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On an otherwise bare wall on the plaza at the new Array at West Alex development in Alexandria, a black vine travels up and across the concrete, punctuating its gray facade with an undulating wave. But the vine isn’t organic, and neither are the orange, yellow, and blue flowers growing out of it. They’re all painted steel, bolted firmly to the 45-foot wall. The flowers don’t exactly look real—their colors are too vivid and consistent, and many of them are totally detached from the vine they’re supposedly growing from, as if dispersed by the wind—but that’s not their point. Alma Selimovic‘s piece, titled “Last Summer,” represents life (i.e. the blooms of summer), but in the past tense. The subject makes sense: Flowers pop up briefly, then disappear. They’re the perfect metaphor for how fleeting a bloom (or a summer, or a life) can be. This reminder just happens to be permanent public art. —Emma Sarappo
FRIDAY
Agnes of GodEven the biggest stars of Washington theater sometimes want a chance to do something small. That’s why a group of D.C. actors founded their own company in April 2009 and called it Factory 449. Over the past decade, they’ve produced a series of small, critically heralded dramas, including The Amish Project and Lela & Co. Factory 449’s fall offering, Agnes of God, stars company members Nanna Ingvarsson and Felicia Curry as a nun and psychiatrist, respectively, questioning the sanity of a young novice (Zoe Walpole) who insists that she conceived a child via immaculate conception. Read more >>> The play runs to Nov. 24 at Anacostia Arts Center, 1231 Good Hope Road SE. $23. (202) 355-9449. factory449.org. (Rebecca J. Ritzel)
Catch simmering lesbian drama Last Summer at Bluefish Cove before it’s reeled in. 8 p.m. at Gunston Arts Center, Theatre Two, 2700 South Lang St., Arlington. $25.
“You cannot discover lands already inhabited,” as Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah‘s Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery asserts. 7 p.m. at Solid State Books, 600 H St. NE. Free.
San Fermin’s arrangements are eclectic and poppy. 8 p.m. at 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. $25.
SATURDAY
Mikal CroninIndie rocker Mikal Cronin’s career has embodied the spirit of the “potpourri” category on Jeopardy!. Known for mixing and matching power pop, mild psychedelia, and bluesy ballads throughout his solo work, he’s also displayed his range when collaborating with Charlie and The Moonhearts and Thee Oh Sees. But it’s especially Cronin’s solo career that has drawn acclaim. Read more >>> Mikal Cronin performs at 7 p.m. at U Street Music Hall, 1115 U St. NW. $15. (202) 588-1889. ustreetmusichall.com. (Tristan Jung)
Buy everything from vinyl to vintage clothes at the D.C. Punk Rock Flea Market, held in one of local hardcore’s most hallowed spaces. 12 p.m. at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church, 1525 Newton St. NW. Free.
Nashville-based Sun Seeker‘s sound is Southern to the core. 7 p.m. at DC9, 1940 9th St. NW. $12–$15.
Sarah Shook and the Disarmers are commanding enough to get you to drop your guard. 8 p.m. at Pearl Street Warehouse, 33 Pearl St. SW. $15–$30.
SUNDAY
Sutton FosterSutton Foster was only an understudy in the premiere production of Thoroughly Modern Millie when a last-minute casting change catapulted her into the titular role full-time. The show’s creative team was so impressed by Foster’s performance that she continued playing Millie when the show transferred to Broadway and wound up winning her first Tony Award for the role. In the nearly 20 years since, Foster has established herself as a leading lady of the stage, playing a broad range of characters, including Jo March in Little Women and Princess Fiona in Shrek The Musical. Read more >>> Sutton Foster performs at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna. $67–$85. (703) 255-1868. wolftrap.org. (Mercedes Hesselroth)
Read up on the real history of Thanksgiving with David J. Silverman, author of This Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving. 5 p.m. at Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free.
Motherfolk‘s high-energy full-length albums and rosy outlook have propelled them across the nation. 8 p.m. at Pie Shop DC, 1339 H St. NE. $10–$12.
Black Marble‘s new music is Bigger Than Life. 7:30 p.m. at Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. $15.
MONDAY
ToolTool sometimes get lumped in with sludgy nu-metal bands that rose to prominence in the mid 2000s (Korn, Breaking Benjamin, etc.). That’s a reductive classification. You can start to describe Tool by comparing them to Mudvayne, but you get closer to the mark by saying that they sound like the puzzle box from Hellraiser being set on fire. So, happily, the release of Fear Inoculum, their first new album in 13 years, doesn’t feel like a cynical attempt to reanimate a dead scene. Instead, it’s a long-anticipated interjection from a half-forgotten voice. Read more >>> Tool perform at 7 p.m. at Capital One Arena, 601 F St. NW. $75–$120. (202) 628-3200. capitalonearena.viewlift.com. (Will Lennon)
Rap collective slash boy band Brockhampton bring their beats to D.C. 8 p.m. at The Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW. $40–$75.
