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Eager to watch a tragic, thought-provoking, sociopolitical tragedy? Experience the student-performed, professionally directed classic (which feels like an understatement), in a replica Elizabethan theatre space by Lake Austin.

School’s out for summer! And out forever, at least in Beyond August Productions’ Exit Strategy. The story of a run-down high school finishing up its final year before eradication, Exit Strategy follows students and staff on the edge of displacement. Education is a hellscape in the best of times. One can only imagine the anarchy within a school on the brink of annihilation. In cases like that, does anything matter? Get ready to test those limits with Exit Strategy, showing the humor and madness in dire circumstances. – Cat McCarrey

A chill community hangout for all the bi-,pan-, or otherwise multi-gender-sexual folks, organized by local event empress Democrasexy. Find your people on Hold Out Brewing's private mezzanine.

North Loop’s video nonprofit and screening room keeps up its commitment to community with this summer series featuring Austin-made indie films that deserve their moment on the big screen. Next out of the crypt is Brides of Boogeymen, the feature debut from writer Devin Mason and director Zane Crowley. Prepare to gasp and shriek as a coven of witches face bloody, supernatural vengeance for their sacrifice of an innocent woman. Don’t forget to pick up a ticket for the final June screening: stoner comedy Good Feels on Wheels. – Richard Whittaker

Sample any of Dayne Reliford’s previous Monks dates, and there’s no doubt that he’s gifted. Starting on the keys at age 4, the Houston native got his jazz studies degree from Texas State, instead of the more common UT or North Texas, so he already follows his own path. While his journey has led him to stages alongside local leaders like Michael Malone, Andre Hayward, and Brannen Temple, his profile recently rose to galactic heights when he joined Gary Clark Jr. on keys and bass for his March 26 taping at Austin City Limits. He’s even better leading his own band, so take note. – Michael Toland

For the rest of this month and into the next, Flatbed Press, local bastion of multiple originals, is putting you on to the next gen of Austin printmakers. For the third year in a row, this annual exhibition features work from students receiving a printmaking degree from any college in the Austin area, including UT, ACC, St. Edward’s, Texas State, and Southwestern. The work ranges from traditional to experimental, both in form and process. Hot tip: While you’re there, make sure to step out of the gallery and check out the working press portion of the building. – Lina Fisher

It’s the second coming of surrealism at Ivester Contemporary. Josias Figueirido aptly updates the legacy of Dalí and Chagall with his vivid dreamscapes. His exhibit presents spirit guides Piri the Dreamer and Flying Coyote in increasingly absurd settings, smoothly bubbled characters possessing hypnotic shininess. Paintings of them hang in eerily vivid flashe paint, existing harmoniously beside their animated counterpoints in an immersive, interactive reality. It’s the wondrous love child of Cartoon Network and modernism. You don’t want to miss it.: – Cat McCarrey

From their perfectly punk-rock name to singles like “Adam in Your DMs,” a nod to the Maroon 5 singer’s rumored extramarital sexting, it’s clear: Subpar Snatch has jokes. Rather than skewering cringey male figures, on new single “Juicy Booty” – which the trio premieres Friday, alongside Hellfury, Bat Lips, and Sunspite – Jess Scott turns her fury on herself. “The enemy is me,” she wails, atop Cee Cee Email’s pummeling drums and Nate Ribner’s fuzzy bass. Despite her blunders, the singer emerges triumphant. By the song’s end, Scott compares herself to an oyster: “Make a pearl from a big mistake.” – Carys Anderson

What’s scarier than a murderer on a gay porn film set?: A murderer on a French gay porn film set where the director is still getting over her ex and there’s M83 blaring over every kill. Presented by Howdy Jenna Lou and artist Pin & Pencil, alongside venue Eastside Cinema, this little Franco-feast of fear will keep you hard and horrified. All for a good cause, though: Proceeds from ticket sales benefit Out Youth, our local LGBTQ+ youth and allies support org.: Je suis très excité! – James Scott

It is said that tango, swaying the brothels of Argentina, pushed men into each other’s arms to practice the mating dance for the women there. Sweeping across Paris, tango became fashionable and was reborn to high society in South America, who accepted the form in reaction to the French capital’s approval. Tango surged, dwindled, and swelled in popularity over decades. Pedro Giraudo, an Argentine applying nimble artistry to buoyant jazz and tango alike, plays alongside his Tango Quartet, presenting the music of Astor Piazzolla. Honoring the late Argentine composer and musician, the Tango Quartet highlights moody, passionate nuevo tango with virtuosity. – Christina Garcia

Go-to Antone’s photog and industry mover Salihah Saadiq stepped up to present a Black Music Month series this June. Friday loops in a slew of standout Texas voices with soul-rocker Chief Cleopatra, acoustic voyager Ivy Roots, Moni’ye, Muzeke, and Honey Daii. LARA, formerly Eimaral Sol, resets after her Chron-faved mantra-packed 2019 LP Sol Soliloquies. The rebrand accompanied touring with her brother-in-law BLK ODYSSY, who produced LARA’s May single “Like Dat,” and signing to ODYSSY’s distributor/label EMPIRE. Featuring Ambré, her new track wades somewhere near online “trad wife” trends with breathy, indulgent R&B (“I’m cooking, cleaning, acting really wifely in this house”). – Rachel Rascoe

