A Future Perfect Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company, it plays at the Calderwood Pavilion through February 7th
“Are you pregnant?!” It’s really not the most polite way to inquire about a friend’s impending motherhood when you notice she’s abstaining from alcohol. But that’s what Claire asks her friend Elena during a couples dinner in her Brooklyn home. What ensues in SpeakEasy Stage Company’s beguiling A Future Perfect is a group of thirtysomethings hashing out their stage of life. Does career take precedence over having children? Is it responsible to keep plugging away at the low-paying, but enriching PBS job? What does it mean when the band of friends probably won’t ever get back together again? Playwright Ken Urban has a wonderful facility for dialogue in this wickedly funny comedy. And there’s compelling chemistry between the always remarkable Marianna Bassham as Claire and stellar Boston newcomer Brian Hastert as Max.
Walden, Revisited On view at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum through April 26th
A fascinating concept, Walden revisited assembles a group of artists to consider the legacy of Henry David Thoreau’s 1854 treatise, Walden. It was 161 years ago when Thoreau famously went into the woods two miles from where the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is located today. Curator Dina Deitsch says the philosopher’s trek could be considered “the first artist residency.” Her group of artists meanwhile, consider Thoreau in myriad forms. Spencer Finch resurrects Thoreau’s own survey of Walden pond color by color. James Benning considers Thoreau alongside an infamous fellow cabin dweller he inspired: Ted Kaczynski otherwise known as the Unabomber. And Jennifer Sullivan humorously enacts her own decampment with a nature immersion in her father’s pop-up camper in upstate New York.
Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol On view at the American Textile History Museum in Lowell through March 29th
The American Textile History Museum in Lowell delivers a sumptuous and rarely discussed bit of art history in its latest special exhibition. From the early 20th century to a heyday in the 1950s, artists partnered with textile companies to manufacture fabrics fashioned of their own designs. Homeowners could have Calder curtains, the well-dressed could have Matisse dresses and Dali scarves. Picasso loved the idea because it meant art for all. Later on even Warhol got into the act. The exhibition features the exclusive display of the only known Warhol dress. It’s a new way to see what once could have been on the runway.
This week on Open Studio We’ll tour the Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol show at the American Textile History Museum. And I’ll sit down with Boston’s first-ever Arts Czar Julie Burros as she assesses the state of the art in Boston to develop plans for its future.
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