Jason Bonham carries on the family legacy with his Led Zeppelin Evening. 8 p.m. at The Fillmore Silver Spring, 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. $45–$78.50.
American cuisine has a long, fraught history influenced by geography, politics, gender, and history—learn more at Profs & Pints’ “The Story of American Cooking.” 6 p.m. at Bier Baron Tavern, 1523 22nd St. NW. $12–$15.
TUESDAY
The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture TodayIf you have yet to visit the National Portrait Gallery, the fifth triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition is an ideal reason to do so. The exhibition will display the work of 46 finalists—five of whom are from D.C.—from the annual portraiture competition. The artworks in this year’s collection pay special attention to immigrants, people of color, and diverse gender and sexual identities, thanks to a first-ever request that the works submitted address “the current political and social context.” Read more >>> The exhibition runs to Aug. 30, 2020 at the National Portrait Gallery, 8th and F streets NW. Free. (202) 633-8300. npg.si.edu. (Callie Tansill-Suddath)
Keith Harkin was a massive Irish success with Celtic Thunder; now he’s climbing the Canadian and U.S. charts. 8 p.m. at Pie Shop DC, 1339 H St. NE. $35–$75.
Dave East doesn’t need to worry about his career’s Survival. 9 p.m. at The Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW. $25–$30.
Simone & Friends‘ local comedy night is back with Kandace Saunders. 7:30 p.m. at City Winery, 1350 Okie St. NE. $15.
WEDNESDAY
Snoh Aalegra“It’s somethin’ about you that’s so familiar, somethin’ that’s got me wantin’ to know you, and I can’t put my finger on it, but it feels, oh, like I’ve been here before,” Snoh Aalegra sings on “Fool for You.” That sense of deja vu permeates much of her music, which continues the straightforward soul music lineage of Lauryn Hill and Amy Winehouse. Born in Sweden to Iranian parents, 32-year-old Sheri Nowrozi spent much of her teens and 20s in the music business before donning her Snoh Aalegra alias. Read more >>> Snoh Aalegra performs at 8 p.m. at The Fillmore Silver Spring, 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. $45–$88. (301) 960-9999. fillmoresilverspring.com. (Chris Kelly)
Ivy League‘s members are all at the top of their class. 9 p.m. at City Winery, 1350 Okie St. NE. $15.
Don’t miss Yasiin Bey—better known as Mos Def—in Shaw. 9 p.m. at The Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW. $55–$65.
The Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker takes over the Kennedy Center’s Opera House for five days. 7:30 p.m. at The Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW. $49–249.
THURSDAY
World Press Photo Exhibition 2019A member of an all-female anti-poaching group training in a wildlife park in Zimbabwe. The assassin of Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov yelling moments after murdering him. A young man catching on fire during a protest against President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. These are the kinds of images selected and exhibited every year by World Press Photo, an Amsterdam-based nonprofit which has hosted an annual international photojournalism contest since its foundation in 1955. Read more >>> The exhibition runs to Dec. 8 at Dupont Underground, 19 Dupont Circle NW. $10–$15. dupontunderground.org. (Ella Feldman)
Swing to Josh Christina‘s joyful piano sound in the Kennedy Center’s skylight pavilion. 5:30 p.m. at The Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW. Free.
The Smithsonian museums and the National Gallery of Art will be open on Thanksgiving—and the tarantulas at Natural History will get their live feedings as usual. 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and 1:30 p.m. at the National Museum of Natural History, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Free.
Catch a screening of North by Northwest for its 60th anniversary. 3:15 at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. $11–$13.
NEWS AND REVIEWS YOU CAN USE
News: Submit your stories to City Paper for the 2020 Fiction Issue.
Theater: White Pearl‘s workplace comedy forces audiences to consider the subjectivity of their positions.
Theater: Folger’s revival of Amadeus makes Salieri‘s jealousy convincing and human.
Film: Waves is a tender and moving portrait of a family.
OFFICE OF FUTURE PLANNING
Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Friday for Nathaniel Rateliff at The Anthem on March 14. 8 p.m. at 901 Wharf St. SW. $55–$75.
Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Friday for Ricardo Montaner at EagleBank Arena on March 22. 7 p.m. at 4500 Patriot Circle, Fairfax. Ticket prices to be announced at time of sale.
Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Friday for Mandy Moore at the Warner Theatre on March 26. 8 p.m. at 513 13th St. NW. Ticket prices to be announced at time of sale.
Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Friday for Welcome to Night Vale at the Lincoln Theatre on April 2. 8 p.m. at 1215 U St. NW. $30.
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