to make sure you know it’ll spike your weekend to true enjoyment.

2) The Ivory Coast and the more interior parts of West Africa may not be Wakanda, exactly – especially as Wakanda's in East Africa – but, tell you what, the riches of rhythm found therein are no less magnificent than the technological wonders of the fabled MCU nation. Senegal, Burkina Faso, Liberia, and neighboring places are where so many of the heartfelt beats of the entire world originated – and this Saturday afternoon you can experience them – and learn some of the methods yourself – at the Congo Square ATX drumming-and-dance celebration at The Vortex. Bonus: Patrizi’s restaurant, right there in the yard, may not offer any cassava-based dishes, but their part brings plenty good chop, for true.

3) Hell, even just as an antidote to the coulrophobia engendered by that creepy Pennywise from the various incarnations of Stephen King’s It, the whiteface joey anchoring Puddles’ Pity Party is worthy of your time at the Paramount Theatre on Saturday. Few things in this world, we suggest, few things happier’n a sad clown that sings like a mellow-tone angel.

4) We’re not telling you about Saturday’s opening reception for “The Relationship of Things” show at Davis Gallery just because it’s so near that new Soup Peddler shop, but because artists Faustinus Deraet, Ginger Geyer, and Barbara Pence are presenting an array of photography, painting, and sculpture that will vividly elevate your sense of the familiar – and that’s no small thing in this rapidly changing world.

5) We’re all raving about LOLA’s La Clemenza de Tito, and with good reason – even though it has nothing to do with vodka, right? – but your Five Arty Things crew at the Chronicle wants to make sure you also know about Sunday’s Indie Orchestra Night from Brent Baldwin and his Panoramic Voices crowd. Why? Because the likes of Star Park, Moving Panoramas, Nakia, Calliope Musicals, Big Bill, and Dustin Welch will be raising high the Fair Market roofbeams via pure sonic glory – and, boy howdy, this is not a concert you want to miss.