An idyllic community. A teenage romance. Tragedy that lurks behind the clapboard houses and neighbors’ friendly smiles. This isn’t Our Town but Our Suburb, playwright Darrah Cloud’s homage to the Thorton Wilder classic, which premieres at Theater J this week. The suburb is Skokie, Ill.—Cloud’s hometown—and residents are grappling with an infamous attempted neo-Nazi march. Read more >>> The play runs Dec. 19 to Jan. 12 at Theater J, 1529 16th St. NW. $15–$45. (202) 518-9400. theaterj.org. (Sarah Kaplan)

EAT THIS

Derek Brown will complete his Shaw bar trifecta tomorrow with the debut of Southern Efficiency. The Southern whiskey bar joins Mockingbird Hill and Eat The Rich—all opened within little more than six months. The drink menu includes about 40 bottles of primarily Southern bourbons and ryes, plus a white rye whiskey and hickory-smoked cola on tap and a couple bottled cocktails. To eat, look out for peanut soup, deviled eggs, pulled pork, and fried catfish. Southern Efficiency, 1814 7th St. NW. (Jessica Sidman)

OH AND ALSO

Friday: Goth post-punk group Lenorable plays Velvet Lounge with A Place Both Wonderful and Strange and Cavale. 9:30 p.m. at 915 U St. NW. $8.

Friday: Bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs performs at a holiday gala at the Music Center at Strathmore along with Maureen McGovern, Julia Nixon, and NIH director Dr. Francis Collins on guitar. 8 p.m. at 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. $55–$65.

Saturday: As a label, Future Times releases dance music that sounds like it’s made not so much for the rump-shakers on the floor as for the beard-scratchers standing just off the edge analyzing every phase shift and sine wave. But despite its muso vibe on wax, Future Times’ holiday parties appear to be all about the booty based on previous years’ mixtapes, which go hard on the ’80s electro-boogie. Read more >>> Bookworms, Protect-U, and Beautiful Swimmers perform at 10 p.m. at U Street Music Hall, 1115 U St. NW. $10. (202) 588-1880.  ustreetmusichall.com. (Christopher Porter)

Saturday: Church Night returns to the Black Cat! Jonny Grave, Pria Puss, Sara Armour, and The North Country perform favorite hymns, including “Like a Prayer” and “Tainted Love.” 9 p.m. at 1811 14th St. NW. $10.

Saturday: Rock & Roll Hotel hosts a reggae night featuring Nappy Riddem, Empresarios, and Asheru. 9 p.m. at 1353 H St. NE. $15.

Sunday: To hear colonial Christmas music, you could go to Williamsburg with your loved ones, or you could go to the Folger Shakespeare Library and hear the music of the Iberian colonies. The Folger Consort’s annual holiday concert revolves around the idea of “Christmas in New Spain.” Its 10-day run concludes this afternoon, and the songs and liturgical works you’ll hear are the same you might have heard on the streets of Guatemala during the 1600s or at an 18th-century mass in Peru. Read more >>> The Folger Consort performs Dec. 13–22 at Folger Elizabethan Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE. $50. (202) 544-4600. folger.edu. (Rebecca J. Ritzel)

Sunday: Porch jammers-turned-real band Thee Drive-In play DC9 with the Gulley Jimson Quartet. 8:30 p.m. at 1940 9th St. NW. $8.

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