THURSDAY
Prelude 2019: Riotous Excursions
October 3-5 at Martin E. Segal Theater Center, various times: FREE
Free theater, performance art, panels and more abound at this year’s Prelude Festival, a celebration of contemporary theater and performance that’s curated this year by Sanaz Ghajar and David Bruin. The festival largely presents works (or excerpts of works) that are still being developed: highlights include a “music-video-electronic-sample-remix-opera,” a “dream party” assembled by playwright Jaclyn Backhaus, a meditation on intimacy using cello and poetry, and a madcap think tank creation by Bailey Williams, Derek Smith, and Alex Rodabaugh. There will also be “studio visits” (live performance excerpts followed by critical responses) and panels exploring activist art and creation in the age of late capitalism.
FRIDAY
Plan B: Unholy Shit
Friday, October 4 at Bodeguita BK, 9 pm: $5
Sunday is known to some as a holy day, so it makes sense that Friday might be framed as its unholy opposite. It’s the start of the weekend rather than the end, it’s the end of the dreaded traditional workweek, so it makes sense to get a little sinful, at least for a bit. Well, you can do just that at the Plan B variety show’s glorious, nefarious return to the Brooklyn stage after a venue-closing-induced hiatus. Now, they’re at Bushwick Cuban bar Bodeguita (owned by the same folks as nearby La Lupe and Leaf), and (anti)christening their new stage with drag and burlesque performances by Comrade Barbie, Vena Cava, Alizee the Clown, Queensiñera, Muscles Monty, Vic Sin, and hosts Scarlett Cerise and Lucky Day.
SATURDAY
Lupercalia
Saturday, October 5 at Talon Bar, 10 pm: $15-20 advance, $25 doors
Gritty television reboots of beloved comic series are having a bit of a field day, specifically those connected to the Archie comics universe. Riverdale is still going strong, with its moody high schoolers and absurd plot twists, and Netflix recently renewed Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, a dark adaptation of Sabrina the Teenage Witch so rife with the occult it landed them in brief legal trouble with an actual group of Satanists. On Saturday, you can experience a different kind of adaptation in the form of Lupercalia, drag performers C’était BonTemps and Chevy Lace’s immersive, Halloween-centric queer cabaret tribute to Sabrina at a goth-y bar in Bushwick. Expect drag, burlesque, and other witchy performance surprises, and once the shows end, the party doesn’t.
SUNDAY
Awkward Sex and the City: Podcast Recording
Sunday, October 6 at The PIT, 7 pm: $16
Nowadays it seems like everyone has a podcast. Sure, the market is crazily saturated and there are only so many mattress ads to go around, but it’s undeniable that podcasts are the talk of the town, the fuel of the morning commuters, and the reason a handful of people make unspeakable amounts of money through services like Patreon. Live podcast recordings are the best of both worlds, a live show that you can revisit in case your mind started to wander or you just want to relish a particularly memorable quip. On Sunday, the podcast version of Natalie Wall’s storytelling show Awkward Sex and the City (which typically does their live show at The Pleasure Chest uptown) will record an episode as part of the She Makes Me Laugh comedy festival, exploring the wide world of bodies and their steamier functions with guest Kelli Dunham.