Tim Showalter has always been something of an artistic maverick, following an itinerant creative muse wherever it may lead. “It’s so inner-referential that I never expect half my lyrics to make any sense,” he told the Chronicle in 2021. Strand of Oaks’ eighth album, Miracle Focus, offers the local songwriter’s most ambitious and divergent yet, fully sinking into swirling synths and Eighties pop riffs hinted at on previous In Heaven, but shaded by ambient explorations and a tension between meditative revelation and cathartic bliss. Ramsay Midwood opens, slinging his swampy psychedelic blues guitar grooves. – Doug Freeman

In Link & Pin’s Summer Exposure series, they’re presenting three artists for two weeks each. Kicking it off are Jan Pomeroy, Denise Elliott Jones, and Kristy Battani. Their work perfectly complements each other, exhibiting worlds full of vibrant colors and rich, evocative texturing. Play along with their vivid sightscapes this Thursday, in conjunction with East Austin Arts District’s Third Thursday walks. Or wait for the artist reception on Saturday, for wining and dining and art aplenty. – Cat McCarrey

This multimedia convergence feels like a direct response to this year’s South by Southwest, which invited the U.S. Army and various Israel-supplying defense contractors to speak in the midst of the Palestinian genocide. Named after the region’s native passerine, Sunbird Fest showcases local music, art, film, comedy, and poetry, with all proceeds benefiting the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and Gaza families. Check Instagram for the complete schedule, but just a few of the musical offerings include a cumbia show at Hotel Vegas, a Two-Step Dance-a-Thon at Sagebrush, and a Die Spitz pit at the Far Out Lounge. – Carys Anderson

Calling all lovers of intergenerational family tales – maybe a niche crowd, but definitely a good one. Zach presents to you The Lehman Trilogy, winner of five Tony Awards. One of those Tonys? Best Play. Decide whether it deserved the honors, all while following the infamous Lehman family from their arrival in America through the 1900s until their infamous financial firm (spoiler alert) collapsed in 2008. If you miss Succession but wished it had just a smidgen more early 20th century immigration struggle and concrete financial crisis, you’ve got to check this out. – Cat McCarrey

Hoo-wee! Does anything feel better than a dip in the pool during a hot Texas summer? While some among us may be privileged to own private watering holes, most of us get to enjoy the great Austin PARD’s work at the 44 public aquatic facilities to choose from this summer. You’ve got regional, neighborhood, and community pools; a wading pool; splash pads; and the crown jewel: Barton Springs. Check austintexas.gov/pools-splashpads for up-to-date info on which pools are open, what their entry fee is, and whether you have what it takes to be a public pool lifeguard. Now, outta the way if you don’t wanna get wet: I’m gonna do a cannonball! – James Scott

Thanks to Seventies funk band War, the word “lowrider” often calls to mind the unforgettable sax riff of the band’s 1975 No. 1 single. But lowrider can mean a snazzy customized car with hydraulics or a person who works on such a vehicle, and the culture around these cars has strengthened Mexican American communities in the Southwest since the Forties. Learn more about them at this exhibit featuring an interactive touchscreen mural, cars and bikes on display, and stories about the people who make lowriding a community. A member reception takes place May 18. – Kat McNevins

Summer seems a natural time for lightness, airiness. There’s a freedom the soul craves. Diana Greenberg’s latest exhibit, on display at Wally Workman, utterly fits those summer vibes. Inspired by nature, her art evokes the breeziness of a hammock in the sun, a picnic in a meadow, the possibilities of a bright sunny day. That’s perfectly complemented by the art’s pastel palette, pearly pinks and hazy yellows adding to the seasonal feeling. Welcome nostalgia and hope of longer days with Greenberg’s impressions of the world around us. – Cat McCarrey

The impeccably named MuthaGoose is the collective brainchild of artists Jill Garcia and Kim Phu. They are two of the baddest muthas around, debuting their collaborative creativity with the sly, wry, “Luster Woo” exhibit at the Butridge Gallery in the Dougherty Arts Center. Both are well-versed in playing around with mediums, crafting sculptures and paintings created from all manner of found or upcycled items. For “Luster Woo,” MuthaGoose present their nostalgic-but-modern takes on women’s issues. On Wednesday, Jill Garcia will be present for the artist reception, answering questions about the duo’s process. Check out these indelible visuals highlighting how the more things change, the more things stay the same. – Cat McCarrey

Vessel: a container that holds things. Vessel: a person infused with a quality. What quality? Any. Feel free to interpret it yourself when basking in Diane Chiyon Hong’s exhibit “Vessels – Handle with Care.” Her architectural sketches, part function, part form, part object, part person, part humor but all thought-provoking, currently grace the halls of the Asian American Resource Center. It’s Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Month, so why not pay the AARC a visit. I mean, if not now, when? – Cat McCarrey

“What will you do with your one wild and precious life?” asks the poet Mary Oliver. So do the artists Amanda McInerney and Lana Waldrep Appl, taking inspiration from Oliver’s question to create works highlighting the small but important beauties in our lives. McInerney’s work presents bold, botanical elements through mediums from print to stitched mixed-media art, confident graphics speaking against the unknowns in the world. Appl is a perfect highlight with that, her object-based work (showing plants, toys, ceramics) begging us to consider what is useful and actually important in the small moments. – Cat McCarrey