QuickTake:

This week’s arts and culture events include two shows at The Hybrid Gallery, a play opening at the Very Little Theatre, a gem fair at the Lane Events Center and a Jell-O art show at Maude Kerns Art Center.

Happy Thursday, Lookout readers! Well, I was happy about nice weather a tad too soon. People have tried to warn me about the “false spring” here, but I’m trying to brute-force a sunny mood even in grayer moments by playing “Silk Chiffon” by MUNA on repeat. Life’s so fun!

With that in mind, here are some arts and culture events to add to your calendar this week.

Performances

Comic, Interrupted

Deep down in the rudest parts of your soul, have you ever wanted to heckle? Now’s your chance with this month’s Comic, Interrupted, a regular stand-up comedy show hosted by Lexis Shardé of Lexy’s Comedy Club and Dave Williams, where the two will interrupt other performing comedians at will. The audience can join in with Heckle Cash, tipping to tithe for the sin of interrupting comedy. 

  • When: 8 p.m., Thursday, March 26.
  • Where: The Hybrid Gallery, 941 W. Third Ave., in Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood
  • How much: $15 buys entry at the door and Heckle Cash, to cover the first few interruptions. After the Heckle Cash runs out, attendees can heckle by tipping with real cash or Venmoing host comedians to earn additional heckle dollars. 
“The Revolutionists,” a comedy about four women in a Parisian prison during the Reign of Terror phase of the French Revolution, opens this week at the Very Little Theatre. Credit: Hoax Photography and Design

‘The Revolutionists’ 

This French Revolution play opens this week in Eugene. It’s a comedy from popular playwright Lauren Gunderson about four women — Marie Antoinette, the assassin Charlotte Corday, the playwright Olympe de Gouges and the fictional Caribbean revolutionary Marianne Angelle — in a Parisian prison during the Reign of Terror (the radical portion of the French Revolution that resulted in a lot of deaths by guillotine). I spoke with the director and cast who promise, despite the dour history at hand, it’s a comedy.

  • When: The first performance of “The Revolutionists” is 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 27. 
  • Where: Very Little Theatre, 2350 Hilyard St. in Eugene 
  • How much: Tickets are available online, starting at $26 for adults and $20 for students.

GOLDEN: A K-Pop Kids Party!

I hope your kids aren’t tired of “K-Pop Demon Hunters” yet. For those interested in maintaining the Honmoon, or just dancing and singing to some Korean pop music, this daytime party at WOW Hall will let kids embrace their inner HUNTR/X and dance to songs from the soundtrack.

  • When: Noon to 3 p.m., Saturday, March 28
  • Where: WOW Hall, 291 W. Eighth Ave., in downtown Eugene
  • How much: Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 on the day of the show and $60 for a family four-pack of tickets. 

Art and convention shows

Half Caf Mini Con

This mini-version of Books With Pictures Eugene’s Comics Art Festival of Eugene (CAFE), presented in collaboration with The Hybrid Gallery and Equiano Coffee, will feature local comics creators and zine workshops, part of the Hybrid Gallery’s five-week-long show focused on the local comics scene. 

  • When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, March 29 
  • Where: The Hybrid Gallery, 941 W. Third Ave., in Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood
  • How much: Free

Gem Faire

If you’re anything like me, you could look at knick-knacks and pretty things one by one and remark “ooh, look at this” for hours, this weekend’s Gem Faire — a traveling show of gems, jewelry and beads stopping in Eugene from Friday to Sunday — might be your scene. The event promises to bring “quality gems, beads, crystals, minerals, findings and Earth’s treasures directly to your town,” with importers, wholesalers and manufacturers tabling throughout the fair. 

  • When: Noon to 6 p.m., Friday, March 27; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, March 28; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, March 29
  • Where: Lane Events Center, 796 W. 13th Ave., Eugene
  • How much: Tickets are $7 for a weekend pass, and admission is free for children 11 years old and younger. Tickets are purchased at the door. 

Jell-O Art Show

What’s shaking, baby? The art is. This annual all-Jell-O art show and fundraiser at the Maude Kerns Art Center is this weekend, for both art lovers who would like to see some gelatin works and creatives who want to try their hand with a jiggly sculpture medium. (Local band The Radar Angels will perform at 7 p.m., if you’d also like to wiggle.)

  • When: 5 to 8 p.m., Saturday, March 28; Jell-O art must be dropped off between 3 and 4:30 p.m. 
  • Where: Maude Kerns Art Center, 1910 E. 15th Ave., Eugene
  • How much: There is a suggested donation of $3 or $5 per family to attend. Artists are encouraged to donate $3 for entering.  

A cultural celebration

Dolores Huerta speaks to a crowd in Sacramento in 1966. Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which merged in 1965 with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to became the United Farm Workers. Credit: Eugene Friends of the Farm Workers collection

Farmworker Solidarity Celebration 

Lookout’s Springfield correspondent Lillian Schrock-Clevenger wrote a preview of this event last week, which features performances from Springfield High School’s Mariachi del Sol and community dance group Ballet Folklórico Colibrí, kids’ arts and crafts from Jessica Zapata with Eugene Arte Latino and a talk by labor activist Nancy Bray, who worked for United Farm Workers in the membership department in 1971 and joined Eugene Friends of the Farm Workers in 1972. The bilingual event will also provide wireless headsets with real-time translation for Spanish-speaking attendees. 

  • When: 4 to 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 1 
  • Where: Springfield City Hall, 225 Fifth St.
  • How much: Free 

Movies 

New at the box office  

“Forbidden Fruits”: This new horror comedy is about girlie pop cultists gathering in a mall basement after hours for their “witchy femme” dark arts, when the social balance is disrupted by a new hire. Anyone who has been in a toxic friend group knows how dicey that can get, cult shenanigans or no. Playing at Metro Cinemas, Regal Valley River Center and Cinemark Eugene Springfield 17. 

“They Will Kill You”: Funny enough, our second new box office pick for the week is another horror comedy about a cult, but with fewer miniskirts and more axe battles. This movie is about a young woman (Zazie Beetz) who takes a job as a housekeeper at an upscale New York City hotel, where some guests are long-term stays — i.e., cult members that have struck a deal with Satan to become immortal. Cue the fight sequences. Playing at Metro Cinemas, Regal Valley River Center and Cinemark Eugene Springfield 17. 

Special screenings

“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”: This gonzo classic adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s drug-fueled road trip across the Mojave Desert is playing this week as part of the Art House’s stoner cinema series, if you’d like to pick up some ether (kidding, kidding) and strap in. Playing at the Art House starting Friday, March 27, through Wednesday, April 1. 

“Ben-Hur”: A restored 4K version of the 1959 religious epic is opening in Eugene this weekend, if you’d like to take in some Golden Age of Hollywood large-scale style spectacle anchored by a pre-National Rifle Association Charlton Heston. Playing at Art House Sunday, March 29, Wednesday, April 1 and Thursday, April 2.

Thank you for reading, Lookout members. If my picks aren’t up to your liking, check out our events calendar for more things to do. As always, if there are any events I should include here, or any feedback for this weekly list, drop me a line at annie@lookoutlocal.com.

Annie Aguiar is the Arts and Culture Correspondent. She has reported arts news and features for national and local newsrooms, including at the Seattle Times, the Washington Post and most recently as a reporting fellow for the New York Times’ Culture desk covering arts and entertainment.