Shakespeare on the Common – Salem Happenings

Adding Some Art to Your Summer

As the end of July approaches, the list of summer events often begins to dwindle. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I’m really not sure if the lack of scheduled events is a result of the fact that everyone is on vacation, that all of the kids seem to be going back to school earlier and earlier each year, or if it’s just that all of the event coordinators feel that if you can smell something cooking every time your bare feet hit the pavement, it is just too hot to do much of anything. However, regardless of the reasons behind the sudden decrease in the amount of things to do, there are still a couple of events that are sure to entertain you this weekend.

First, if you’ve always been a big fan of Shakespeare or it’s been your lifelong goal to figure out what the lines in a Shakespearean play actually mean, there are a series of performances on Boston Common from now until August 10th that may interest you. This is because the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company is performing Twelfth Night every day for the next two weeks (except for Monday the 28th of July and Monday the 4th of August.) These performances, which are typically at 8:00 P.M. (7:00 P.M. on Sundays with a special 3:00 P.M. Matinee on this Saturday, July 26, 2014), will allow you and your friends and/or family to witness an extremely unusual love story told in a way that only a Shakespearean Comedy could pull off. Best of all, the entire performance won’t cost you a dime (unless you decide to go out and eat in which case it will probably cost you significantly more than a dime.) For more information on Twelfth Night and the Free Shakespeare on the Common series, please visit the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s website.

Secondly, if you would prefer to see a group of artists and performers that are a little more modern than a bunch of people who look like they just left the 17th century, you may want to check out the Rose Kennedy Greenway this weekend. This is because the Rose Kennedy Greenway is hosting Figment Boston from 11:00 A.M. to 11:00 P.M. on Saturday (July 26, 2014) and 11:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. on Sunday (July 27, 2014.) This event will allow you and anyone else you decide to bring along to see a variety of artwork while you enjoy street performances and dance to the music of a number of different musicians. For more information on Figment Boston, which is completely free (although donations are greatly appreciated), please visit the Boston Figment Project website.

Photo credit: garryknight / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Friday Fun: It’s a Retro Weekend

Unless your life has been absolutely perfect or perfectly boring from day one, there’s probably been at least one point in your life where you really wish you could go back in time and do it all over again. In fact, there might be an awkward conversation that you had with a guy or a girl you really liked in high school that you would like to hit the reset button on, a day back in college where you partied a little too hard that you would like nothing more than to delete entirely, or a day that you would give almost anything to relive. Unfortunately, no matter how much you would like go back in time, there’s really no way to get your hands on an actual time machine and there’s really no way to undo the past. However, you may be able to relive the memories of your past through some of the retro activities that are happening in the Boston area this weekend and beyond.

If the mid sixties and early seventies are the era that you would really like to relive, the Citi Performing Arts Center may have exactly what you’re looking for. The Citi Performing Arts Center is hosting “A Midsummer’s Night with the Monkees” on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 8:00 p.m. This one-night concert will allow you to hear a number of the band’s famous songs from the 1960’s T.V. show and new songs sung by three of the band’s original members, including Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. For more information and to order tickets for “A Midsummer’s Night with the Monkees”, please visit the Citi Performing Arts Center’s website.

If, on the other hand, reliving your childhood seems like more fun than reliving the sixties, you may want to check out the Salem Toy Museum. The Salem Toy Museum, which is located in the Museum Place Mall in Salem, MA, features over 2,000 toys that were originally released somewhere between 1950 and now. As a result, there’s really no better place to go if you want to see all of the toys from your childhood again or you just want to show your kids that you weren’t making them all up.

Finally, if you prefer your retro to be really retro, like 400 years before your time retro, you may want to head on over to Boston Common some night over the next couple of weeks. The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company is performing the Two Gentlemen of Verona as part of their Shakespeare on the Common Series from now until July 28, 2013. This show, which is performed almost every night, will give you the opportunity to see one of Shakespeare’s famous comedies for free. For more information, please visit the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s website.